How Indiana roots turned Oklahoma State's Javon Small into a 'very cerebral' point guard

Basketball has taken Javon Small to Arizona for prep school, then the Carolinas for the beginning of his college career, and now Middle America as Oklahoma State’s starting point guard.

But his roots remain firmly planted in Indiana.

And while it’s been a few decades since the Hoosier State produced legends like Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson, Indiana is still putting out ballplayers — in quality and quantity.

Growing up in the hoops hotbed built the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Small into a pure point guard.

“It’s a basketball state,” Small said. “You just don’t have a lot of cameras around like other states like North Carolina or California. But in my opinion, most of the best hoopers come out of Indiana.

“We’ve got some of the best trainers and some of the best basketball, too.”

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Small, a junior in his first year at OSU (12-16, 4-11 Big 12) after transferring from East Carolina, has become a foundational piece of this young Cowboy squad that will try to topple Texas (18-10, 7-8) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Moody Center in Austin.

Small leads the team in points (14.6), assists (4.4) and minutes (33.2) per game. He’s second in 3-point percentage at 37.5% and third in rebounds per game at 5.0.

And while his hair often gets a lot of attention — with long, locked ponytails pulled to each side of his head — it’s what’s inside that cranium that really separates him on the court.

“He’s very, very cerebral,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “He wants to lead. He wants his teammates to learn from him as much as possible.

“You look at his assist-turnover (ratio) for his career, it’s always been pretty good. Always shot a pretty good percentage, mostly because he takes good shots. He plays with a great sense of pride in having his team be successful, and those are earmarks of a really good point guard, and also a lot of kids from that state.”

While the bulk of talent Small grew up playing against — first in his hometown of South Bend before moving to Indianapolis as a high school sophomore — helped him develop his skills, he credits his basketball IQ most to his home state.

“The trainers I’ve had have been really good players, really smart players,” he said. “I just try to be a sponge and pick their brain.”

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Though he’s had just 28 games as a Cowboy, you can make a case for Small as the best traditional point guard of the Boynton era — considering “traditional” doesn’t really fit the game of Boynton’s best lead guard, Cade Cunningham.

While Bird and Big O are symbols of a bygone Indiana era, the state still holds basketball on a pedestal.

“When you talk about basketball meaning something in a state — like Texas, football is king — in Indiana, basketball is king,” Boynton said. “There’s an element to having guys from there that learned that basketball’s really important, and if you play, you play a certain way. You don’t turn the ball over, you take good shots, be a good teammate. And all of those things still ring true.”

In the recruiting process, Boynton picked up on Small’s intelligence right away, because both could speak the language of point guard. And because Small had a couple seasons of college ball behind him, he was even more fluent.

“There’s an element to how you think the game, how you view the position, what you feel your responsibilities are,” Boynton said. “There was alignment with him early on, and I felt more comfortable being aggressive in recruiting him.”

With another year to go, Small could be the centerpiece of a developing team, depending on how things play out after the season. But with three games remaining, plus the Big 12 Tournament, Small’s eyes remain on what’s straight ahead, and most importantly, snapping the Cowboys’ two-game losing streak.

“Just win,” Small said. “I just wanna see the team continue to come together. Playing the way we’ve been playing, we can just get back to stacking on wins.”

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OSU vs. Texas

TIPOFF: 1 p.m. Saturday at Moody Center in Austin, Texas (ESPN2)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Indiana roots turned OSU's Javon Small into 'very cerebral' player