Cowboys open season
The Mike Boynton era of Oklahoma State basketball begins Friday when the Cowboys host Pepperdine at GallagherIba Arena in the season opener.
STILLWATER – Jeffrey Carroll arrived at Oklahoma State in the summer of 2013, looked around, and immediately felt out of place.
“I remember I came in and I was around Le’Bryan Nash and Marcus Smart and Markel Brown,” Carroll said recently, eyes widening to punctuate the flashback. “I was like, ‘I’m on the same team as Marcus Smart!’ I was kind of star-struck. I was that freshman going to practice so nervous that they were going to show me up.
“It’s just funny how the table has turned. And it turned in my favor, I think.”
Turned upside down. Carroll didn’t even play his freshman season, instead serving a rare basketball redshirt. Then after two seasons as a solid, yet spotty contributor, he broke through as a force in the Big 12 a year ago, playing a major role in OSU’s 20-13 finish that included a return to the NCAA Tournament.
Now, with the Cowboys set to open the season at home Friday against Pepperdine, Carroll provides the face of the program, a preseason All-Big 12 pick carrying the team’s bid to exceed expectations of a last-place projection in the conference.
It’s another new role for Carroll, who had Jawun Evans and Phil Forte III filling the spotlight last season. And some wonder how well he’ll thrive without those guys sharing the ball and sharing the attention of opponents.
Carroll understands the challenge, embracing it, with the focus of a federal investigation that involves him fading, for now.
“It’s huge for me, because I’m at the very top of the other team’s scouting report,” he said. “It’s more of a mental thing. I can’t let that psyche me out. I can’t be, ‘Oh, teams are coming for me, I’ll just lay back.’
“I’m coming harder than ever. I’ve been working harder than I ever have in my life. It’s a vital point in my career right now. I just want to take the guys and lead them the best as I can.”
Carroll progressed from a bit part as a redshirt freshman to a solid, if inconsistent contributor his sophomore season. Then came last year’s leap.
Carroll averaged 17.5 points – the most of any returning Big 12 player – 6.6 rebounds and averaged 44.4 percent on 3-point shots, one of only four players in league history to finish in the top 10 of all three categories. And it’s an elite club: Kevin Durant, Georges Niang, Jordan Hamilton… and Jeffrey Carroll.
But can he pull of an encore?
“Jeff’s gotten stronger, more explosive,” said Cowboys coach Mike Boynton. “He’s become a little better ball-handler. Needs to pass better, although I’m not sure how much I’ll be asking him to pass.”
Carroll has grown his game before as a Cowboy. Once strictly a perimeter shooter, he started taking the ball to the rim, and finishing, last season. Now he’s focused on being consistently good, even great, for his team’s sake.
“Throughout my time here, I would play well in some games, and then there would be games where people were like, ‘Where’s Jeff Carroll been?’” he said. “I’ve kept that in the back of my head.
“I really want to take on that challenge, because I know I have to bring my best every night. I’ve got to be ready.”