Boynton’s rise to head coach included point guard
KANSAS CITY, MO. — When Mike Boynton became the head coach at Oklahoma State, the Cowboys’ manager team lost its point guard.
In his first season as OSU’s coach, Boynton has the Cowboys on the NCAA Tournament bubble entering Wednesday’s matchup with Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament. But last year as an assistant, Boynton spent the nights before road games playing in the OSU managers’ games.
“You could see little flashbacks in his eyes,” said Brad Lewis, OSU’s head manager and one of the team’s regular players. “We went from manager games to ‘Hey, we’re winning these games. That’s
not an option.’”
As a point guard at South Carolina in the early 2000s, Boynton became the Gamecocks’ all-time leader in games played while entering the program’s top 10 in career 3-pointers and 3-point percentage. He played the same way he coaches: with a focus on hard work, intensity and defense.
Themanager team’s desire for able-bodied players led to Boynton’s involvement. Only two managers travel on roadgames, leaving their team short-handed. Keiton Page, the Cowboys’ point guard-turned-director of player development, is a fixture on the team, while OSU chief of police Leon Jones and radio color commentator John Holcomb also needed to play minutes.
Boynton volunteered to join with a desire to stay in shape. He’s a man of discipline, eating a diet of exclusively fruits, nuts and vegetables every February. Although his former teammates said he showed he’s still got plenty of ability, Boynton, at 36, said his participation was for fun and exercise, not to show off his skills. But in the eyes of teammates, his play said otherwise.
“You could tell he had another gear or two he just wasn’t going to kick it into,” Holcomb said. “The rest of us are out there huffin’ and puffin’, giving whatever else we have left in our bodies, outside of Keiton and Coach.”
Although Holcomb called the contests “glorified pickup games,” manager games have continually become a more serious affair. Like official Division I basketball, the managers have an RPI ranking system, and the season culminates in its own tournament, with the semifinals played at the site of the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four.
Some teams are loaded with talent; Texas’ manager team has former VCU players that played in the Final Four for coach Shaka Smart. But even against such opponents, Boynton tried to stay within himself.
“It’s not trying to prove I’ve got it,” Boynton said. “If I’m trying to prove myself against the managers around the Big 12, then I’ve fallen a long way.”
Boynton was one of OSU’s only players putting effort into defense, easily plucking the ball from opponents. Page remembers the players guarding him disappearing from view as Boynton delivered perfectly timed screens, his knowledge of the game on display.
Dre Denbow, Boynton’s video coordinator, has been part of various staffs at OSU and Florida Gulf Coast, playing in manager games along the way. He’s seen few coaches as hands on as Boynton.
“I haven’t had an assistant that’s ever played with me,” Denbow said. “He doesn’t have to go out there. That just shows how much he’s in tune with everyone, not just the players.
“He’s in a different space now, but he’s still the same person. He’s the most relatable coach I’ve ever been around.”
Boynton, with a pregame schedule loaded with film, preparation and the occasional public appearance, hasn’t been able to play this season. The managers have asked him at times to join, but he worries about what would happen if the Cowboys lost the next night.
“Surely, someone would say I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be as a head coach,” Boynton said with a laugh.
Page saw this negative impact coming with Boynton’s promotion.
“I was like, ‘Hey, you know this is a big loss for our manager team, you jumping into the head role,’” Page said. “As competitive as Mike is, I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t just had one night where he comes and jumps back in.”
Boynton has instead gotten his basketball fix during regular practice. If he wears sweats, the Cowboys know they’re in for a lighter day. But when Boynton wears shorts, much like those manager games, the intensity picks up.
He’ll participate in 3-on-3 drills and sling bounce passes. During Friday’s practice, he offered to take a charge from each of his seniors. Kendall Smith tried to dunk on him before he got set. Last season, Boynton helped the Cowboys on scout team, perfectly imitating Iowa State’s Monte Morris.
“He’s still fully capable of playing some good basketball, that’s for sure,” Page said. “It wasn’t anything for him to say yes and strap on some shoes and go play with us, but that’s just the type of guy he is.
“Puts everybody before he puts himself.”