Solomon playing loose as OSU career nears finale
STILLWATER — These days, Mitchell Solomon is having as much fun on the court as off it.
With a five-day layoff between NIT matchups against Florida Gulf Coast and Stanford, the Oklahoma State basketball team used its downtime to bond. The Cowboys spent Friday night at Topgolf, after which point guard Kendall Smith did not hesitate to call Solomon the team’s best golfer. “By far,” Smith said. As his OSU career nears its finale, Solomon, the Cowboys’ senior forward, is enjoying the same type of success when it comes to basketball.
In his past five games, Solomon is averaging 11.0 points and 8.2 rebounds
while making all 15 of his free-throw attempts. He’s also been uncharacteristically expressive on the court, unleashing a yell after a fearsome dunk in the Cowboys’ upset of Kansas in Gallagher-Iba Arena. In OSU’s victory over FGCU in the NIT’s first round, Solomon thrice tapped three fingers to his temple after a 3-pointer amid a stretch where he scored seven straight points for the Cowboys.
“I’ve been trying to play loose,” Solomon said. “I don’t have much time left, so I figured I might as well enjoy it. I kind of tend to put too much pressure on myself, and lately, I’ve been trying to just not think about it and just have fun.”
OSU missing the NCAA Tournament was a disappointment for Solomon, saying watching the tournament’s games leaves him “a little salty,” given how close the Cowboys came to making the field.
But he can take solace in getting to play a couple of more games in GallagherIba Arena with the Cowboys being a host team in the NIT. Having grown up an OSU fan in Bixby, Solomon savors each of these final games in Stillwater. And the crowd seems to be savoring him, too.
In that Kansas upset, the Cowboys’ senior day, fans issued “MVP” chants after many of Solomon’s 16 points. It’s a title coach Mike Boynton gave him earlier in the year.
“I’ve sat down with Mitch so many times this year and just told him how much I appreciate him being here and sticking through all he’s been through,” Boynton said. “... As a coach, that’s what this is about. It’s about kids like him who put in the work, who don’t complain about anything, go through adversity and find a way to fight it, and continue to have success, so I’m extremely pleased that he’s finishing his career the way he is on the court.”
For Solomon’s career to continue, OSU will have to clear a Stanford program that was among Solomon’s top collegiate choices. Although it was a prior coaching staff that drew his interest, Solomon recalls a family atmosphere similar to OSU’s.
Even if the Cowboys win, it’s possible Monday’s game will be Solomon’s last in GallagherIba Arena. OSU could be bound for Los Angeles to face USC should the Trojans down Western Kentucky later Monday night. If the Cowboys win and USC loses, Solomon would get one final game in the arena where he’s made effort his trademark.
With the clock ticking down, even the grind of practice has come to mean more to Solomon.
“Trying not to take it for granted,” Solomon said. “It’s easy sometimes, mid-March, to think, ‘Man, we’ve practiced a lot,’ but I’m trying not to think about that and just enjoy this time with my teammates.”