Boynton establishes culture in first year as Cowboys’ coach
STILLWATER — Mike Boynton considers himself a reader. Through the words written in the nearly 365 days since he was named Oklahoma State’s basketball coach, Boynton formed a list of what people said about him and his first Cowboys. How they would be fortunate to win more than a handful of games. How his hiring showed athletic director Mike Holder stopped caring about basketball. How Boynton would prove a failure in short time.
He spent a year feeding himself the expectations of others, all the while establishing a new reality. Cowboy basketball is not dead. It is only beginning to come to life. Gallagher-Iba Arena is not on fire. It is breathing it. By surpassing expectations, the Cowboys have only raised the bar for future seasons. Boynton holds it higher than anyone else.
“Some people think our fans are unrealistic; I don’t,” he said. “I want to play on the last Monday of the basketball season. I want to coach in the final game of the college basketball season, and this team will be the reason that, one day, we will.”
This team was the one that went 21-15, reaching the NIT quarterfinals despite projections of a last-place finish in the Big 12 and an abysmal season that would identify Boynton as a failed hire. OSU earned victories over six ranked opponents, becoming the first team to sweep Kansas since OSU alum Bill Self became their coach 15 years ago.
The Cowboys were left with a disappointing ending after missing the NCAA Tournament, a feat that perhaps no one but them viewed as a possibility this season, but in less than a year, Boynton has gone from unknown to adored, from reading scorn to reading praise.
Boynton rose from assistantship in the wake of Brad Underwood’s stunning exit to Illinois. Before his first game at the helm, Boynton lost his top assistant, Lamont Evans, to an FBI investigation. Midway through nonconference play, Boynton dismissed Zack Dawson and Davon Dillard, a pair of guards who would’ve provided value and depth.
“I didn’t need anybody to tell me that I had a lot to work against,” Boynton said. “I’m a competitive person. I didn’t want to have success because someone said I couldn’t. I wanted to win because I don’t like losing. I work hard because I enjoy what I do, and I really enjoyed doing it with these kids.”
Among them was Mitchell Solomon, a senior who grew into the Cowboys’ MVP by embodying the traits Boynton wanted his players to have: constantly competitive, defensive minded and hard working. With tears resting on his eyelids, Solomon couldn’t help but express excitement for the program’s future.
“I feel like what we've accomplished this year and the obstacles we've overcome has given people a sense of hope and excitement for the program,” Solomon said. “We've built the foundation. Now, it's time for the pillars.”
Although Solomon won’t be on the roster for whatever successes are coming for the Cowboys, Boynton believes what’s next will have the efforts of him and his teammates sprinkled throughout it. The foundation has been laid. Now, OSU can build Boynton’s reality.
“There’s an extreme amount of optimism for what’s going on around here,” Boynton said. “It’s because of those kids in that locker room, so I’m thankful to them. And 25 years from now, I’m going to look back and say that team was the reason that this thing got going again.”