Holder thrilled with Boynton
Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder can only smile when talking about men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton.
STILLWATER — It’s hard to keep a smile off Mike Holder’s face when he talks about his basketball coach.
Oklahoma State’s athletic director had plenty of reasons to be giddy this week, but the corners of his mouth are constantly perked up when the words coming out of it are about Mike Boynton. Wednesday, OSU announced a six-year contract for Boynton worth about $11.5 million, a two-year extension on his original five-year, $6 million deal.
The agreement comes in the wake of Boynton leading the Cowboys to a 21-15 record and the cusp of the NCAA Tournament in his first season as a head coach. Speaking Thursday inside the Greenwood Tennis Center, Holder said Boynton’s extension came together smoothly.
“It was just a simple conversation,” Holder said. “We both had the same objective. He’s refreshing. He’s humble. He’s unselfish. He’s in coaching for the right reasons, so I think he would’ve been perfectly happy with just what he had.”
The new contract will pay Boynton $1.6 million in 2018-19, $400,000 below the next lowestpaid Big 12 coach. At 36, Boynton is youngest coach in the league.
“All things considered, it’s fair for both parties,” Holder said. “What I like is the long-term commitment ’cause, I think, given time, he’ll prove that, fingers crossed, he’s a rising star.”
Holder felt that same way before even making the hire, one that was met with criticism nationally and within the OSU fanbase. It followed the surprising departure of Brad Underwood to Illinois, for which Holder received a bevy of blame.
Holder said Thursday that he and Underwood never sat down to fully discuss an extension.
“To kind of misread the relationship that I thought we had, that was what was disappointing,” Holder said. “I don’t begrudge him anything. He’s a really, really good coach. I hope he does very well at Illinois, and I’m very happy with the coach that we have.”
Boynton, who spent four years as an Underwood assistant at Stephen F. Austin and OSU, was one of five candidates interviewed to replace him, a group that included former Texas Tech coach James Dickey and OSU alum Doug Gottlieb.
To Holder, the interview was a formality. It was Boynton’s year on campus as an assistant that earned him the job.
“People say, ‘Well, he must’ve been impressive in the interview,’” Holder said. “No, he was impressive for the 365 days that he spent here, with the way he interacted with the student-athletes and the way they talked about him, to the way he interacted with everybody in our building and treated everybody in our building.
“There’s always that trepidation, that doubt when you hire a new individual, how they’ll adapt to your culture, to your situation, to your community, and with Mike, I didn’t have that worry.”
Holder fortified that relationship this week. He’s confident that, in Boynton, he has a basketball coach he’ll be smiling about for a while.
“I think he’s here for the long term,” Holder said. “He may be from Brooklyn, but he could’ve been raised in Oklahoma or Stillwater. I think he fits our culture, our values. He’s one of us, and he was one of us before he ever got here.”