Young guns in Stillwater
Oklahoma State juniors Cam McGriff, Lindy Waters and Thomas Dziagwa are the only Cowboys on scholarship who played for the team last season. Nearly half of the roster is freshmen.
STILLWATER — Throughout his first season as Oklahoma State’s basketball coach, Mike Boynton consistently mentioned that seniors Jeffrey Carroll and Mitchell Solomon were being asked to lead for the first time. It’s possible this season’s veterans will be more prepared for such roles.
Juniors Cam McGriff, Lindy Waters and Thomas Dziagwa are the only Cowboys on scholarship who played for the team last season. OSU’s lone senior is graduate transfer Mike Cunningham, while nearly half the roster is freshmen, putting pressure to lead on the trio of juniors. Boynton said they're ready to handle it.
“Cam is a natural in terms of leadership,” Boynton said. “He always does first, so you can’t be a leader unless you show that you can be a consistent producer, consistent with your work ethic, so he’s naturally been a guy who’s taken on a lot of that responsibility. Lindy does it in a different way, similar to like a Mitch in that he’s not as vocal, but he gives great effort, he knows everything we’re doing, he’s very responsible in terms of his assignments. He’s a good guy for people to watch and emulate.
“Thomas, he’s been around coaching all of his life, so he understands the game in different ways than some people do. Those three guys will be guys that we really lean on to help the young guys come along.”
This week, the Cowboys began practice ahead of their 10-day Europe tour next month. The early practices have afforded OSU extra time not only to prepare for the 2018-19 season, but also to bond.
During a quiet Stillwater summer, the team is finding ways to blend new and old through NBA 2K video game tournaments and games of pool.
“We just let it fall into place,” McGriff said. “We spend so much time together off the court. It’s wonderful. All of our housing is next door to each other, so we just leave our room and knock on each other’s door.”
The Cowboys’ roster also includes walk-on junior Trey Reeves, plus guards Michael Weathers and Curtis Jones, both of whom missed most or all of last season because of NCAA transfer rules. During OSU’s first two summer practices, the veterans have done whatever coaching they can, lightening the load on the coaching staff.
“Especially with us older guys, it just gives us a chance to teach,” Waters said. “There’s a lot of leadership put on us. We’re the vets now.
“It feels good, just having responsibility, letting us take over so Coach doesn’t have to do as much as he did last year.”
Boynton has told his returners that certain points might stick better with the newcomers if their teammates emphasize them, as well. Dziagwa, the son of a coach, has been pleased with the freshmen’s willingness to learn from them.
“I think our freshman group is really like sponges,” he said. “They ask a lot of questions, and they’re very curious to what we do, so that’s really good on their part. Now, it’s our part to communicate the best we can.”