Basketball practice facility a necessity to Boynton
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton views the university’s $325 million vision to upgrade the athletic village as a way to not grow stagnant.
“You gotta be careful that you don’t get so comfortable with what you have that you don’t always try to look forward to seeing how you can make yourself better,” Boynton said.
Which is exactly why he believes a new basketball practice facility was a necessary part of the plan that was unveiled earlier this week.
The vision is to build a facility onto Gallagher-Iba Arena that will serve both men’s and women’s teams.
“I try not to get too far ahead of myself on this deal because it’s obviously still probably a ways away,” Boynton said Thursday. “But it’s an area that quite frankly we’re behind.”
Boynton pointed to Texas Tech’s new Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center, which opened in 2021. The $32.2 million facility is considered perhaps the best in the country.
The Red Raiders, who host the Cowboys at 5 p.m. Saturday in a must-win game for both teams, are able to use that 59,000-square foot facility as a recruiting tool.
“A lot of it is the bells and whistles that you can sell to recruits in terms on nutrition and body management and access just keeps you where you can sell to a kid who’s got great big aspirations that you can have the best of the best at a place where maybe people don’t think would have those types of resources,” Boynton said.
“I just think the perception of us competing and continuing to stay in the game of building and developing what we have. And I think we have really nice stuff.”
OSU has not publicly placed a price tag on building the new facility. No planned amenities have been announced.
But it will have two basketball courts, which is the primary goal.
Only one practice court is currently available to be used between both programs. Teams generally rotate between the out-dated court and Gallagher-Iba Arena’s Eddie Sutton Court.
That still gets complicated at times. Wrestling, which also has plans for a new facility to be built, needs to host meets. Other events happen inside the arena as well.
Boynton still isn’t placing too much concern on getting the facility built quickly. He knows it’s a large project and others are likely to happen first.
“It doesn’t seem to me that that’s on the top of the list, but it seems like it’s important,” Boynton said. “Nor should it be. Football is a big deal here and it should be here. Obviously, it’s the reason all of us are able to do what we do. I’m very aware of that. Having worked in the SEC, I was even more aware of it then, how that success impacts everything else everybody does around it.
“But softball needs some upgrading and obviously wrestling, with the success they’ve had in the history of athletic department, needs more attention as well.”
Tyreek Smith a full go, Moussa Cisse limited
The Cowboys did get some good news on the injury front.
Star center Moussa Cisse was able to participate in practice Thursday, a few days after he suffered a leg injury in the final minute of the loss to Baylor. It’s the same leg he suffered an ankle injury in January, but a different injury. He practiced about half of the time. “The 50% that he was out there, he looked fine,” Boynton said. “We just didn’t push him. I don’t want to commit on him.”
But Boynton did say he expects power forward Tyreek Smith to play.
Smith hurt his ankle in the second half Monday and did not return. Smith, who began his career at Texas Tech, was a full-go in practice Thursday.
“I feel good that Tyreek will play,” Boynton said.
Should the Cowboys hope for a worse seed than sixth in Big 12 Tournament?
The Cowboys are in an interesting scenario for Big 12 Tournament seeding.
They could finish as high as sixth with a win Saturday and Iowa State loss at Baylor, earning a first-round bye and setting up a matchup with either Baylor, Kansas State or Texas. OSU is winless in six meetings with them.
Or the Cowboys could finish seventh — either with a West Virginia loss to Kansas State or with a win and Iowa State victory — and face Bedlam rival OU in the opening round.
Or the Cowboys could lose and West Virginia beats Kansas State, putting the Cowboys in the eighth seed for a rematch with Texas Tech.
Seventh or eighth would give OSU an extra Quad 1 matchup in its hunt to make the NCAA Tournament.
What’s Boynton’s preference? “My brain doesn’t operate that way,” Boynton said. “I think what I try to do is say, ‘We’re going to play good teams at least two more times.’ We’re going to play one in Lubbock. Let’s try to take care of that. Whatever that means for next week, we’re going to play a really good team. If we can somehow get up there and win another game, we’ll have another opportunity to play another good team.
“That’s the common theme here. There’s no bad team to play. Maybe we do have better matchups for certain teams in the league, but as far as the game, we’re just going to have to beat a good team and probably multiple to give ourselves the best chance.”
The Cowboys entered the weekend on the outside of bracket projections, likely needing more than just a win at Texas Tech to get into the field.