BasketballBig 12Hiring

Oklahoma State promotes Mike Boynton, Jr. to head coach

Oklahoma State will replace Brad Underwood with one of his assistants, Mike Boynton, Jr. A member of the OSU staff last season and Underwood’s SFA staff for three years, Boynton is a long-time assistant getting his first shot at being a head coach.

Underwood left the Cowboys program after just one season to become the head coach at Illinois, leaving athletic director Mike Holder with the difficult task of hiring his second head basketball coach in as many years. One name that once again got some buzz was Doug Gottlieb, an OSU alum and long-time college basketball TV analyst. Though he has no coaching experience, Gottlieb would be the flashy hire to get the fanbase excited about the future. More importantly, he’s a guy who wants the Cowboys job and theoretically wouldn’t leave like Underwood.

However, Gottlieb accepted a job with Fox Sports this past Wednesday. Holder decided to stay internal, in an attempt to better build on last year’s success. The Cowboys finished 20-13 (9-9), losing to Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.