Oklahoma State fires Mike Boynton after 7 seasons
OSU made the NCAA tournament just once during Boynton's tenure and was ineligible for the postseason in 2022
Oklahoma State is looking for a new men’s basketball coach.
The school announced Thursday that it had fired Mike Boynton after seven years at the school. Oklahoma State was 12-20 overall and 4-14 in the Big 12 this season. The Cowboys’ season ended Tuesday afternoon with a loss to UCF in the Big 12 tournament.
"For seven years, Coach Boynton has led this program and represented this university with class,” athletic director Chad Weiberg said in a statement. “We’re grateful for the genuine passion and care he has for the student-athletes on our team. Unfortunately, the desired results have not followed. Therefore, it is time to part ways and begin a new chapter. We wish Coach Boynton and his family the very best.”
Oklahoma State went 119-109 under Boynton and had winning records in four of his seven seasons. The school made just one tournament appearance in that time; the Cowboys advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2021 after getting a No. 4 seed. That was the only season during Boynton’s time with the school that OSU finished above .500 in conference play and came as Oklahoma State fought to avoid a postseason ban in 2021 with future No. 1 NBA draft pick Cade Cunningham on the roster.
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OSU ultimately lost that fight with the NCAA even though it successfully delayed the postseason punishment. The Cowboys went 15-15 a season later as the NCAA implemented a postseason ban as part of the FBI inquiry into college basketball in the late 2010s. Oklahoma State got the harshest punishment of any school involved in the scandal.
Kansas dodged a major punishment from the NCAA in October after it fought the NCAA tooth and nail. The Jayhawks had their Level I allegations downgraded and got three years of probation following self-imposed four-game suspensions and recruiting limitations for coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend at the start of the 2022-23 season.
OSU, meanwhile, suffered the NCAA’s wrath because former assistant Lamont Evans pled guilty in January of 2019 after he accepted nearly $20,000 in bribes. At the time of the postseason ban, Weiberg called the NCAA’s decision “unprecedented” and classified Evans as a “rogue employee.”
Boynton succeeded Brad Underwood at Oklahoma State. Underwood spent just one season with the Cowboys before taking his current job at Illinois.
