Oklahoma State Basketball Coaching Candidates: 20 Options To Replace Mike Boynton:-STILLWATER— Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg parted ways with men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton on Thursday, one of his toughest decisions. Weiberg took the $9.1 million buyout of Boynton’s final four years.
Weiberg must make his most critical hire since joining in July 2021.
Finding Boynton’s successor may be difficult, but Oklahoma State remains a college basketball powerhouse despite a 12-20 season. Boynton’s buyout makes this a costly move for the athletic department, so hiring wisely is crucial.
Oklahoma State Basketball Coaching Candidates: 20 Options To Replace Mike Boynton
Here are 20 candidates Weiberg may consider:
Ten typical goals
Weiberg’s top candidates will likely be mid-major head coaches. He could target these top names:
Dusty May, Florida Atlantic
May may be the trendiest coaching commodity for power programs shopping. He led FAU to the Final Four last year, won 24 games this season, and is already drawing attention despite a large deal. Weiberg must queue if interested.
Wichita State Paul Mills
Mills, a Baylor assistant under Scott Drew, was successful at Oral Roberts before joining Wichita State last year. First year of five-year contract paying $1.7 million per year. He led ORU to the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed and won 30 games in his final season.
Mike Morrell, UNC Asheville
Before joining UNC Asheville in 2018, the 41-year-old was an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth and Texas for four years. Last year, the Bulldogs won 27 games and have already topped 20 this year.
Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon
Drews can coach. The son of Valparaiso icon Homer, Bryce’s brother Scott has been a Baylor success for years. After four seasons as head coach at Valpo, Vanderbilt, and Grand Canyon, Bryce has won 91 games and made two straight NCAA Tournaments, including this year. In Oklahoma, he can work magic. You may recall his NCAA Tournament buzzer-beater to beat Ole Miss in Oklahoma City.
Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle
Sprinkle joined Utah State this season and led the Aggies to a 26-5 record after guiding Montana State to two consecutive NCAA Tournaments. From Pullman, Washington, 49-year-old has worked in the west, but a Big 12 position may bring him to Middle America.
Bucky McMillan, Samford
McMillan, 40, is a fast-rising coach with four years of college experience. He coached high school before joining Samford in 2020. After a 6-13 start, the club won 21 games in the next two years. Samford is 29-5 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
Darian DeVries, Drake
Longtime Creighton assistant DeVries took over at Drake in 2018 and hasn’t finished below 20 victories since. With a 28-6 record, he will make his third NCAA Tournament participation in four years.
University of Texas Arlington K.T. Turner
Turner may be on the list of coaches at Redlands Community College in El Reno and Kentucky. The 45-year-old Manhattan, Kansas native played collegiate ball at Oklahoma City University and started coaching at the junior college level. He reached Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2011. He has since assisted at Wichita State, SMU, Texas, OU, and Kentucky. His first year at UT Arlington, he has increased the Mavericks’ win total from 11 to 18.
Little Rock’s Darrell Walker
After playing under Eddie Sutton at Arkansas in the early 1980s, Walker played 10 years in the NBA. Most of his coaching expertise is in the NBA, including Raptors and Wizards head coaching. He led the Clark Atlanta HBCU program for two years before joining Little Rock in 2018. Little Rock lost in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament finals this season after going 20-12.
New Mexico’s Richard Pitino
Richard, the son of Rick Pitino, has coached at Florida International, Minnesota, and New Mexico for 12 years, winning Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year at Minnesota in 2017. New Mexico is a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament after winning 22 and 23 games the prior two seasons.
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10 unique concepts
Want to avoid mid-major promotions? Here are some unusual names Weiberg could consider:
Kansas’ Bill Self
You must call, right?
Fox Sports Radio Doug Gottlieb
The former Cowboy point player ran for the job last time and still loves OSU basketball. After playing, he went into radio, so he hasn’t coached much, but he advised Boynton this season.
Denver Nuggets player development coach Stephen Graham
Graham came to teaching after eight years in the NBA as a Cowboy and 2004 Final Four participant for Sutton. His Nuggets tenure began in 2015.
Auburn assistant Corey Williams
Williams, another Eddie Suttonoffspring, played with the early 1990s Cowboys before joining the NBA. In 23 years of coaching, he has been at Arkansas and Texas Tech, where he was interim head coach. The Stetson head coach from 2013-19.
Retired Bruce Weber
After becoming AD at OSU two years ago, Chad Weiberg hired Jacie Hoyt to coach Cowgirl basketball. They had met at Kansas State. Weiberg and Weber attended K-State together. Weber may help the Cowboys stabilize their program.
Houston Rockets assistant Royal Ivey
Ivey, a Texas star before a 10-year NBA career, was considered for the Longhorns’ position last year. After playing and coaching for the Thunder, Ivey understands Big 12 basketball and would add NBA spice to the program.
Kansas assistant Jeremy Case
You could put several young, respected assistants here, but Case offers some unique selling factors. He played for Self at Kansas and is an assistant since 2021. He graduated from McAlester High School, and his father, Win Case, played at OSU before coaching.
Oklahoma State assistant Scott Sutton
Program reconnection to Eddie Sutton is unlikely. More importantly, would Eddie’s son desire the job? Maybe not. After his success at Oral Roberts, he seemed satisfied with his bench role at OSU.
Erik Pastrana, Georgia assistant
Pastrana, a superb recruiter who had assisted at numerous large universities in power conferences, was well-liked in Stillwater, where he helped Boynton reach its only NCAA Tournament. Would his personal friendship with Boynton disqualify him?
McNeese State Will Wade
Wade is a successful mid-major coach, but his LSU experience puts him outside the “traditional targets” group. His talent makes him a desirable coach for McNeese with a small buyout. He was found guilty of three Level I NCAA violations at LSU for various transgressions. Should a program that just finished its last NCAA punishment take a chance on a former offender?
