'It's all on the table': How Mike Boynton is managing Oklahoma State's shifting roster behind transfer portal
Jacob UnruhOklahoman
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton understands the angst over heavy roster turnover.
The Cowboys’ men’s basketball team has five players in the transfer portal and another in the NBA Draft process.
Good players are leaving. So are fan favorites.
But he’s not panicking.
“The issue is we avoided this transfer bug for so long that now it feels like, ‘Oh my gosh. Like, what’s going on?’” Boynton said. “We’re probably pretty average. I don’t know what the number is but probably right on it, though.
“Everybody. Kentucky and North Carolina both have lost really good players (over the last week).”
This all still hits Boynton differently.
Over the past six months, his program has seen hard times. The postseason ban and loss of scholarships was implemented in November. The Cowboys played a .500 season. And the transfer portal is a factor more than ever under Boynton.
As Boynton works to construct a roster for next season, he’s re-examining some things — starting with the makeup of the team.
“I think something our staff will be very mindful of is how we approach recruiting — not in a general sense — but having 13 guys on scholarship that are all wanting to play may be not ideal anymore,” Boynton said in a phone interview over the weekend.
Boynton said he could look to fill out the end of the bench with players willing to wait and improve.
Perhaps the days of filling all 13 available scholarships are gone. NCAA sanctions require the Cowboys to lose three scholarships over the next three seasons anyway, something Boynton said he and his staff are still determining how that exactly will work.
“I don’t think we’ll be at 13,” Boynton said. “I don’t know what we’ll be, though. I don’t want to speculate there.
“It’s all on the table. It’s all things we talk about every day. The key is we’ve got a pretty good foundation still.”
If all 13 scholarships were in play, the Cowboys have four available following the addition of High Point guard John-Michael Wright on Monday. Five would be available if Avery Anderson III remained in the NBA Draft or elected to go another professional route.
And with a likely nine-man rotation, not every player on scholarship is going to get heavy minutes.
How do you keep every player happy?
“You can’t,” Boynton said.
More than 1,400 basketball players have entered the transfer portal this school year. Every Big 12 program besides Kansas has had at least two players elect to transfer.
Name, image and likeness has played a significant role for some nationally. Unhappiness has fueled others.
Either way, Boynton feels things are getting out of hand.
“The whole atmosphere around college athletics right now is concerning for me as a fan of college athletics,” Boynton said. “I’m certainly not opposed to kids being able to move around after some thought, and maybe if things don’t work out somewhere, or even if they truly have value and people being able to invest in them.
“But that’s not what’s happening.”
Boynton does not have the answers on how to fix his concerns. He can only adjust.
The entire program will have to.
Isaac Likekele, a mainstay the past four years, is leaving as a graduate transfer. Keylan Boone, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Donovan Williams are gone. Rondel Walker surprisingly entered the portal last week as well.
“I didn’t expect Rondel to go,” Boynton said. “I don’t want to say I was shocked, because I’m really not shocked by anything. But it’s not something I anticipated.
“I get it, especially being an Oklahoma kid. But it’s a different day. Ideal is gone. The ideal situation of keeping guys — especially if you’ve got a class of three or four freshmen, those guys are not making it through together.”
Boynton said Walker would have possibly played 25-30 minutes per game. The former Putnam West star was the last remaining member of the dynamic 2021 recruiting class that featured superstar Cade Cunningham.
Boynton still believes the Cowboys are in good shape for next season.
This is the first offseason Boynton is not actively recruiting a big man for the next season. Moussa Cisse, Kalib Boone and Tyreek Smith all return.
“They’re three very capable guys, all that have started, all have performed well at times,” Boynton said. “That’s a pretty damn good rotation there.
“So, we really can focus on the ballhandling and shooting, areas where if we make some big jumps we got a chance.”
That’s where the possible return of Anderson alongside Bryce Thompson and now Wright give the Cowboys’ coach more confidence things will work out.
“The truth is, I feel like we’re uniquely positioned considering all the guys who left,” Boynton said. “Good players. We recruited all of them. I personally recruited many of them myself.
“But our best players, in my view, coming into this offseason are coming back.”
