not much of a challenge...but we'll see. ISU is a pick 'em with wvu and ku being the only underdogs. B12 favored in 7 of 10 games. Is SC not any good...Cowboys are 3.5 pt favorites. B12 looks to be a basketball league! Didn't realize Boynton had so much history with SC...I knew he played there but the hung around quite a while there. From the DOK...
MEN’S BASKETBALL
OKLAHOMA STATE VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
• When: 1 p.m. Saturday
• Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater
• TV: ESPNU (Cox 253/HD 718, Dish 141, DirecTV 208, U-verse 605/HD 1605)
• Radio: KXXY-FM 96.1
Three things to know
• South Carolina is Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton’s alma mater. Boynton played for the Gamecocks from 2000-04 and served on staff at South Carolina in various roles from 2008-13.
• Saturday’s game is part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. OSU is 3-2 in the challenge, going 1-1 against South Carolina and 2-0 in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• This will be OSU’s annual “Remember The Ten” game. Sunday is the 18th anniversary of the 2001 plane crash that killed 10 men associated with the OSU basketball program.
STILLWATER — Watching film in preparation for Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State, South Carolina coach Frank Martin has occasionally stopped to chuckle.
He’s noticed the similarities between the Cowboys’ defensive approach and what his Gamecocks employ. He’s seen the touches of Eddie Fogler, one of his predecessors as the coach in Columbia, and Brad Underwood, one of his longtime assistants. But it’s the moments he’s spotted Mike Boynton’s added flare that bring him the most joy.
“I’m not gonna enjoy coaching against Mike, but it’s been a lot of fun to study his team and see his own flavor,” Martin said. “It’s kind of a combination, Eddie Fogler, Brad, me. It’s real neat when you see that.”
Saturday’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge game between the Cowboys and Gamecocks pits Boynton, OSU’s second-year coach, against not only his alma mater, but also one of his mentors in Martin.
“Not sure I’ve thanked him enough,” Boynton said. “Not sure I could.”
Fogler recruited Boynton out of Brooklyn, New York, but then retired after his freshman season in 2000-01, “probably because of me,” Boynton joked. Boynton played the next three years under Dave Odom, pushing the Gamecocks into the NCAA Tournament his senior season before embarking on his own coaching career.
It eventually led him back to Columbia in 2008 as an assistant coach, but Darrin Horn and his staff, including Boynton, were fired after the 2011-12 season. Martin, Kansas State’s coach the previous five seasons, became Horn’s replacement.
Boynton’s wife, Jenny, was a dietitian in the Gamecocks’ athletic department, so the couple wanted to stick around Columbia, but Martin didn’t have an assistant position available.
“I worked real hard to get the school to keep Mike on board in some capacity,” Martin said.
Boynton took the role of director of studentathlete development, where he helped athletes in all sports transition into and out of college. He helped them prepare for job interviews. He set up networking seminars. He trained them on dinner etiquette.
Although some of those skills help in his current position, Boynton’s greatest benefit came from being around Martin on a daily basis. Boynton said there’s a perception of Martin as “a mean, big bully,” but that those who know him well know his approach is about teaching his players accountability.
“Whether they’re doing well or whether they’re struggling, they know they have a coach who really cares about them, and because they know he cares about them, they allow him to coach them, and he coaches them hard, and he coaches them in a way that holds them accountable,” Boynton said. “To see him on a day-to-day basis for that year was pretty affirming to me that you can have success and you can still hold kids accountable at the same time. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
OKLAHOMA STATE VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
• When: 1 p.m. Saturday
• Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater
• TV: ESPNU (Cox 253/HD 718, Dish 141, DirecTV 208, U-verse 605/HD 1605)
• Radio: KXXY-FM 96.1
Three things to know
• South Carolina is Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton’s alma mater. Boynton played for the Gamecocks from 2000-04 and served on staff at South Carolina in various roles from 2008-13.
• Saturday’s game is part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. OSU is 3-2 in the challenge, going 1-1 against South Carolina and 2-0 in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• This will be OSU’s annual “Remember The Ten” game. Sunday is the 18th anniversary of the 2001 plane crash that killed 10 men associated with the OSU basketball program.
STILLWATER — Watching film in preparation for Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State, South Carolina coach Frank Martin has occasionally stopped to chuckle.
He’s noticed the similarities between the Cowboys’ defensive approach and what his Gamecocks employ. He’s seen the touches of Eddie Fogler, one of his predecessors as the coach in Columbia, and Brad Underwood, one of his longtime assistants. But it’s the moments he’s spotted Mike Boynton’s added flare that bring him the most joy.
“I’m not gonna enjoy coaching against Mike, but it’s been a lot of fun to study his team and see his own flavor,” Martin said. “It’s kind of a combination, Eddie Fogler, Brad, me. It’s real neat when you see that.”
Saturday’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge game between the Cowboys and Gamecocks pits Boynton, OSU’s second-year coach, against not only his alma mater, but also one of his mentors in Martin.
“Not sure I’ve thanked him enough,” Boynton said. “Not sure I could.”
Fogler recruited Boynton out of Brooklyn, New York, but then retired after his freshman season in 2000-01, “probably because of me,” Boynton joked. Boynton played the next three years under Dave Odom, pushing the Gamecocks into the NCAA Tournament his senior season before embarking on his own coaching career.
It eventually led him back to Columbia in 2008 as an assistant coach, but Darrin Horn and his staff, including Boynton, were fired after the 2011-12 season. Martin, Kansas State’s coach the previous five seasons, became Horn’s replacement.
Boynton’s wife, Jenny, was a dietitian in the Gamecocks’ athletic department, so the couple wanted to stick around Columbia, but Martin didn’t have an assistant position available.
“I worked real hard to get the school to keep Mike on board in some capacity,” Martin said.
Boynton took the role of director of studentathlete development, where he helped athletes in all sports transition into and out of college. He helped them prepare for job interviews. He set up networking seminars. He trained them on dinner etiquette.
Although some of those skills help in his current position, Boynton’s greatest benefit came from being around Martin on a daily basis. Boynton said there’s a perception of Martin as “a mean, big bully,” but that those who know him well know his approach is about teaching his players accountability.
“Whether they’re doing well or whether they’re struggling, they know they have a coach who really cares about them, and because they know he cares about them, they allow him to coach them, and he coaches them hard, and he coaches them in a way that holds them accountable,” Boynton said. “To see him on a day-to-day basis for that year was pretty affirming to me that you can have success and you can still hold kids accountable at the same time. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.”
