Mike Boynton Addresses Upcoming Season at Big 12 Basketball Media Day
The Big 12 hosted its annual Big 12 Basketball Media Days in Kansas City the past two days, with Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton taking the stage on Wednesday.
While there wasn’t anything said we haven’t talked with Boynton about the past few weeks at his weekly media availabilities, he did address the upcoming season.
“Excited for another college basketball season. Looking forward to hopefully the next time I’m in this building that I’m actually coaching my team in the conference championships this year as opposed to working as kind of a partner with you guys in the media.
“But I’m excited about this group. We’ve got some experience, probably the most experienced team that I’ve had since my first year. We only have one freshman and several guys who have been in our program for multiple years. The guys have worked really, really hard, like all these teams. And obviously we’re just chomping at the bit to start competing.”
The two focal players who Boynton addressed on Wednesday, as well as this past week, were guard Bryce Thompson and center Moussa Cisse. Both guys transferred into the program ahead of the 2021 season and both have had very strong off-seasons preparing for the upcoming season.
“We’ve been really, really pleased with Moussa’s development overall,” Boynton said of Cisse. “He came in as a really kind of a raw athlete. Always was pretty good in terms of instinctively blocking shots. That’s what he brings to the table from a defensive standpoint. But we knew offensively that there were some areas that he could immediately become better at with some time and intention.
“So, we’re really focused on just his touch around the basket. We want to raise his field goal shooting percentage on non-dunking shots. And obviously his free throw percentage is an area of improvement as well that we were very intentional about focusing on.”
“I’ve known Bryce for a long time,” Boynton said of Thompson. “Obviously, he grew up in Oklahoma. I got a chance to recruit him out of high school. And he made a different decision. But I’ve watched Bryce regain some confidence that was lost between the time he showed up on our campus last year and now. He’s made some great strides. He seems to be enjoying the game and the time he has with his teammates again and playing with a lot of confidence.”
The Cowboys will have a chance this season to compete in postseason play after receiving a one-year ban this past season. The run to a potential March Madness big begins in just under 20 days as the Pokes kick off the 2022-23 season playing host to UT Arlington on Nov. 7.