The Rundown: Boynton on OSU’s Secret Scrimmage and Rogers State Exhibition

STILLWATER — The 2019-20 Cowboys will play in front of people for the first time Friday.

Oklahoma State’s exhibition against Rogers State won’t count on either teams record, but it’s a step closer to actual basketball from the Cowboys’ closed-door scrimmage against Tulsa on Sunday. OSU coach Mike Boynton talked Rogers State, Tulsa and Marcus Watson’s suspension with reporters Wednesday. Here is a rundown of what he had to say.

• Friday’s exhibition against Rogers State will be a good opportunity for the program.

• On Marcus Watson’s suspension: “At this point, I know exactly what’s been published publicly. It’s an unfortunate situation, but at this point that’s all we have.

“… Being a basketball player here is a big privilege. It’s a great honor for me to be the coach here. We had these conversations about things like this being potential issues all the time. It’s a process that we try to touch on from the moment we arrive on campus. They’re not always avoidable. Unfortunately we’ve found ourselves here, and at this point we’ll just deal with the information as we get it.”

• On the rotation: “The guys who perform the best in practice will have an opportunity, as it relates to (Watson), he’s obviously not a part of that conversation at this point.”

• The team had a couple of “not great” practices at the beginning of last week. Boynton said OSU needed to see someone else, so the Tulsa scrimmage Sunday was good for his team.

• On Keylan Boone: “Keylan Boone has kind of popped his head up among the freshmen here over the last couple weeks in ways that I probably didn’t anticipate. As for what he sees and has liked in Keylan: “His activity. He’s embraced the role of becoming somebody we can count on defensively. He’s got great versatility on the perimeter as a defender. He had seven deflections and I think nine rebounds in about a 20-minute segment (against Tulsa), which is really, really high production. Especially for a guy, who you would think, is going to identify himself as a scorer. He didn’t take a bunch of bad shots but just played within himself.”

• On Isaac Likekele: “Ice’s summer was a little bit different because of the USA basketball experience. We actually shut him down for about six or eight weeks. He really had to get himself going again in the fall. He’s done a really good job. The thing he’s done the most is really, really engage himself in the film room, before and after practice stuff.”

• On Yor Anei: “Yor has continued to come along offensively. He’s trying to develop a little bit more range away from the basket, and that’s something I can see him using as the season goes on.”

• Boynton called Trey Reeves the MVP of the Tulsa scrimmage: “Trey Reeves did not play much. I don’t anticipate during the season him playing much. But in terms of understanding what our team needs from him, no one’s as bought into their role for our team. He may have played a minute and a half or two minutes. He took a charge. Every time he was on the sideline, he was talking to his teammates about things that they could be doing. Just that buy-in to what he needs to do. It’s very hard to find a guy who knows he’s not going to play much continually stay engaged.”

• On the NCAA’s recent decision regarding student-athletes being able to get paid: “I’m all for it. I’ve said this before, we’ve got a little bit of an issue and part of it is our fault as coaches. Our salaries have gotten so out of wack that it’s kind of ridiculous that student-athletes technically don’t get anything from a compensation standpoint.

“The truth is, though, there are very few athletes who actually have value from a monetary standpoint. I was one of those guys (who didn’t). I went to the University of South Carolina in the year 2000, and for four years I was a net loss for that university. And I’m not saying that because it’s a joke, right? I benefited in every way possible from being a student-athlete. I got a degree. I played college basketball for four years, had a great experience. It wasn’t always easy or fun. It was hard work, but I’m here today because of that experience. There are a lot more guys like me than there are Zion Williamsons.

“If we could get away from the extremes that we need to pay however many thousands of student-athletes there are in the country a salary to do this and we shouldn’t give them anything, then we can maybe have a conversation. Again, I lived it. Everything that went into that four years was a net-profit for me, and the University of South Carolina just got to hand me a degree at the end, as well. I benefited fully from my experience as a student-athlete, but I do recognize there are some guys who have true value and in a market somewhere. And they should have an opportunity to pursue those areas.”

• Says the impending legislation with name, image and likeness will “absolutely” impact recruiting.

• On Rogers State: “Coach (Justin) Barkley does a tremendous job. They’ve got a couple division-I transfers that’ll come in here and be excited about playing in a building like this again and have an opportunity to compete against a Big 12 team. So, our guys need to prepare the right way for the next few days to play against a team that’s going to come in here and try to win.”

• Boynton said he wants to see his team take another step forward in terms of effort and communication against Rogers State.

• On the importance of exhibition games: “Really important. I can’t really emphasize how important it is for five or six of them where it’ll be the first time that they play in this building with people in it and we’re keeping score and time and all that stuff. Just that experience alone will be valuable as we move forward to next week.

“In a lot of ways, it doesn’t seem like a big game. It’s a big game for (the freshmen). It’ll be the first time that people are going to pay money to come watch them play. Their family will come, and they’ll put on that college basketball uniform that they’ve all probably spent some times in their minds thinking about how it would look and how it would feel. It’ll be great for them to go out there and kick the ball out of bounds a couple times, maybe throw one off the backboard, get the jitters out before it really counts next week.”

• On Hidde Roessink: “I’ve been pleasantly surprised with his overall game. I also said he’s one of the smartest guys that I’ve ever coached, and that’s what’s helping him the most. He picks up things incredibly quick. He understands how to make adjustments on the fly and competes really hard. I wouldn’t say he’s our best defender, but he understands the concepts as well as any of our newcomers do already.”

• On if he is worried about all the suspensions’ affecting the program: “I’m always worried about the program. But with the suspensions themselves, you have to deal with things as they come. I don’t keep count. I’m not trying to say, ‘Well if this happens again, we did this the last time, so let’s try to sweep it under the rug or keep it quiet.’ Nope. I’m going to come up here, and I’m going to look you guys in the face and be honest and tell you what I know. And we’re going to deal with it as we have the right information.”