Mike Boynton on Remember the 10: ‘Our Program Was Changed Forever’

Say whatever you want about the job Mike Boynton has done this year (and for the last three years) with Oklahoma State’s basketball team, but the care with which he’s handled the program as a whole has never been in question.

The same was true of his predecessor’s predecessor of course (and that ended poorly), but it was quite poignant to hear Boynton talk recently about January 27, 2001 and what that day meant (and means) to the OSU family.

We made a vow to never forget, and that includes teaching the next generation. #RT10 I LetsWork pic.twitter.com/DQJHUyVhTP

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 27, 2020

“I know people hear about Remember the 10, but I’m not sure — as time goes on, younger people don’t really understand,” said Boynton. “Here in this program it’s a special day in a tragic way because we lost 10 members of our basketball family in a plane crash on the way back from Colorado.”

I wrote a little bit about that day and how it’s related to yesterday here.

“It’s always important we keep in mind that there are people who literally sacrificed everything for this program in ways none of us really can imagine,” added Boynton. “Their families were affected forever. Our program was changed forever, the way we operate was changed forever. We always have to remember that the 10 faces on that wall represent us, represent their families, represent this university.”

Speaking of representing the university, nobody did it better through that time than Eddie Sutton. I don’t know what that did to his body and his mind, but I can imagine the cost of carrying everything was higher than we would care to know. Something he’ll carry with him to the end.

#Rememberthe10 — @OSUMBB pic.twitter.com/Is3ZsBVI3h

— CoachSuttonFilm (@eddiesuttonfilm) January 27, 2020

Boynton continued, and I thought this was the best part.

“It’s important that when we play the game, obviously it’s against Kansas but it’s really for them. It’s against Kansas but we’re playing for them and the legacy they’ve left behind.”

Perfectly said. Also, I dug up this thing for you. Somehow I’d never seen it. I think I’d watched the entire game (which is also on YouTube and looks like it’s from 1901), but I hadn’t seen this 4-minute documentary. Worth every second.

Beat KU.