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Boynton Uses ‘Mini Library’ in His Office as Teaching Tool for Players, Coaches

On Thomas Dziagwa’s new year’s resolution and how his head coach is helping him.

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STILLWATER — While meeting with the media on New Year’s Day, Thomas Dziagwa and Michael Weathers were asked about their New Year’s resolutions.

Weathers’ was simple: “Don’t turn the ball over,” he said.

Dziagwa’s opened up a different conversation.

“Read 30 minutes before I go to bed,” Dziagwa said.

Dziagwa is working on Chris Herren’s “Basketball Junkie” now. It’s a memoir Herren wrote about his time as a basketball star and a drug addict. Dziagwa said Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton lent him the book, something Boynton said he does a lot.

“I’ve essentially got a mini library in my office,” Boynton said. “It’s really the only thing I do outside of watching basketball is read, so I’ve got books. I pass them out as I talk to guys all the time. I may suggest that they read something. (Dziagwa has) had a couple now. Cam (McGriff) has had one. I gave Curtis (Jones) one. There’s great discipline in reading. I like to learn, and it’s a good way to pass time instead of looking at your phone the whole time.”

Boynton said he has always enjoyed reading. He said it was the nerd in him. He said he was a “fairly good student,” in his time at Bishop Loughlin High School and South Carolina, and reading is something that has stuck with him since.

“I’ve read a lot of coaching books, obviously,” Boynton said. “I’ve read a lot of leadership books. I read a book called ‘Extreme Ownership’ this summer, which really opened my eyes to the type of leadership that I hope to have within this program. It just talks about how everything starts with the guy at the top and how you have to embrace the responsibilities when things are not going so well and when you gotta fight through hard times. I encouraged my entire staff to try to read that book as well. They all got a copy of it, and I think they took me to task on that.

“We try to approach it with that type of mentality this year. We’re gonna own everything that happens, and we’re gonna find ways to make it better as we go along.”

 

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