Boynton Wears Emotions on Sleeve at Introductory News Conference

Mike Boynton had said 87 words.

Exactly 87 words into his opening statement at his introductory news conference as the 20th men’s basketball coach at Oklahoma State, he put his hand to his mouth, dropped his head and paused for 22 seconds as he tried to compose himself. He had thanked university president Burns Hargis, athletic director Mike Holder, the board of regents, the city of Brooklyn and his childhood friends before his emotions took over.

His players, the people who hired him, fellow OSU coaches and even some media members appreciated his emotion and clapped for him to go on. They liked what they saw. The next words out of Boynton’s mouth were the first reason Holder gave when asked why he chose a man who had never been a head coach to lead his second most prominent program.

“My dad. My mom. My sisters. I didn’t have a brother,” he said. He paused for another 25 seconds to stop the tears. “But I’ve always had brothers.”

So much speculation has been made about what was and was not said in Boynton’s interview and the interviews of others. But Holder said in Boynton’s first interview, the “wow” moment came when he brought up his family.

“He did the same exact thing he did there at the podium,” Holder said afterward. “I love that. That’s the way I feel about my mom and pop.”

Another 27 seconds went by, silent if not for Boynton’s periodic sniffles. This moment meant more to him than it did to anyone else in the room, including his parents, his wife, or Hargis or Holder.

“This isn’t about Xs and Os, what plays I know,” Boynton said. “I know people. This is about building men; 18, 17, sometimes, to 23, 24 (years old) and making a positive difference during that time.”

Monday about 3:15 p.m., six years into his marriage, was the first time his wife had ever seen him cry.

“I’m not really that emotional of a person,” Boynton said. “I’m authentic, and I care about people. I think (the hiring committee) thought this team and this program needed that. I don’t know if I’m any better of a coach than any of the candidates, but … I’m committed to doing things the right way and caring about these guys every day.”

But, though inexperienced Doug Gottlieb was the people’s coach, there is still so much controversy from some fans about hiring a coach who hadn’t led a program, especially one not from the Iba tree whose only previous tie to OSU was watching them in the Final Four from his living room couch.

Boynton created expectations for himself. He said he expects the program to return to the Final Four. He wants the team to play “hard, tough man-to-man defense. And he wants to continue what Brad Underwood and those who came before began.

Although Boynton said all of the right things, he said he understands those fans who have given him negative reviews and filled Holder’s email inbox.

“Our goals are the same as theirs,” Boynton said. “… I don’t wanna be a guy about preaching patience because I believe that we can win now. I think we have the pieces. We have the foundation laid.”

Those pieces went to bat for Boynton. After Underwood left, Davon Dillard had a conversation with Holder, Dillard said. Holder told Dillard to let him know who he wanted, Dillard said. He told him to throw some names at him.

With big-time names supposedly on the market for OSU to hire such as former Indiana coach Tom Crean, SMU coach Tim Jankovich and USC coach Andy Enfield, not to mention Gottlieb wanting the job, Dillard said he chose his assistants.

“A couple of the coaches that we have on staff already did a tremendous job,” Dillard said. “Even though they wasn’t head coaches, I felt like they were good enough to step up and be in that position. And he listened to me, and he got a good coach in Mike Boynton.”

Boynton said he is excited to built off the taste of the postseason that the younger players got last year. That feeling can be exhilirating, he said, but they weren’t there very long.

“We had a good season,” Boynton said. “I’m no fan of good. I’ve got no interest in it. I want to be playing this weekend. I want to be great. I want to be nationally relevant because we can and we have. We can again.

“And we will again.”