How a Youth Flag Football Game Was the Catalyst for Weston Church’s College Basketball Career

STILLWATER — Weston Church has been teammates with a No. 1 pick, has experienced the energy of Allen Fieldhouse from the opposing bench and spent four years on a high-major basketball team, and that journey all started at a youth flag football game.

Church, now a senior walk-on on the Oklahoma State basketball team, made the trip from Fairview to Stillwater to watch a younger cousin play. But there was another kid playing: Ace Boynton. OSU coach Mike Boynton was there watching Ace, his son, play. Church said his uncle told him to go talk to the elder Boynton, knowing his nephew wanted to continue his basketball career.

“He came up and said, ‘Hey, I’m from Fairview and always loved Oklahoma State and want to play ball,'” Boynton recalled. “I kind of really, in that moment, didn’t give much attention to it, but he was pretty persistent. He wrote a letter. He sent an email. He sent some highlights. He actually came up to campus and wanted to sit down and talk with his parents. I’ve always appreciated that kind of initiative out of people, the ability to kind of go after what you really want.

“He’s been a joy to be around. Great student. Great person. Great teammate. Certainly going to be a successful professional in whatever he does next.”

Church will walk as part of Senior Night on Tuesday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. It’ll be the final time he suits up at home. He’s scored seven points in his career with two of those coming this season against Chicago State. Sure, that isn’t a ton of points. Javon Small has scored 406 just this season, but make no mistake about it, Church is no slouch.

He averaged 24.7 points a game as a high school senior in Fairview, earning all sorts of honors. His athleticism doesn’t stop there, though. He finished in the top three of the Remember the Ten 5K in 2021 and 2022 — finishing in less than 20 minutes both times.

And if you get to GIA early enough to watch the Cowboys go through their warmups, you’ll notice Church throwing down dunks that you wouldn’t expect a kid 6-foot-3 kid from Fairview would be able to throw down. Church said he had just one in-game dunk as a high schooler but he grew seven inches in a year. As he has gotten used to his newfound height, he has gone from warmup rim grazers to 360s as a Cowboy.

“When I first saw that he could jump like that, it kind of did surprise me, but I actually just watch and see the amount of work that he’s put in on his body and on his game and stuff,” senior center Mike Marsh said. “After a while, I was just like, you know, he put the work in, so that’s why.”

Church’s work doesn’t stop on the hardwood, either. The OSU Alumni Association named him a “Senior of Significance,” an honor given to the top 1% of graduating seniors who have excelled in scholarship, leadership and service to the campus and community. He’s a five-time Presidents Honor Roll qualifier for having a 4.0 semester GPA. He was a First Team All-Academic Big 12 selection last season. It’s a story everyone can get behind about a kid working his tail off to achieve his goals.

“I’ve been telling some of these guys last year when I hit the 3 at Oakland, that was one of my favorite experiences,” Church said. “But I think year in, year out just different personalities I see in different guys, and just getting to build relationships with those guys, I think those will probably my favorite experiences. I’ve been very blessed that God put me on this team and definitely prayed for moments like these whenever I was little. Just getting to see it all play out, it’s been awesome.”