How Kirk Cole Stuck on Oklahoma State’s Roster in an Anti-Walk-On World

STILLWATER — A few years ago, Kirk Cole was the Sigma Chi’s flame-throwing intramural shooter. Tuesday night, Cole found himself sliding across Eddie Sutton Court after a loose ball in the first half of the Cowboys’ season opener.

Oklahoma State beat Oral Roberts 95-71 on Tuesday night to start the season 1-0. Cole, a senior from Yukon, played in eight minutes, all in the first half. He didn’t record a traditional statistic in that stretch, but he made a play that sparked the 6,211 in attendance.

After ORU blocked a shot, the ball rolled around in the paint between a pair of Golden Eagles. As those ORU players reached down for the ball, Cole flew in head first and scooped it up. An audible cheer came from the orange-clad faithful as Cole tried to call a timeout, but the officials ruled it a jump ball.

The play came in a half where the Cowboys struggled to defend, allowing 46 points in the opening 20 minutes on 43% shooting. OSU turned up the defensive effort in the second half en route to the Cowboys’ blowout win.

“I thought Kirk Cole diving on the floor before the half, I thought that got the crowd going,” OSU coach Steve Lutz said. “So, I credit Kirk with getting them going.”

The modern landscape of college athletics isn’t overly kind to walk-ons. Revenue sharing has essentially made the designation a thing of the past, but after playing with the Cowboys last season, Cole was able to maintain his spot on the roster in Lutz’s second year, making Cole one of only three returners.

“Number one, he’s a fantastic human being,” Lutz said. “He’s a good basketball player and a great teammate. So, I wanted him on the team. It’s just NCAA rules are a little bit different now. You have 15 roster spots, so you have 15 scholarships. Now, Oklahoma State’s a little different because they don’t provide us with 15 scholarships. They give us 13 scholarships, and then if I want to use my revenue sharing money to pay somebody to basically go to school, then I do so.

“As we got down to the wire, it’s bad to say, but you start looking at, OK, I want another guard. Do I try and go sign a high school kid that I know nothing about? Or, do I get a young man from overseas that I know nothing about? Or, do I take a transfer that I know nothing about? Or, I’ve got this young man here on the team that’s a fantastic human and a fantastic teammate. He wants to come back. Just made a lot of sense.”

Cole is a 2021 graduate of Southwest Covenant in Yukon, ending his Patriot career with 1,444 points, leading Class A in scoring twice. He scored 44 points in a game as a junior.

He went to Troy University out of high school. Playing in the Sun Belt, Cole appeared in nine games across two seasons in Alabama, totaling nine points and four steals in 40 total minutes on the floor.

Cole hit the transfer portal after the 2022-23 season before eventually choosing to come back to his home state as a traditional student. But basketball didn’t stop there, as Cole was on his fraternity’s intramural squad, which has to be fun for a guy with actual college basketball experience.

“You don’t play from the college 3-point line, so you play from that close 3-point line,” Cole said. “So, it was probably at least five 3s a game.”

Mike Boynton was fired that year Cole was lighting it up for the Sigma Chis, and in the midst of the coaching change, Cole found himself back on a Division-I roster.

“I decided to hit the portal, and I ended up deciding just to come here to be a student,” Cole said. “My now-wife went here, my older sister went here, so I had some ties to the university. I was a part of a fraternity, I’m part of Sigma Chi, so I was just a student. I was playing intramurals. I actually played (OSU graduate assistant) Brady Priess in intramurals in the championship game, and he’s on staff now.

“Then with the whole coaching overchange, I was able to get in touch with some of the coaches, had a lot of different meetings and interviews with them, and the opportunity came to where I was able to join the team. It’s been awesome.”