Keeping Dreams Alive: How Six Schools and Working at Walmart Prepared Seniors for Big 12 Run

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State enters the Big 12 Tournament Tuesday night after dropping seven of its last nine games and is in need of quite the run to make an NCAA Tournament case.

Although the individual results of games lately have disappointed, senior Anthony Roy remains appreciative of the ride itself.

“I don’t even know how to put it into words,” Roy said. “I’m just beyond blessed to be here, and I’m gonna cherish every single one of these days, every win, every loss, just every day. This was a surreal experience. … This is crazy, and I’m glad I got to experience it.”

When Roy faces Colorado at 8:30 .m. Tuesday, he will do so tied with Phil Forte for the program’s ninth-most made 3-pointers in a single season. The senior ranks fifth in made 3s per game in one season, averaging 3.04.

All of this comes at the end of a six-year career that saw Roy at six different schools at various levels. Two years ago, he was playing down the road at Langston at the NAIA level. Despite ending the year as an NAIA All-American, Roy never imagined he’d end his career playing basketball at the high-major level.

“It’s just a true testament that you know you can do anything you put your mind to,” he said.

Through the many ups and downs, one thing has become clear to Roy.

“That I’m resilient,” he said. “I know for a fact 95% of people in my shoes that have went through, or were to go through what I went through these last six years, would have stopped playing basketball and just did something else, but I just kept at it. I had a good support group, good people around me, and I feel like I’ve just battled through any obstacle I’ve went through.”

He wasn’t the only senior appreciative of the chance to end his career with the Cowboys. Christian Coleman also ends his five-year career with one season at the high-major level.

“It definitely means a lot, and we definitely grateful for being here,” Coleman said.

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound senior grew something like seven inches after he finished high school, which Steve Lutz described as a “once in a lifetime story.”

His basketball career began at the NAIA level. Then Coleman took the junior college route before spending the last two seasons at UAB.

“Never in a million years,” Coleman said when asked if he thought he’d make the jump from NAIA to D-I. “I was really working, so I really didn’t expect to get back into basketball. So when I got an opportunity, I just took a risk, thank God that it worked out of my favor, and I just hope and pray that I continue on this journey and ride this way as long as possible.”

Coleman said no coaches were looking his way when he finished high school. Instead, he ended up taking a job at Walmart in Winnsboro, Louisiana. Eventually, someone he knew from childhood suggested he try out for NAIA ball at LSU-Alexandria.

“I just took the risk,” Coleman said. “You know, I didn’t know if it was gonna get me to D-I or I was gonna be at the NAIA for four years. I didn’t know. … I went, and I tried out for the team, and I made the team. God just worked everything out of my favor.”

Coleman said his time working at Walmart taught him two lessons.

“Definitely just to stay humble,” he said. “(And) Just don’t give up because you never know when God can open another door for you so you can get the opportunity that you’ve been wanting.”

Oklahoma State (18-13, 6-12 Big 12) could use a lot of that attitude this week as the Cowboys will likely need to avenge losses to 11-seed Colorado (OSU loss by 14 on the road), 6-seed TCU (lost by 3 on road and 3 at home in OT) and 3-seed Kansas (lost by 12 on the road).

It’s a tall task, but Oklahoma State did push 2 seed Houston to the very brink on Saturday, trailing by only one point in the final two minutes after leading the Cougars for most of the game.

“They’re one of the best teams in the country,” Roy said. “And for us to just be neck and neck with them all game just shows that we can be a good team. So I feel like this gave us a little bit of juice going into the tournament next week, and we just got to build off of that.”