Looking at the First Seasons of the Five OSU Coaches Since Eddie Sutton

Five head coaches have manned the Cowboys’ sideline since Eddie Sutton’s tenure came to an end after the 2005-06 season.

Oklahoma State has been in search of the success Sutton and Henry Iba proved possible in Stillwater since Sutton’s departure. With Year 1 of the Steve Lutz era winding down, I thought it’d be interesting to go back and look at the first years of Sean Sutton, Travis Ford, Brad Underwood, Mike Boynton and Lutz.

This isn’t meant to compare how Lutz to his predecessors. College basketball has changed a lot since Eddie was the Cowboys’ coach. Comparing Lutz’s Year 1 to Sean’s Year 1 would be like comparing Garth Brooks’ ‘No Fences’ album to Post Malone’s ‘F-1 Trillion’ album — technically both country music, but a lot of time has passed between the two. Let’s dive in.

Sean Sutton: 2006-07

Record: 22-13
NCAA Tournament? No
Leading scorer: Mario Boggan (19 PPG)

The Cowboys started the Sean Sutton era 15-1 after beating Baylor in the Big 12 opener, including a win against No. 21 Syracuse in Madison Square Garden and a double-OT win against No. 7 Pittsburgh in the Ford Center.

But you can’t talk about the 2006-07 season without talking about perhaps the greatest basketball game played in Gallagher-Iba Arena: OSU’s triple-OT thriller against Kevin Durant and the Texas Longhorns. When I think back to this game, I associate it with the Eddie years (I was 11, give me a break), but it happened in Year 1 of Sean. Durant dropped 37. Mario Boggan dropped 37. Byron Eaton had the circus shot-clock shot. JamesOn Curry was the best player on the floor for stretches and finished with 28 points. This game rocked. OSU has the full game on YouTube if you’re so inclined.

The Cowboys struggled to close the regular season, dropping eight of their final 10, before going 2-1 in the Big 12 Tournament and losing to Marist in the NIT.

Travis Ford: 2008-09

Record: 23-12
NCAA Tournament? Yes
Leading scorer: James Anderson (18.2 PPG)

For the first time since 1990, a coach was manning the OSU sideline without the last name Sutton when Travis Ford took over in 2008.

OSU was 14-9 after a 3-6 start to Big 12 play before the Cowboys rattled off six straight wins. OSU earned the 7 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and beat Iowa State in the first round before playing Bedlam rival Oklahoma in the second. The No. 6 Sooners beat the Cowboys in the two regular season meetings, but OSU came out on top in this game played in OKC. James Anderson hit a pair of free throws with 2.3 seconds left to give OSU a 71-70 win, probably the signature win of Ford’s first year.

The Cowboys were an 8 seed in the Big Dance and beat Tennessee in the first round off a 20-point, seven-assists game from Byron Eaton. The Cowboys lost to top-seeded Pitt in the second round.

Brad Underwood: 2016-17

Record: 20-13
NCAA Tournament? Yes
Leading scorer: Jawun Evans (19.2 PPG)

One of my biggest “What ifs” in the recent history of OSU basketball is what if Jawun Evans stuck around for his final two seasons?

Evans was only a sophomore in Brad Underwood’s lone season in Stillwater, and the 6-foot-1 point guard was unguardable at points in his Cowboy career. Evans was an All-American this season, averaging 19.2 points and 6.4 assists a game. It’s hard knocking Evans for testing the NBA waters because one, he was coming off an All-American season; two, if he returned, he was going to be under a third head coach in three years.

Underwood’s Pokes put up points. They averaged 85.7 a game this season, which ranked fifth nationally.

OSU started Big 12 play 0-6 this season before winning 10 of their next 11 games. The Cowboys’ biggest win of the season was probably their 82-75 win against No. 7 West Virginia in Morgantown. Jeffrey Carroll scored 20, going 3-for-4 from 3, and Evans had 18 and five assists.

This was also the season where Phil Forte hit that game-winning 3 in Norman.

The Cowboys earned a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and played Michigan in the first round. The Wolverines won 92-91 in a game the Pokes outrebounded Michigan 40-21 in, but Michigan hit 16 3-pointers that day. Then next thing you know, Underwood was on a jet to Champaign

Mike Boynton: 2017-18

Record: 21-15
NCAA Tournament? No
Leading scorer: Jeffrey Carroll (15.4 PPG)

I still cannot believe the Cowboys were left out of the NCAA Tournament field after beating Kansas twice and beating the last four top-10 teams they played to end the regular season. Absolutely bonkers. Every once in a while when I need some juice, I go back and watch this Dick Vitale interview after the selection show.

Despite not making the tourney, this season was full of highlights. OSU’s win in Allen Fieldhouse was on CBS, where Kendall Smith (what a one-year guy) dropped 24 points and Cam McGriff added 20 and nine rebounds.

With this job, I often get asked my favorite sporting event I’ve ever been to, and it’s hard for me to put much ahead of that Bedlam game in Stillwater where Trae Young came to town. The Sooners were ranked fourth nationally. The game went to OT. Mitchell Solomon dove; Young didn’t. The arena was full. It was awesome. OSU went with the tactic of making Young do it all by himself, and he nearly did, scoring 48 points. No other Sooner was in double figures. Carroll scored 23. Smith scored 20. Tavarius Shine played an important 35 minutes, often times being left alone on Young, and though Young did score 48, he did that on 39 shots and had seven turnovers. Shine’s line: 16 points, four assists, two steals and a block.

The Cowboys would win two games in the NIT before falling to Western Kentucky in the quarterfinals.

All things considered (Underwood leaving the day after the previous season and the FBI stuff), this was a fairly fun year of basketball.

Steve Lutz: 2024-25

Record: 13-14*
NCAA Tournament? Looking unlikely
Leading scorer: Bryce Thompson (12.4 PPG)

It looks like Lutz’s first season will be the first among these where OSU doesn’t reach 20 wins, but I don’t think that’s something that should be harped on. College basketball is different now than it was in 2008 when Ford took over; heck, it’s quite a bit different than it was in 2017 when Boynton took over. Lutz’s late hiring meant he wasn’t waiting outside the transfer portal like it was Black Friday. There are a lot of legitimate caveats.

A theme I’ve felt about this team is that the Cowboys have been fairly consistent. For the most part, they’ve lost to the teams they were supposed to lose to, and they’ve taken care of business at home to teams they could beat. There hasn’t necessarily been that signature win (OSU is 0-5 against ranked opponents), but there also hasn’t really been a loss where you just think, “What the heck?” Now, they have been susceptible to a blowout, but of the four games OSU has lost by 20 or more, three came in Big 12 road games and the other was at home to a Texas Tech team that currently sits at No. 10 in the AP Poll.