Mike Boynton, Players React to Being Left Out of NCAA Tournament

Jeffrey Carroll had a bad feeling when the Sooners’ logo appeared on the TV screen. Oklahoma State’s basketball team watched TBS’ March Madness Selection Show on Sunday evening, but Carroll’s suspicions were confirmed when the Cowboys’ name wasn’t called.

The field of 68 was revealed in alphabetical order, and instead of seeing an orange OSU after the crimson and cream, they saw Providence’s gray, white and black logo.

Seniors Carroll and Mitchell Solomon said every emotion could be felt, but nothing was heard. The room filled with silence as they digested the disappointment.

“We had high hopes and they didn’t come to fruition,” a somber Solomon said.

“I’m feeling everything. When you play and put that much passion into something and it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to, you kinda feel a lot of emotions.”

Solomon was teary-eyed and choked up a little bit. Carroll had a similar composure has he echoed Solomon’s sentiments.

“My stomach just kinda dropped,” Carroll said. “I honestly couldn’t believe it. I thought that we had done enough to make it, but we just came up short.”

Boynton told his team he understood their disappointment and added they should feel that way. Boynton has been adamant about the quality of OSU’s accomplishments this season, and that didn’t change Sunday. He said he was surprised they weren’t even among the first four out.

“It is what it is,” Boynton said. “There probably were some things we could have controlled better over the course of the season … I don’t know what it was that necessarily kept us out at the end. I don’t think that anybody that was on that line, either that got in or didn’t get in, has a better collection of wins than we do.

“We’re gonna remember this moment and never want it to happen again. I’ll continue to remind them when I see that there’s something not trending in that direction.”