Oklahoma State Hoping to Use Puerto Rico Trip to Springboard Cowboys Ahead of Schedule

STILLWATER — When the Cowboys head to Puerto Rico they will take part in a lot of fun activities like renting out a catamaran, paddleboarding and hiking through a rainforest.

None of those things were top of mind for point guard Kanye Clary when he was asked what he hopes to get out of the upcoming trip on Tuesday morning.

“A sense of like you know unity just becoming one,” Clary said. “You know we’ve been practicing against each other for the last two months, so you really haven’t played nobody else. So I’m kind of eager to see how we react when facing adversity. You know, maybe we playing people say (in) the game they go on a 10-0 run. You see how we react to the little things.”

Oklahoma State will compete in Puerto Rico Sunday, Monday and Wednesday in games against a professional team recently eliminated from the playoffs. All tipoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and fans can stream the games live on either the BallTV app (search Oklahoma State) or on BallerTV.com using the following links.

Watch Game 1.

Watch Game 2. 

Watch Game 3.

“Basically what we do is we pay more money to get those guys to stick around,” Lutz said. “So then instead of playing, like a lot of times you’ll go over there and you’ll just play whoever’s in the country that is a professional, and they’ll just kind of throw them all together. We’ll have an actual team, and the coach will coach that team. … So it should be good competition, at least two out of three games.”

The Cowboys have already gained one of the biggest benefits of the trip before even leaving. The NCAA lifts practice restrictions normally imposed during the summer and allows 10 practices ahead of foreign tours.

Lutz compared these to “Christmas in July” and said these in combination with live games should allow the Cowboys to take the floor for exhibition games in September and October well ahead of schedule. The trip will also allow the coaches to experiment with multiple lineups that could change at the start of every quarter since the Puerto Rican Professional Basketball League uses FIBA rules.

“Now our goal is to win,” Lutz said. “Like don’t mistake this. We’re going over there to compete and to win. But I also want to see who plays well together and try the different lineups out.”

Practices are the top benefit, but Lutz said the chance for the team to bond in a meaningful way comes second. The Oklahoma State coach even said he would ban phones from the activities to encourage the guys to really focus on each other.

“And that’s where the jokes start to come out, and you really get to know one another on a personal level,” Lutz said.

When discussing Clary’s impact as a returner, Lutz said saw a huge change in Clary around January last season. He believes this trip could help first-year Cowboys make similar jumps sooner in the season.

“This is just part of where we’re at in today’s basketball world,” he said. “I think that’s kind of when he turned the corner and maybe started trusting the staff and buying into what we’re doing. And again, you asked about you know what does the summer and the foreign trip help with? That should help with that.”