Winning Early Has Become the Norm for Coaches at Oklahoma State

Mike Boynton was introduced as OSU’s 20th men’s basketball coach earlier this week. There’s still a lot of differing opinions and expectations on the first-time head coach. Even different ideas on what success would look like in his first year.

So, for the sake or perspective, let’s look at Boynton’s previous 19 predecessors and how they fared during their first years in Stillwater. We’ll focus on recent history but the entire list is included below for reference.

A couple of things stick out.

It is common, though not the rule, for a coach to take over a program during a down period. Unlike with the Underwood departure, the school is normally motivated to make the change for one reason or another. A fact which may benefit Boynton moving forward. More on that later.

Eddie Sutton was the first OSU coach to finish over .500 in his first season. Since then, no coach has finished their first season with fewer than 20 wins. Underwood’s 20-13 was the worst of those four.

Eddie Sutton is also the only one of those who had a winning record in-conference his first year (he won the thing!). Eddie also took his first two teams to the Sweet 16. Sean Sutton could not replicate the success, failing to make the Tournament either of his two years.

Travis Ford made it to the second round his first year and Brad Underwood lost during the opener last year.

Ford’s first year was maybe his best. He only exceeded the 23-win mark one other year — when Marcus Smart was a freshman. And he never won another NCAA Tournament game.

Of course, the win total for one year does not paint a complete picture. Brad Underwood had the lowest number of wins among the last four coaches for a first year. Emotions aside, most saw the program heading in the right direction under Underwood, although 20-13 would have ranked fifth best in Travis Ford’s tenure.

The league has changed, as well. The last couple of years the Big 12 has been as tough as any conference nation-wide. Next year, Boynton may have an opportunity to stake a foothold with some teams presumably taking a step back. West Virginia won’t be as good. Kansas will have to replace a lot — but Self always figures that out pretty well. Texas hasn’t clicked under Shaka Smart yet. And Oklahoma and Texas Tech still have some bugs to work out.

With his roster not quite set, it would be silly to try to predict a win total for Mike Boynton’s inaugural campaign. But if he can somehow convince Jawun Evans to return for his junior season (a monstrous if) and Carroll follows suit, there’s no reason that his team can’t have close to the same ceiling as if Underwood had stayed. And we were all pretty excited about that.

Winning early has been the norm around Stillwater for nearly 30 years. Can Boynton afford to break tradition?

Here’s look at each coach’s first year at OSU.

• Brad Underwood (2015-16) – 20-13 (9-9)
• Travis Ford (2008-09) – 23-12 (9-7)
• Sean Sutton (2006-07) – 22-13 (6-10)
• Eddie Sutton (1990-91) – 24-8 (10-4)
• Leonard Hamilton (1986-87) 8-20 (4-10)
• Paul Hansen (1979-80) – 10-17 (4-10)
• Jim Killingsworth (1977-78) – 10-16 (4-10)
• Guy Strong (1973-74) – 9-17 (3-11)
• Sam Aubrey (1970-71) – 7-19 (2-12)
• Henry Iba (1934-35) – 9-9 (5-7)
• Harold James (1931-32) – 4-16 (2-6)
• George Rody (1929-30) – 1-15 (0-8)
• John Maulbetsch (1921-22) – 5-16 (2-3)
• James Pixlee (1919-20) – 1-12
• Earl Pritchard (1917-18) – 6-10 (1-4)
• John Griffith (1915-16) – 7-8
• Paul Davis (1911-12) – 2-6
• William Schrieber (1908-09) – 1-2
• Boyd A. Hill (1907-08) – 2-3