By SAM LANCE & ADAM ZAGORIA
KANSAS CITY — Oklahoma State parted ways with head coach Mike Boytnon on Thursday morning, the school announced.
“For seven years, Coach Boynton has led this program and represtented this program with class,” OSU Athletic Director Chad Weiberg said in a statement. “We’re grateful for the genuine passion and care he has for the student-athletes on our team. Unfortunately the desired results have not followed. Therefore, it is time to part ways and begin a new chapter. We wish Coach Boynton and his family the very best.”
OSU’s loss to UCF in the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday marked the Brooklyn native’s last game as the Cowboys head coach. Boynton finished with a record of 119-109 in seven seasons and took the Cowboys to the NCAA Tournament just one time — when he had No. 1 overall draft pick and consensus All-American Cade Cunningham in 2020-21. Last week, Boynton was asked about his job security and said he “doesn’t have any reason to believe he won’t return next season.” On Tuesday after the loss, it was a different story. “I know that’s a topic out there,” Boynton said. “I don’t know. I’m not in a position to give an answer to that. And I really haven’t, honestly, at this point today, thought about it at all. My whole focus was trying to win this game and get back to the hotel and hopefully be preparing right now to figure out how to beat a team we just lost to on Saturday. So there’ll be a time for that, no doubt about it. I don’t know when that time is. It’ll come soon. But today, I’ve not given an ounce of consideration to it.” Boynton also acknowledged what the Cowboys accomplished this season just wasn’t enough. “I’m not shying away from that,” Boynton said. “There are things that we need to do as a collective group to get better, and we will adjust those things as soon as we get back to campus and have some time to digest it.” Before coming to Oklahoma State, Boynton was an assistant at Stephen F. Austin (2013-16) and South Carolina (2008-2013). He’s also made stops at Wofford as associate head coach (2007-08) and Coastal Carolina as an assistant (2005-07). Two Big 12 jobs are now open in OSU and West Virginia. The latter announced it will be moving on from interim Josh Eilert earlier in the week. Several other high major jobs are open including Louisville, Ohio State, DePaul and Vanderbilt with former Ohio State and Butler coach Chris Holtmann now expected to take over at DePaul. Follow Sam Lance on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookMike Boynton will not return as men's basketball head coach. A national search has begun for his replacement. pic.twitter.com/tBPs1aGgyX
— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 14, 2024
