The Unknown Marks Upside (and Downside) of Boynton

For as much hand-wringing as we’ve done in the past few days about the hiring of Mike Boynton as the new Oklahoma State men’s basketball coach, there is still one fact we can hope in as Cowboy fans: We have no idea how good he could be.

I know that’s a reach — trust me, I’ve thought about this from every feasible angle — but there are just so few positives to take away from the first few days of this hiring. The unknown of Boynton (while also reasonably a negative) could turn into a positive.

He’s like the 6’10 Latvian center a NBA team takes with the fifth pick in the draft. Might never play. Might be Kristaps Porzingas. Odds are obviously more heavily weighted towards the former, but you never know what could happen.

Boynton actually seemed impressive in his Saturday morning sit-down with various members of the media.

“I believe kids don’t care how much you know about basketball,” Boynton told a handful of media members. “I can draw up all the plays in the world, but they won’t care how many plays I know if I don’t care about them as people and their families don’t believe I have their best interest at heart.

“I’d say I was able to convey that (to the selection committee at OSU), and that I’ve been a leader all my life, as a point guard on every team I’ve ever played on, on most staffs as an associate head coach or as an outspoken member of the staff, and being very proactive in how I work with our players.”

OK. That’s a start.

His high school coach in Brooklyn, Bob Leckie, said he was able to let Boynton run practices as a 15-year-old. That’s a far cry from being a head coach in the Big 12, but it does point to the path Boynton has been on for his entire life.

“You’ve got to be able to trust your point guard because he is an extension of you out there on the court. In certain circumstances I could easily trust Michael to start practice and even run it all,” Leckie told Go Pokes. “I told him to stay away from social media. There are always going to be people for you and against you. Keep from reading all that and keep your nose to the grindstone and keep working.”

It seems like working is one of the things Boynton is best at.

So maybe this will be a disaster. It very well could be. Maybe even likely will be. But maybe it won’t. It’s a long shot, for sure. Nobody thinks otherwise. And it’s an odd time for Mike Holder to be taking long shots. But if a number of dominoes fall the right way — again, I realize this sounds preposterous — Boynton could find success in Stillwater.

I for one hope that’s the case.