I had honestly forgotton the LaMont Evans situation was still being investigated. I assumed since Kansas had been absolved so had O State and others as well.This just seems wrong on multiple fronts. I’m a Mike Boynton fan and have been since he took over the reigns of the O State program.
Most all of this is wrong for the O State players who did nothing wrong in regards to a rogue assistant coach who was removed five years ago.
Imagine you’re a senior or the parent of a senior and just like that because of the actions of a fired coach who was at this school before this group of players were even in Stillwater… and just like that the goal of playing in this year’s NCAA Tournament and the Big 12 Tournament is taken away from your team or your son’s team.
The emotion from Mike Boynton at this presser was palpable and very much real.
It’s one of the things I love about him as a coach. He’s a players’ coach all the way through. But a tough one who still adheres to old school ways. He goes to war for his players and they reciprocate.
I think most of us who passionately follow Big 12 hoops have O State somewhere between 4th thru 6th in this year’s league. I very much had O State as one of the six or seven Big 12 teams which would be going to the Big Dance.
It’s a team with a trio of guards in Avery Anderson, Rondel Walker, and Issac Likele who should matchup well against any team in the country. Avery Anderson is already being projected as a late first round NBA selection.
But I tell you what.. I expect Mike Boynton to stand with his kids and for them to play their butts off every game this season. To play for themselves and Coach Boynton. O State has its best nonconference schedule I can remember from recent years and the Big 12 in my view is either the best or second best hoops conference in the country.
Two seasons ago Texas Tech with Chris Beard came within a play of defeating Virginia in the NCAA Championship Game. Last season Baylor ran Gonzaga off the court in the NCAA Finals.
The pre-season poll has Kansas at No. 3, Texas with Chris Beard at No. 5, and defending champ Baylor at No. 8. I have O State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and West Virginia all in a second tier of teams who should be fighting to get an NCAA tournament bid. The remaining gyms at Ames, Manhattan, and Fort Worth aren’t easy places for a road team to get a win either.
This genuinely is wrong for the O State players. There’s no way they should be serving someone else’s penalty for something which occurred five years ago.
Two of the three players I mentioned above were actually thinking of entering the NBA draft last season. But like me they thought this Lamont Evans issue was in the past.
I wonder if Duke and Kansas will be sitting this year’s NCAA Tournament.
This is why the NCAA’s jurisdiction should be removed or at the least drastically reduced from college athletics.