Mike Boynton Should Keep the Current Staff Together

One of the things people keep mentioning in regards to the hiring of new mens basketball coach Mike Boynton is continuity. The idea is that hiring Boynton will help to keep the current players and recruits in place and hopefully keep Oklahoma State from having to take (too much of) a step back.

If continuity is the goal, then keep Brad Underwood’s other two assistants should be task number one for Boynton.

As much credit as Brad Underwood deserves for this past season’s success, a good amount also needs to go to the staff he brought to Stillwater with him. Boynton was one. The others are Danny Henderson and Lamont Evans.

It was announced during the press conference that Boynton was promoting Evans.

This IS a smart decision. Evans is considered a good recruiter. In fact, Underwood called him one of the best when he came to Stillwater. While an assistant at South Carolina, Evans was integral in recruiting Sindarius Thornwell, who just led the Gamecocks to the Final Four.

Before today, Evans’ name was reportedly being brought up in connection with Brad Underwood’s staff openings at Illinois.

Boynton’s next step needs to be keeping Danny Henderson around.

Henderson has head coaching experience, having coached Flower Mound Marcus for 25 seasons. While there he amassed a record of 708-172 and won four state championships. Yes it was high school, but that doesn’t negate the work he did there, or his valuable connections in Texas, a primary recruiting ground for Oklahoma State.

As for his time in Stillwater, Henderson’s work with the post players this season helped turn the Cowboys into one of the best offensive-rebounding teams in the country. He also helped turn Mitchell Solomon into a player fans were actually happy to see on the court.

Also, it wouldn’t hurt to keep Keiton Page around. The former Cowboy sharp-shooter served as Assistant Director of Player Development last season. Page knows how to shoot and knows the kind of effort it takes to be successful in college. If Boynton is all about “hard work” as much as he says (which, what coach isn’t) then keeping a guy on staff who’s known for hitting tons of shots each day just to keep his shooting sharp, should be a priority. Plus, it never hurts to have a guy on the staff with an actual connection to the school.

Boynton know’s filling out his staff is an important job. In fact he called it, “probably the most important thing I do,” on Saturday. I think keeping guys on the staff around is the first step in making that happen.