Oklahoma State Basketball Coach Throws Shade At Players Trying To Transfer For Second Time

Oklahoma State basketball coach Mike Boynton

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Over the past few years, the NCAA has made a few fairly monumental decisions that seemed like a good idea in theory but ended up leaving plenty to be desired in practice.

The organization may have had its hand forced by the Supreme Court ruling that led to it altering its longstanding policy prohibiting players from profiting off of their name, image, and likeness, but the NIL Era has created plenty of headaches without any real adequate cure on the immediate horizon.

In 2021, the governing body also eliminated the rule that required the vast majority of players to sit out for a year if they decided they wanted to take their talents to another school.

That only increased the amount of activity in the transfer portal that was introduced in 2018, but that combination of factors has also been at the center of its fair share of controversy.

That reality was highlighted by an article from The Athletic that featured conversations with a number of basketball coaches who are concerned players are abusing the transfer portal—especially when it comes to student-athletes who’ve stated they want another change of scenery after previously defecting from another program.

While most of the coaches asked to remain anonymous, Oklahoma State skipper Mike Boynton wasn’t shy about sharing his thoughts on the matter while taking aim at Moussa Cisse and Woody Newton, two players who he unsuccessfully tried to convince to remain with the Cowboys before they officially entered the transfer portal a second time.

Here’s what he had to say:

“They think that they’ll figure it out. They’ll get enough sympathy publicly by some sob story coming out in the press and somebody latching onto it on social media that they’ll be viewed as a victim somehow and that’ll all be taken care of.

And, in some ways, I can see how they’d think that. We don’t have any precedents that the NCAA, especially recently, is going to stand up and try to hold anybody accountable to anything.”

He wasn’t the only coach to suggest the NCAA is complicit in handing out waivers they feel are unwarranted, as a number of others suggested players might be attempting to take advantage of the mental health exemption when they’re not actually grappling with serious psychological issues.

There may not be an easy solution, but newly-installed NCAA president Charlie Baker certainly has plenty of issues on his plate.

Connor Toole avatar and headshot for BroBible
Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.