SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

Mike Boynton has spent over a decade either playing for, coaching or rooting for South Carolina and its men’s basketball team.

But, for two hours Saturday, as Frank Martin and the Gamecocks come to Stillwater to face Boynton’s Oklahoma State team, he won’t be.

“It’ll be the first time ever that South Carolina will be playing and I don’t want them to win. I spent a lot of time in Columbia—not only as a player and an assistant coach - but the years in between that I stayed in the state and was able to spend a lot of time in the program. I know a lot of people there. I have really good relationships with people there,” Boynton said. “After Saturday, I hope they win the rest of their games moving forward.”

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Boynton played four seasons at South Carolina, putting together a solid career capped by a senior season that saw him average almost 10 points and more than three assists per game as one of the team’s starting guards.

Since graduating, he spent four years coaching the Gamecocks on Darrin Horn’s staff before taking assistant jobs with Brad Underwood at Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State. He took over as the head coach in Stillwater two seasons ago.

Now, with the SEC/Big 12 challenge this weekend and the Gamecocks on the schedule, Boynton’s facing a tough test in playing his alma mater and a coach in Frank Martin who Boynton says has been a role model in this business.

“I may be a little biased because I know Frank personally and owe a lot of my success and my career to him,” he said. “I think he’s one of the premier, elite college basketball coaches in all of America. I think he does a great job.”

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And the timing isn’t great for Boynton. He just had to dismiss three scholarship players, and is now playing a red-hot Gamecocks team with fewer than 10 scholarship players on his squad and riding a three-game losing streak.

The Gamecocks (10-8, 5-1) come in on the other side of that, winning five of their last six games and fresh off an upset over No. 16 Auburn.

Boynton wasn’t surprised at all about South Carolina’s recent success, saying it’s typical of a Martin-coached team to get a lot better as the season progresses.

“What you know about Frank is the team’s going to be tough, they’re going to have an unbreakable spirit and will be a team that continues to improve over the course of the year,” he said. “I think that’s a fact that’s been proven over time and that’s been no different this season. They’re playing their best basketball right now and, probably other than Tennessee, are the hottest team in the league.”

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Boynton never coached with Martin, who brought his entire staff over from Kansas State when he was hired, but he still has an admiration for what Martin’s been able to do at Boynton’s alma mater.

The two have spent some time together and Boynton has been close to the program even if he wasn’t playing or coaching there.

He said Martin’s personality is reflected in his teams, and it’s showing this year.

“One of the things you learn pretty quickly being around Frank is that he’s as real as they come. There’s a lot of fake, not only in basketball but in our world today, and Frank hasn’t succumbed,” Boynton said. “He’s stayed true to himself. And there’s no greater example of that than to watch his kids continue to battle for him.”