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Five candidates for Oklahoma State basketball's coaching search

ryan breeden, stillwater newspress, okla.
·5 min read

Mar. 14—It didn't take long after Oklahoma State's season ended for Chad Weiberg to make a change.

With less than 48 hours separating the opening round Big 12 tournament loss to UCF, and the dismissal of Mike Boynton as Oklahoma State mens basketball's head coach, it would appear that the process of finding a replacement might move fairly quickly.

It would be hard to imagine the athletic department would reach a decision to move on from Boynton if they didn't have somebody in mind.

As is the case with any coaching vacancy, the big question is easy — who is going be the next head coach of OSU basketball?

Here's a few names that make the most sense:

1. DANNY SPRINKLE, UTAH STATEThis one might make the most sense out of all possible candidates for a number of reasons.

Sprinkle is currently in his first season with Utah State and has already won the Mountain West regular season title and the 2024 MWC Coach of the Year award.

After Utah State lost head coach Ryan Odom to VCU following a 27-5 season in 2022-23, Sprinkle has taken control and not skipped a beat.

Despite inheriting just three returning players from Odom's roster and having to go out and get 13 newcomers, Sprinkle has led the Aggies to an appearance in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals — which was being played after press time Friday — with a chance at an NCAA tournament berth.

The 47-year-old Montana State graduate spent the previous four years as head coach at his alma mater, and in his final two seasons took the program to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in school history.

Sprinkle has a proven history of winning and taking teams to March Madness, and he also proved this year that he can quickly rebuild a roster to compete ahead of schedule (something that could be valuable in Oklahoma State's instance).

2. DARIAN DEVRIES, DRAKE

A part of the Dana Altman coaching tree, DeVries has turned Drake into a consistent NCAA tournament team in his five years at the helm.

The Bulldogs have made it to two NCAA tournaments under Devries with a third on the way after winning the automatic bid for the Missouri Valley Conference last weekend.

With eighteen years of experience as an assistant at Creighton and now more than 150 career wins as a head coach, he gives a level of proven results that OSU desperately needs.

Drake signed DeVries to an eight-year extension back in 2021, but for the right price Oklahoma State could steal him away. With a reported yearly salary of between $650,000 and $850,000, financially it would be feasible to give him a pay raise.

3. MIKE YOUNG, VIRGINIA TECH

Young has been either an assistant or a head coach at the Division 1 ranks since 1986 and has appeared in seven NCAA tournaments as a head coach.

As the head coach of Wofford for 18 years, Young took the Terriers from the basement floor to five NCAA tournament appearances from 2010-2019 before getting his first Power Five gig with Virginia Tech ahead of the 2019-2020 season.

Since taking over for the Hokies he made the tournament three consecutive seasons before missing out last year. A perfect example of working their way to the top, Young has seen all levels of basketball and can lead both non-power five and power five teams to March Madness.

With 390 career wins to his ledger, Mike Young and his experienced coaching resume would be a potential fit in Stillwater.

4. DUSTY MAY, FLORIDA ATLANTIC

Of all the possibilities this one would be the least likely from a financial standpoint.

May led Florida Atlantic to an improbable Final Four run last season so his name has been the hottest name on the coaching market ever since.

With a handful of notable teams already searching for new head coaches, namely Ohio State, Louisville, Washington, Vanderbilt and West Virginia already, May could become the subject of a bidding war, one that Oklahoma State may not be able to contend with given the costly $7.5 million buyout.

His head coaching career started with FAU back in 2018 and his Final Four run last year was the first time he had made the tournament as a head coach. May served as an assistant under Michael White at Louisiana Tech for five years before heading to Gainesville as a Florida assistant for three years before settling with the Owls.

May has 125 career wins and a chance to take FAU back to the NCAA tournament again this year, and after finding a blueprint for success in March, there's no doubt he would be a slam-dunk hire.

5. JOHN LUCAS III, PHOENIX SUNS ASSISTANT

With Doug Gottlieb reportedly already being taken out of the head coaching search, Oklahoma State could still find a former player to take over if it really wanted to.

Lucas played for Eddie Sutton during the 2004 Final Four run, and he spent 12 years playing professional basketball both in the NBA, the G-League and even abroad.

Now as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns and after previous assistant stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers, he's been around coaches like Tom Thibodeau and now Frank Vogel on two occasions after following him to Phoenix.

He doesn't have head coaching experience, so this one would come with some obvious risks that might not be afforded at the moment, but if any Cowboy basketball alumni were to be chosen for the job, John Lucas III would be the one.

After all, the athletic department needs to get out ahead of this coaching search and find its guy before other teams join the head coaching market and create competition. That could create a challenge with some of these coaches in line to coach in March Madness this month.

It seems likely to be a tough rebuild ahead for Cowboy basketball, but depending on who they hire it could be less challenging than expected. Several of these candidates could potentially do that.