Column: Steve Lutz will need more support to rebuild Oklahoma State men’s basketball

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Apr. 5—Hiring Steve Lutz is the easiest step toward rebuilding Oklahoma State men’s basketball, athletic director Chad Weiberg said.

“Now, the real work starts for him and for me and for all of us,” Weiberg said. “We have to go about the business of making sure he’s successful.”

In the twilight of his tenure, former coach Mike Boynton had a visceral conversation with the media about the program’s struggles. The discussion revolved around OSU being dead last in the Big 12 in NIL spending for men’s basketball.

In the aftermath, the News Press ran a column that concluded Boynton’s firing would do little to change the on-court success. That hypothesis will now be tested.

During Weiberg’s first media availability since Boynton’s comments were made, the News Press asked what he thought of them.

“I feel good about where we are with all of our sports here at OSU,” Weiberg said. “You can’t see NIL. You don’t know what’s going on there. It’s not a transparent process at this point at any school in the country.

“But all you have to do is look around here, and you see real quickly how invested our fans are, our donors are, and I believe that will be the case for Cowboy Basketball and continue to be the case for all of our sports.”

The head coaching position for OSU basketball was vacant for 18 days — longer than any other vacancies in the Power Five this coaching cycle. Many of the program’s most desired candidates were quickly hired elsewhere, and CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported that sources claimed the search was a “mess.”

Weiberg laughed that notion off Thursday.

“I did not set a time frame one way or the other,” he said. “My whole intent was to get the best basketball coach we could find. I didn’t care about how long it took, how short it took or anything.”

OSU President Dr. Kayse Shrum and Weiberg said Lutz is the best they could find.

“A coach that will ignite the Cowboy Nation and restore our program to national prominence,” Shrum said. “I believe that’s what we have in Coach…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/column-steve-lutz-more-support-035900525.html

Author : Stillwater NewsPress, Okla.

Publish date : 2024-04-06 03:59:00

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