Oklahoma State University Athletics
Boynton’s Battalion: David Cason Carries Long Journey to Stillwater, Elite Experience
October 07, 2022 | Cowboy Basketball
11,839 miles.
Eleven thousand eight hundred thirty-nine miles is the equivalent to approximately 452 marathon races, two round trips between the East and West Coast of the United States and nearly a 50 percent completion in circling the Earth.
It is also the distance David Cason has ventured en route to Stillwater, Okla.
Cason, one of three assistant coaches hired by Mike Boynton prior to the 2021-22 season, returns to Oklahoma State men's basketball geared with more than 25 years of coaching experience, opportunities in both managing and coaching for numerous universities and a prolific tenure in his playing career.
Embracing His Role
Cason's journey to this point has been filled with twists and turns, 14 to be exact. A native of Baltimore, Cason found success early in his playing days at Southern High School. Operating as the team's point guard, he made his mark, netting All-Metro honors and city championship accolades by his graduation.
After concluding his tenure at Southern High, the journey had only just started for Cason. More than 2,264 miles later, he entered the college ballot at another "Southern", only this one was the College of Southern Idaho, located in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Reuniting with former high-school teammates Craig Tyson and Adam Johnson at Southern Idaho, Cason's on-court chemistry continued to permeate – asserting himself as one of the team's top passers in his two seasons with the Golden Eagles.
However, with junior college out of the picture, Cason arrived more than 1,500 miles away to play for Illinois State. In the process, not only did he continue to shine at the point guard position, but he also met one of the most instrumental members in his career development – Kevin Stallings.
"Making the transition from junior college to Division 1 was fast," Cason said. "You had to be tough, and you had to be able to run the system coach Stallings implemented. You had to have some mental toughness and physical toughness to you, and I truly believe my high school career and junior college career leading up to that helped me. Also, it goes without saying, King Rice, who was on North Carolina's Final Four team, was my assistant Coach. So, I had a ton of mentors, a ton of support and I had a good career because I was so fortunate enough to have these steps along the way with great coaches and leaders."
Orchestrating the offense as a 5-foot-11-point guard, Cason had to find his role. Once he found it in the assist department, he never looked back.
"I knew my role. I needed to pass the dang ball," Cason said. "We had some dudes that were really good. I better pass the ball if we wanted to win.
"There was a guy by the name of Dan Muller, who was the head coach at Illinois State. He was 6-foot-6, could really defend. He was Freshman of the Year, and his sophomore and junior year, he was All-Defense, like he was Defensive Player of the Year, which was elite. He could really shoot it, couldn't dribble to save his life, but could really shoot it. He was kind of like a guy that was going to be the face of the program early. And for myself, as a senior, I knew that. I knew my role was to help make sure I put this young freshman in position every day and every game for us to be good."
Under his solidified role, Cason led the Redbirds in assists across both seasons, highlighted by a 6.8-assist average as a senior. However, when his tenure on the hardwood had come to a close, his passion for the game, invigorated by Stallings and his father, helped him pick up the clipboard – coaching under Stallings as a student assistant coach at Illinois State.
"My dad was a recreation center coach in our neighborhood," Cason said. "He coached a number of adult leagues. So, I knew if I could not play beyond college that I wanted to coach and playing for coach Stalling really opened my eyes to how my dad was raising me. Coach Stalling gave me keys to the program early. It was his first year as a head coach at Illinois State, he had just gone to the Final Four with Kansas. He was young, and he basically went on a limb and gave me the opportunity to run his program."
Following his time under Stallings, Cason found his stride coaching with the Eastern Illinois Panthers from 1996-99. After his trio of successful campaigns – his journey took another turn – accepting the director of basketball operations position at Notre Dame.
Basketball and Bus Routes
From 1999 to 2003, Cason carried director of basketball Operations roles at Notre Dame (1999-2000) and North Carolina. While the expansion of the game has seen a growth in positions and roles in the field – Cason's opportunity behind the desk provided a greater look at just what it took to run a program.
"At the time 20 years ago, director of basketball operations meant that you had to handle a great deal of the day-to-day operations whether it was travel, the organization of practice plans, class schedules," Cason said. "You are basically a liaison between the coaching staff and every entity that helps the program move outside of the program."
While Cason, learning behind assistants Doug Wojcik and Fred Quartlebaum, helped to assemble the 2005 National Champion Tar Heels, highlighted by Sean May and Rashad McCants, he also handled big-time responsibilities behind the curtains.
"In North Carolina, one of the biggest responsibilities that we had there was the North Carolina Basketball Camps," Cason said. "There were three weeks of it during the summer, you had 1,000 kids per week. You have 1,000 kids throughout the area of Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, Cary, N.C. So, there's a bus system that's implemented. You've got 18 buses moving kids all around the Chapel Hill area and you have to track all of them.
"I always looked at my experience at North Carolina and Notre Dame, two of the most prestigious universities in the country, Fortune 500 companies to me, so to speak. My experience at those places helped with my transition to being an assistant coach. I had a greater appreciation for what it took and what it takes to run a program because I did it all."
Iron Sharpens Iron
"It seems like I keep getting older, and these dudes keep getting younger," said Cason, chuckling.
With stops at Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Notre Dame, North Carolina, TCU, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, VCU, Texas, Florida Gulf Coast and FIU – Cason has tipped the scale in terms of experience. He's held coaching positions longer than any player on Oklahoma State's men's basketball team has been alive.
However, even with a 26-year-long tenure working in the sport, he still comes into work with the same approach each and every day.
"I think what helps me as an assistant coach is that I have never tried to be someone else other than me," Cason said. "I think that kids see through fraudulence, parents see through fraudulence in the recruiting process. No knock on salesmen, but there's a reason why salesmen are good. I'm not good at being a salesman, I'm good at being me."
Throughout his time coaching, Cason has been no stranger to accolades. With more than 400 career wins, four NCAA Tournament tickets, seven NIT appearances, a Sweet 16 entrance and an SEC Championship with Vanderbilt, doing so under former Illinois State coach Kevin Stallings. There's a prestigious resume attached to his work.
"I've been extremely lucky," he said. "But I think a great deal of it [coaching success] goes back to my playing career as a point guard. I wasn't very good, so I had to listen and pay attention to detail. I think that truly helped me. Along the way, you build a reputation in this profession. You decide whether that reputation is a good one or a not-so-good one."
Destination: Stillwater
It has been quite the journey for Cason to arrive in Stillwater. But, for Cason, Oklahoma State has always been on his radar.
"I'm extremely fortunate because after spending six years at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma has always had a special place in my heart," he said. "That's where my kids spent the longest time of their lives during my coaching career. From afar, I've admired Oklahoma State for how they did everything throughout the state, from publicity of their players to recruiting to winning. When I transitioned from Tulsa to other schools and coach Boynton was named head coach here, I watched even closer."
Cason, who spent 2015-17 on Shaka Smart's staff at Texas, had previously gotten to know Boynton during his times out on the recruiting trail. Now, he is all on board with the Cowboys' program.
"He's a guy who truly has your back," Cason said. "I just became a huge admirer of his after he was named head coach here and how he handled the transition and then how he handled the last five years going through what we've gone through. After being here for a year, I understand. I don't know, but I understand what he went through.
"As you get older in this profession, it gets to a point where you're striving to do something or get something. But then when you have kids that get a little older, what becomes important to me has been being good with people. Being at a program that would make me proud to be doing what I'm doing, making sure my kids and my wife were at a familiar place, a comfortable transition. Most importantly, being with a head coach who was doing it right, who was trying to help the kids, who was winning. All of these things 20 years ago were not as important. There was a selfish side for sure. Now, this is what I need for my life. The stability for my kids, comfort for my wife, a place she felt safe for our kids. My daughter, Taylor, is a junior here at OSU studying pre-med psych (that all attracted us to Stillwater.) My son, DJ, is a senior point guard at Stillwater High School."
Loading up for his 27th season on the sidelines, and his second with the Cowboys, Cason is prepped for the year ahead.
"Obviously, we want to win," Cason said. "But there are steps to that. I feel good that we will win because of the guys that we have. I look forward to teaching the guys every day, from being on the floor with them, to having staff meetings, to coaching, to learning from them. I look forward to getting our guys better every single day. As I've gotten older, I've learned that as an assistant coach, my biggest job is to try and assist coach Boynton with having easy, non-problematic days.
"I think that one of the things I try to bring to the table every day is a ton of energy. Our other guys, they do a great job of it as well. I'm in there every day trying to make practice fun, trying to work hard, but love them harder."
As for Boynton, he sees great value in having Cason on board.
"David has a massive list of contacts in our business," Boynton said. "He has helped recruit, develop and coach several great players. He is really good at breaking down film and talking through the nuances of playing the point guard position."
Approximately 452 marathons, two round trips between the East and West Coast of the United States, or nearly a 50 percent completion in circling the Earth make up 11,839 miles.
For David Cason, it marks his journey to America's Brightest Orange.
Eleven thousand eight hundred thirty-nine miles is the equivalent to approximately 452 marathon races, two round trips between the East and West Coast of the United States and nearly a 50 percent completion in circling the Earth.
It is also the distance David Cason has ventured en route to Stillwater, Okla.
Cason, one of three assistant coaches hired by Mike Boynton prior to the 2021-22 season, returns to Oklahoma State men's basketball geared with more than 25 years of coaching experience, opportunities in both managing and coaching for numerous universities and a prolific tenure in his playing career.
Embracing His Role
Cason's journey to this point has been filled with twists and turns, 14 to be exact. A native of Baltimore, Cason found success early in his playing days at Southern High School. Operating as the team's point guard, he made his mark, netting All-Metro honors and city championship accolades by his graduation.
After concluding his tenure at Southern High, the journey had only just started for Cason. More than 2,264 miles later, he entered the college ballot at another "Southern", only this one was the College of Southern Idaho, located in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Reuniting with former high-school teammates Craig Tyson and Adam Johnson at Southern Idaho, Cason's on-court chemistry continued to permeate – asserting himself as one of the team's top passers in his two seasons with the Golden Eagles.
However, with junior college out of the picture, Cason arrived more than 1,500 miles away to play for Illinois State. In the process, not only did he continue to shine at the point guard position, but he also met one of the most instrumental members in his career development – Kevin Stallings.
"Making the transition from junior college to Division 1 was fast," Cason said. "You had to be tough, and you had to be able to run the system coach Stallings implemented. You had to have some mental toughness and physical toughness to you, and I truly believe my high school career and junior college career leading up to that helped me. Also, it goes without saying, King Rice, who was on North Carolina's Final Four team, was my assistant Coach. So, I had a ton of mentors, a ton of support and I had a good career because I was so fortunate enough to have these steps along the way with great coaches and leaders."
Orchestrating the offense as a 5-foot-11-point guard, Cason had to find his role. Once he found it in the assist department, he never looked back.
"I knew my role. I needed to pass the dang ball," Cason said. "We had some dudes that were really good. I better pass the ball if we wanted to win.
"There was a guy by the name of Dan Muller, who was the head coach at Illinois State. He was 6-foot-6, could really defend. He was Freshman of the Year, and his sophomore and junior year, he was All-Defense, like he was Defensive Player of the Year, which was elite. He could really shoot it, couldn't dribble to save his life, but could really shoot it. He was kind of like a guy that was going to be the face of the program early. And for myself, as a senior, I knew that. I knew my role was to help make sure I put this young freshman in position every day and every game for us to be good."
Under his solidified role, Cason led the Redbirds in assists across both seasons, highlighted by a 6.8-assist average as a senior. However, when his tenure on the hardwood had come to a close, his passion for the game, invigorated by Stallings and his father, helped him pick up the clipboard – coaching under Stallings as a student assistant coach at Illinois State.
"My dad was a recreation center coach in our neighborhood," Cason said. "He coached a number of adult leagues. So, I knew if I could not play beyond college that I wanted to coach and playing for coach Stalling really opened my eyes to how my dad was raising me. Coach Stalling gave me keys to the program early. It was his first year as a head coach at Illinois State, he had just gone to the Final Four with Kansas. He was young, and he basically went on a limb and gave me the opportunity to run his program."
Following his time under Stallings, Cason found his stride coaching with the Eastern Illinois Panthers from 1996-99. After his trio of successful campaigns – his journey took another turn – accepting the director of basketball operations position at Notre Dame.
Basketball and Bus Routes
From 1999 to 2003, Cason carried director of basketball Operations roles at Notre Dame (1999-2000) and North Carolina. While the expansion of the game has seen a growth in positions and roles in the field – Cason's opportunity behind the desk provided a greater look at just what it took to run a program.
"At the time 20 years ago, director of basketball operations meant that you had to handle a great deal of the day-to-day operations whether it was travel, the organization of practice plans, class schedules," Cason said. "You are basically a liaison between the coaching staff and every entity that helps the program move outside of the program."
While Cason, learning behind assistants Doug Wojcik and Fred Quartlebaum, helped to assemble the 2005 National Champion Tar Heels, highlighted by Sean May and Rashad McCants, he also handled big-time responsibilities behind the curtains.
"In North Carolina, one of the biggest responsibilities that we had there was the North Carolina Basketball Camps," Cason said. "There were three weeks of it during the summer, you had 1,000 kids per week. You have 1,000 kids throughout the area of Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, Cary, N.C. So, there's a bus system that's implemented. You've got 18 buses moving kids all around the Chapel Hill area and you have to track all of them.
"I always looked at my experience at North Carolina and Notre Dame, two of the most prestigious universities in the country, Fortune 500 companies to me, so to speak. My experience at those places helped with my transition to being an assistant coach. I had a greater appreciation for what it took and what it takes to run a program because I did it all."
Iron Sharpens Iron
"It seems like I keep getting older, and these dudes keep getting younger," said Cason, chuckling.
With stops at Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Notre Dame, North Carolina, TCU, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, VCU, Texas, Florida Gulf Coast and FIU – Cason has tipped the scale in terms of experience. He's held coaching positions longer than any player on Oklahoma State's men's basketball team has been alive.
However, even with a 26-year-long tenure working in the sport, he still comes into work with the same approach each and every day.
"I think what helps me as an assistant coach is that I have never tried to be someone else other than me," Cason said. "I think that kids see through fraudulence, parents see through fraudulence in the recruiting process. No knock on salesmen, but there's a reason why salesmen are good. I'm not good at being a salesman, I'm good at being me."
Throughout his time coaching, Cason has been no stranger to accolades. With more than 400 career wins, four NCAA Tournament tickets, seven NIT appearances, a Sweet 16 entrance and an SEC Championship with Vanderbilt, doing so under former Illinois State coach Kevin Stallings. There's a prestigious resume attached to his work.
"I've been extremely lucky," he said. "But I think a great deal of it [coaching success] goes back to my playing career as a point guard. I wasn't very good, so I had to listen and pay attention to detail. I think that truly helped me. Along the way, you build a reputation in this profession. You decide whether that reputation is a good one or a not-so-good one."
Destination: Stillwater
It has been quite the journey for Cason to arrive in Stillwater. But, for Cason, Oklahoma State has always been on his radar.
"I'm extremely fortunate because after spending six years at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma has always had a special place in my heart," he said. "That's where my kids spent the longest time of their lives during my coaching career. From afar, I've admired Oklahoma State for how they did everything throughout the state, from publicity of their players to recruiting to winning. When I transitioned from Tulsa to other schools and coach Boynton was named head coach here, I watched even closer."
Cason, who spent 2015-17 on Shaka Smart's staff at Texas, had previously gotten to know Boynton during his times out on the recruiting trail. Now, he is all on board with the Cowboys' program.
"He's a guy who truly has your back," Cason said. "I just became a huge admirer of his after he was named head coach here and how he handled the transition and then how he handled the last five years going through what we've gone through. After being here for a year, I understand. I don't know, but I understand what he went through.
"As you get older in this profession, it gets to a point where you're striving to do something or get something. But then when you have kids that get a little older, what becomes important to me has been being good with people. Being at a program that would make me proud to be doing what I'm doing, making sure my kids and my wife were at a familiar place, a comfortable transition. Most importantly, being with a head coach who was doing it right, who was trying to help the kids, who was winning. All of these things 20 years ago were not as important. There was a selfish side for sure. Now, this is what I need for my life. The stability for my kids, comfort for my wife, a place she felt safe for our kids. My daughter, Taylor, is a junior here at OSU studying pre-med psych (that all attracted us to Stillwater.) My son, DJ, is a senior point guard at Stillwater High School."
Loading up for his 27th season on the sidelines, and his second with the Cowboys, Cason is prepped for the year ahead.
"Obviously, we want to win," Cason said. "But there are steps to that. I feel good that we will win because of the guys that we have. I look forward to teaching the guys every day, from being on the floor with them, to having staff meetings, to coaching, to learning from them. I look forward to getting our guys better every single day. As I've gotten older, I've learned that as an assistant coach, my biggest job is to try and assist coach Boynton with having easy, non-problematic days.
"I think that one of the things I try to bring to the table every day is a ton of energy. Our other guys, they do a great job of it as well. I'm in there every day trying to make practice fun, trying to work hard, but love them harder."
As for Boynton, he sees great value in having Cason on board.
"David has a massive list of contacts in our business," Boynton said. "He has helped recruit, develop and coach several great players. He is really good at breaking down film and talking through the nuances of playing the point guard position."
Approximately 452 marathons, two round trips between the East and West Coast of the United States, or nearly a 50 percent completion in circling the Earth make up 11,839 miles.
For David Cason, it marks his journey to America's Brightest Orange.
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