Cowboy Quotables: Practice Begins

Three months of off-season workouts laid the foundation. Now the building begins. With practice officially underway, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton and players met with media Tuesday for a look back at the summer and a preview of the road ahead. Read on for some of their comments.

OKLAHOMA STATE HEAD COACH MIKE BOYNTON JR. ON…

…the importance of last month's trip to Spain:
"This group probably needed it more than any other group I've had... So many new pieces and so many that will have to play key roles for us to be successful. It was really important to have those practices and be ahead of the game a little bit, as we started the official practice leading into the season. I feel really good about where we are, excited about what we can become, but there's a ton of work to do between now and Nov. 6."

… what he learned about the team overseas:
"They are very coachable. Very coachable group. It was an awkward deal in that we gave them literally just the nuts and bolts. We didn't give them directions. We didn't tell them what we're building. So we said, 'hey, here are two or three things you can do on offense and three things you can do on defense. Now, go play against some guys who know how to play well together. And it looked like that. But what it did was it gave us a sense of their ability to adapt, to learn to deal with some adversity and to really help the younger guys especially understand how challenging it is to win if you're not really, really prepared. So we go into this practice session really focusing on being the best prepared, least distracted team we could possibly be."

… a radically rebuilt roster:
"It's college athletics. Really, college basketball. College athletics in 2023. Somewhere along the
summer, I was with somebody, and he said 'hey, I saw a graphic that you had the fourth-most experienced returning in the Big 12', and I'm thinking there's no way. How could we not be like 13
out of 14 teams, but that's everybody. To be clearly in the top half is kind of the state of college athletics. So it's something we just have to adapt to."

GRADUATE GUARD JARIUS HICKLEN ON…

… his growing collection of college degrees:
"Coming out of high school, I had an associate's degree. I was blessed for that opportunity. And now I'm working on my second master's. Grades have not been an issue for me… I have a bachelor's in sports management (from Oklahoma Baptist), a master's in management (from North Florida) and then I'm getting another master's in sports administration (at OSU)."

… what he envisions doing in the future:
"I want to be a GM. I want to own an NBA team one day."

… Fitting in with the other guards:
"It's been great. It's great that everybody is interchangeable. We all can play up at the perimeter. We all have the same skill set. We can pass it, share it, and shoot it."

… Being given the green light to shoot:
"He's given me that neon light. I can do anything I want from the three-point line and beyond. It's
been amazing."

JUNIOR GUARD JAVON SMALL ON…

… team bonding in Europe:
"It was great for us to bond. Every day we were there in Spain, we hung out every
single day. We went to a lot of places together – and then, on top of that – it was our first time
playing with each other, as well."

… adjusting to life in Stillwater as a new transfer:
"The only thing I need to adjust to is this weather. I'm not used to 100 degrees. It's so hot."

… his role within the team:
"My role is to be a leader, first and foremost, and then just basically the quarterback of
the team. I can go score whenever I need to, but my main job is, first off, to win, but also get my team involved."

REDSHIRT SENIOR CENTER MIKE MARSH ON…

… his health following offseason surgery to his shoulder:
"I am 100% clear right now. So, you know, it's been great for me. I've been trying to get in shape,
but you know, I'll get there soon."

… Practices, so far:
"We got better as a team and as players. We got better at a lot of things. We've got to clean up a
little more things, probably on defense, but we'll be good."

… the OSU coaching staff:
"They are all about the players, wanting them to get better. They've built a great relationship with us off the court, whether we are going to eat out or at their house or car rides to talk. They want to get into the gym with us."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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