Cowboy Quotables: Boynton, Wright and Garrison

Thursday afternoon, head coach Mike Boynton Jr. shared an update on senior guard Bryce Thompson's injury status and what it means for his young team going forward. Read on for highlights from Oklahoma State weekly men's basketball press conference:

Head coach Mike Boynton Jr. on…

… Bryce Thompson's status after injuring his right shoulder Tuesday night at Kansas:
"Bryce Thompson has got a torn labrum. It's going to require surgery. He's going to have it sometime in the next few days and, obviously, going to have to miss some significant time. I'm not a doctor. I don't know (how much time). Obviously, part of it depends on, once they get in there and (determine) the severity of the fix. But he's going to miss some significant time. It could potentially be season-ending. That's a very strong possibility... I hate it for him. Individually, a kid that's really one of the hardest-working kids I've ever been around. He really cares about this school, this program. Being an in-state kid, he wanted to represent this program. Obviously, it also affects our team, losing our most-experienced guy from a team that was already kind of inexperienced. It's a difficult thing to deal with, but life sometimes throws you some curveballs and you've got to be ready to adapt. Another challenge we can grow from and learn from and get better for. Our prayers will be with him as he goes into surgery."

… How Thompson's absence affected OSU's performance over the last 35 minutes at KU:
"We weren't off to a great start, but we lost ourselves pretty quickly after he went out. A guy who had been there, done that, played well in that building and played well against that team, pretty much since he's transferred from there. So it was evident, his impact, not being there."

Replacing Thompson's production going forward:
"We've just got to make the next guys that are available better, right? They've got to be ready to step up. Everybody always wants a bigger role and more opportunity. For somebody, maybe multiple guys, that'll present itself now. We always talk about 'When it's not your turn, staying ready, so that when it is your turn, you don't have to try to do something you haven't been already working at.' Exactly how it looks, from a rotational standpoint, I can't really say. We don't have a ton of depth anyway, right? Jamyron (Keller), Justin (McBride) and those guys who haven't played as much may get a little bit more of an opportunity as we turn the page."

… Defensive development for young players and how much of it is film-based:
"What made the last few year's team so good defensively is they had been through this stuff so many times. They watched a lot of film, but going out there and defending that pick-and-roll with, you know, Dajaun Harris and Hunter Dickinson wasn't new to those guys. It was new to Brandon Garrison two weeks ago. It was a little bit less new two days ago. But it's still not enough to where like, every time, he knows exactly where he's supposed to be so that the roll man doesn't get behind him, so that he doesn't get split by the guards, so that he gets back to his man and blocks out when the shot goes up. Repetition, as much as film, especially for young guys, because sometimes they don't even know what they're looking at."

… One of the more underrated benefits of experience:
"What experience does is allows you to be able to forget the emotion of what happened yesterday or being bogged down by what may be coming up three days from now, because that happens with young people. They look at the schedule, they get excited about things that they don't have any control over, that really don't matter, instead of just focusing on the here and now. "

… What makes this group of freshmen more unique than others he has had:
"Those other teams had the luxury of a lot of other experienced guys with them. This team doesn't. Even our older guys are fairly new to this. Marsh Hicklin, Javon -- They've played college basketball, but they didn't do it here. They didn't go (from) Kansas to K-State to Houston ever. If they did, it was some kind of early season tour to make some money for their school. We've had to ask these guys to carry more on their plates as freshmen to give us a chance to win, which, most of the time, they're not quite ready to do consistently yet.

Whether he will ever again take such a large freshman class:
"I love our guys, but the reality is, it's probably not smart, because you don't have time. All the things they have to learn, there's not enough time to help them and still win the games. You've got to focus on winning the games, which means you're neglecting some of their development. We're asking Brandon Garrison to do things he just not ready to do yet. But he's out there. We need him to do it now. I don't know. I don't want to give a hard and fast 'No,' but my staff is going to have a hard time convincing me to take more than one or two freshmen."

What progress he's seen from Connor Dow after four games as a starter:
"He's competing his butt off out there. He understands the game, so defensively, from a schematic standpoint, you can do a lot of things with him. It's more just the physical preparation for him. He needs to get stronger. He needs to put on some weight. This offseason is going to be big for him in that regard. And then he needs to get confident in his shot again. That's the thing that people just assume he does well, which is where he's struggling the most right now, which is just consistently making open threes. But defensively, he's battling, he's rebounding well. I'm thankful that he's got a mindset of growth, that he understands it's not going to be easy. He's going to show up today and give us everything he has. And on Saturday, whatever the game plan we have for him, he's going do it the best he can.

Coaching young players in general:
Some players... need TLC, and some guys don't respond to that at all. I've coached multiple guys in both categories. The guys who need to have a foot up there, usually have been challenged by their high school coaches in that way, and so they respond better. Some guys haven't, before they got to this point, so they don't know how to respond to that type of coaching. So you got to know your guys really well. And then you've got to be able to coach them at their level individually.

Garrison's ability to score with either hand:
"I've coached a lot of big guys and I don't I don't know if I had any of them that were really good -- other than him -- going over both shoulders and using both hands. It's about touch and feel. He needs to continue to get better at that, but part of it is just being more aggressive looking for a shot."

Whether or not the Big 12 has improved since his arrival in 2016:
"Oh my gosh, yes, it's not even close. Then somehow, it keeps getting better. And it's gonna obviously get better again, with the addition of the four schools from the Pac-12. No question. The quality of play across the league... It's really good coaches who have really good styles of play and really good atmosphere. The love of the game here in this area has been a great contributing factor.

His relationship with Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson:
"He's been a tremendous mentor to me and several other young coaches in the country. I've leaned on him, certainly before he got in the league, for advice on how do you navigate the challenges. The successes are easy, right? You've got to watch that you don't get full of yourself. But it's really the day-to-day management of 15 players, a staff, their families, boosters, alumni, former players. There's a lot that goes into it. We embrace it, right? I'll say it again, I think I'm the most blessed person any of you guys have ever sat in front of. But there are a lot of challenges that come with being responsible for all that goes with being a head coach in the Big 12. So, he's been a tremendous help to me, as I've tried to continue to grow to become as good a coach as he's been over the course his career. I think he's one of the all-time greats. Literally. Regardless of sport, regardless of gender, regardless of level -- he's one of the best coaches to ever coach a sport."

Graduate guard John-Michael Wright on…

… Bryce Thompson's absence for most of Tuesday's game:
"He's a very impactful player, so when we didn't have him, obviously, it was noticeable. He's one of our lead guards, one of the leaders on his team. Not having that 15 points per game... took a big chunk out of our offense. But, as coach tells us all the time, next man up. You've got to step up and play when your name is called."

… What's most impressed him with OSU's freshman class:
"They don't have time to wait. Just seeing them progressing, not being afraid and taking on the challenge of the Big 12 is probably what I've seen the most... I'm proud of all the freshmen. They all keep progressing. We've just got to keep this train moving."

… Differences between last year's veteran-laden team and this one:
"At the beginning, it was a process. Q (Quion Williams), last year, was easy because he was the only (freshman). You had nothing but upperclassmen who were already here previous years. When you've got five freshmen and they all play, it's a different monster. It's a different animal. You've got to be more in tune with the details, and us older guys have got to do a lot more showing them what to expect and what's to come. But 20 games in, they pretty much know what to do. They know what to expect. They have that experience under their belt."

… Freshman Connor Dow:
" I think he has a bright future in this program. He has a lot more to show, and I think the time will come where he'll be able to express his abilities more often. He keeps working daily. He keeps his head down. He's loves to grind."

Freshman center Brandon Garrison on…

… Picking up steam in the second half of his freshman year:
"I just kept my head down and kept working. And then the work started to pay off. As the games went by, I just kept up with it. I'm kind of getting used to the flow and the physical stuff in the game."

… His unique ability to score over either shoulder:
"It's always been part of my game. I feel like I can use both hands in the post. Just having it has helped me in my years of playing basketball."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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