Cowboy Quotables: Bedlam II

Oklahoma State celebrated its first true road win last night at Cincinnati but won't have much time to dwell on it with Oklahoma looming. Head coach Mike Boynton Jr. and freshmen Jamyron Keller and Brandon Garrison met with local media Thursday afternoon to preview Saturday's Phillips 66 Bedlam Series matchup at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Read on for highlights:

Head coach Mike Boynton Jr. on…

… Getting that first road win Wednesday night in Cincinnati:
"I felt best for those kids who went to Carbondale in early December and couldn't figure it out, and then went through this league several times on the road – and had good moments, flashes – but hadn't been able to figure it out, and then were told that they weren't good enough to do it. Ever. The best evidence to being able to do something is to have done it before, and now we've been able to win a game on the road, and that hopefully gives them confidence. We've got a couple left. More importantly, winning two games in a row in this conference and seeing the way we've had success consistently. One of the things we talked about Monday when we got together was – in our losses, we're averaging 10 assists per game on the year, and in our wins we're averaging almost 20. Young guys don't always understand how to just accept that being the way you win, because they've always just been able to do it on their own. This particular team needs each other, and seeing them continue to buy into that is what's most gratifying."

… Taking time to celebrate the wins without losing focus on the next game:
"There's a balance. They needed to enjoy last night. What happened in the locker room was organic, but it needed to happen. They needed to feel that exhilaration. I want them to think about that moment and want it again and what it took to get there. But there's an element to today. When we show up to practice today, it's over. We don't get credit. There's no momentum carried over from game to game. The game's going to be played very different (on Saturday). What I'm always interested in is how our leadership shows up."

… Leadership from his veterans:
"John-Michael Wright's been phenomenal. Obviously, with Bryce out he hasn't been able to be as involved, in that regard. He was really good for us early. But John-Michael Wright has really carried the water for us, in that regard, all year. Even when we were losing he kept coming in and talking about why we were going to get on a roll. Those young guys don't know anything but what they hear. That's why it's important that you have good kids. Guys who really believe in what you're doing and care about the right things and want to help, because when you go 0-6 it can get sideways pretty quickly if you don't."

… Jamyron Keller's emergence:
"Confidence is probably the most underrated, valuable thing in sports. I mean, sometimes it's really that simple. The guy really believe… I think his confidence is growing, the more success he has. He does have the ability to block out (the negative). I don't know if he's at that level right with Steph (Curry) and Trae (Young), but the ability to overcome maybe a couple of bad possessions in a game and still believe he can make the next play. And that's what you hope you can water as much as possible, because the game isn't perfect. I tell them all the time, we can put the schemes together, but they're not going to work exactly how we practice them….So you can't get bogged down when the results don't ultimately give you what you want. You've just got to stick with the process. And he's done that so far this year."

… The recruitment process and why Keller is a great fit:
"There are a lot of factors in recruiting and why you take a guy and why you may not take a guy… I say it all the time: I want kids who come here to be eyes wide open. The last thing I ever want is to have anybody come here because they've been coerced into something that is not real, and they get here and it's a miserable experience, because Coach Mike lied to me and said I was going to play 35 minutes a game and I was going to be the shooter of all the balls or, you know, we got all these beautiful Morton steak houses around town that you guys will be able to go eat. Like, no. This is Stillwater, Oklahoma. This is a blue-collar program. This is what we're about. You earn everything you get, and I'm going to try to help lead you in the work that it takes to be good. And he was bought into that. Most of the guys we recruit here are bought into that. And that's why, over time, they've learned to love it here. Because it's real."

… Keller and Small as complimentary pieces in the back court:
"Jamyron's play has been partly Javon being out there with him to take pressure off him play-making all the time. It gives him the freedom to go be more aggressive. Javon's a different kind of attacker. He's more cerebral. More pace. Jamyron's kind of a bull in a china shop."

… Quion Williams as the connector piece in OSU's lineups:
"He's like the X Factor… Q can help you both offensively and defensively, switch, you know, be aggressive on the glass. He's a really good rebounder for us, obviously. And he's kind of gotten out of the 'I need to prove I can be a three-point shooter.' Even though he's got a good shot, that's not what we need from him. We need him to be a downhill driver, draw, dish and create shots for John Michael Wright and Javon when he can. So I'm certainly thankful he's grown into that role. It also helps us use (Eric) Dailey in a different way. You know, we play him as a five some, which creates mismatch problems for the other team. He's our most versatile piece, for sure."

… What makes the 6-5 Williams such an effective rebounder:
"Fearlessness. Oftentimes, probably the biggest factor in good rebounders is just toughness and mindset and courage. I've said before, there's some tall guys out there who aren't good rebounders. I've coached a few. But there's some guys who just don't mind sticking their nose in there. The truth is in basketball, as we know, some guys just come up with the ball and some don't. And it really doesn't matter how close they are to it… He's a guy who secures it and plays with great force in the paint."

… The challenge of being a young big in the Big 12:
"A lot of big guys in traditional high school always play against people so much smaller. It's the first time – they get to college and all of these guys are the same size or bigger… It's the biggest adjustment. It's the hardest adjustment. And then to do it over and over and over again. It's going to be this way every game in our league. What I'm so proud of him for is he's starting to get comfortable putting the physicality into back-to-back games."

… Saturday's Bedlam rematch:
"Certainly (we need to) shoot the ball better… We've got to play probably a little bit more in transition to get some more easier baskets. They're really good in the half court defensively. They do a really good job defending the three… We just have to play in attack mode. I mean, it's a possibility it's the last time we ever play them here. I don't know. I mean, I think we may play. I don't know what it looks like. Maybe it's a neutral site deal. So I think we've got to play with a sense of urgency, to understand what's at stake here."

Freshman guard Jamyron Keller on…

… The win in Cincinnati:
"We stayed together. When they were making their runs, we didn't fold. We didn't point the finger at all. We just stayed together and made a push back."

… How a move from South Carolina to Texas helped shape him at age 9:
"Not really knowing anybody, having to basically start over from ground zero, taught me a lot of resilience. Just having to make those connections. I learned at an early age, it's not about what you know, it's about who you know and that relationships are going to play a big part in my success. So, going out there, having to start from ground zero. I think that that kind of broke me out of my shell a little bit."

… How he's drawn from that experience at OSU:
"When I moved to Texas, I wasn't always the go-to guy on every team I played for. Having those experiences early, coming off the bench or not playing at all even, I think that taught me a little bit of patience. Like, okay your time will come. At any given moment, you've got to be ready for your time or for your name to be called."

Freshman center Brandon Garrison on…

… Fighting through fatigue:
"As you start getting tired, you can't really think about it. You've just got to push through and play for your teammates."

… Being a young big in the Big 12:
It's a challenge. Different types of bigs, you've got to guard them all in certain ways. I feel like I've done a good job taking on the challenge.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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