Mike Boynton: “Recruiting Wasn’t Really a Challenge” Before NIL Took Over
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton ranted about the topic of recruiting in the NIL era on Thursday in his mid-week press conference ahead of the Cowboys matchup vs. No. 19 BYU.
Boynton mentioned that, “Recruiting’s never been a challenge until recruiting became not recruiting anymore.”
“What I had to do to get Cade Cunningham here was way more difficult than what it takes to get players on campus now,” Boynton said. “It took four years of making sure I was there more than Bill Self, Roy Williams, and all these other coaches who had National Championships, and Final Fours, and all these NBA guys when I had never coached a guy in the NBA. I hadn’t even coached in the NCAA Tournament, but over time the relationship mattered enough that he believed that I was going to do the right thing by him.”
Cunningham eventually went on to commit to Oklahoma State and was later selected as the top pick in the 2021 NBA Draft after his freshman season in Stillwater. With NIL being introduced shortly after, recruiting took a complete 180-degree spiral.
Boynton continued by saying, “I can’t work that hard anymore, not when you can say ‘Here’s $500,000 to come spend nine months over here. I like you coach, but I might get hurt this year man, and all you got is a scholarship for me, and I still got to give those books back at the end of the year.'”
Despite the change in NIL, the Cowboys finished with the nation’s 14th-ranked class in 2023 which featured three four-stars and two three-star athletes. The year prior, Oklahoma State finished with the nation’s 89th-ranked class.
While Boynton expressed his disdain for recruiting in today’s NIL era, coaches around the nation seem to be wising up in terms of recruiting through player’s name, image, and likeness. For better or worse, NIL is one aspect of the game that is here to stay.
