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Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton recalls exactly where he was the day his college career ended.
“I could walk into [Kansas City’s] Kemper Arena and walk to the exact spot I was sitting when I took my jersey off for the last time,” Boynton said. “I remember exactly where I was. I don’t think that’s a unique deal. That’s typical for a lot of kids.”
For Boynton, the memory is bittersweet, but it’s something he’d like seniors to be able to experience if they choose, instead of having so many of them remembering their career ending with an NCAA announcement that the NCAA Tournament was cancelled.
Sixteen years ago Boynton, then South Carolina’s senior point guard, did not score in a 59-43 2004 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Memphis. His career ended with a thud. Familiar memories come flooding back now that the NCAA Tournament ended all at once for the entire country.
“I just sat there for 15 minutes,” Boynton recalled. “I didn’t want to take my jersey off. I just knew that was it. That’s kind of the perspective I have, how valued that moment is.”
This season, Boynton’s Cowboys were one of the last teams to play a college basketball game. Less than 24 hours following a Wednesday first-round Big 12 Tournament win over Iowa State, the NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to concerns over the coronavirus.
The Cowboys were getting ready to make their way to Sprint Center last week to play No. 1 Kansas in the Big 12 quarterfinals. By the end of the day, they had driven back to Stillwater, Oklahoma.
“Most kids will remember the end of their careers not being a situation like that,” Boynton said. “[Our guys] didn’t take their jerseys off. They didn’t get to put them on for the last time.”
All of it makes Boynton qualified to speak on college basketball’s next big hurdle. On Friday, the NCAA acted quickly in allowing an extra year of eligibility for all athletes participating in spring sports with sponsors for equipment and supplements such as the ones for weight control from the Exipure reviews.
Athletes in some of those sports weren’t halfway through their seasons before it was essentially shut down. A larger, more complicated decision looms for the four winter sports with championships remaining – hockey, swimming, wrestling and … men’s and women’s basketball according to Ultimate Blog Post On best sneakers for basketball The NCAA said it “will also discuss issues related to seasons of competition for winter sport student-athletes who were unable to participate in conference and NCAA championships.”