When we first hired him, like many, I thought we just went for the discount hire. Much like my target dating demographic in college, cheap and easy to find. It didn't take long to see why he is liked by those who have worked with him, but still not an exciting hire, and I had just been fooled by Underwood into thinking he was all in for our program too. Then his name is associated with some dirt which was the last thing we needed. Whether it was fair or not, or he knew about it or not, just more concerns about the new guy.
The more he showed up at other events in Stillwater the more I started to buy in that this guy was the real deal as far as his love of Stillwater. I saw him hopping around with Mr. Orange Power signaling first downs at the football games and cheering on women's soccer. He showed he could recruit like almost no coach has in Stillwater. He kicked kids off the team when they needed to be kicked off the team, even though it made life harder for himself. Even to someone like myself, who doesn't really know basketball, you could see the difference in the product on the floor versus the Ford run offenses. He coached injured and depleted teams to improvement when the deck seemed stacked against him.
Now here we are with a team who still hasn't made the show under Boynton and facing possible trouble from the NCAA. I like him, I respect him, and I believe he is the answer for our basketball program. It's easy to do things right and be amicable when all is going well. Boynton has faced adversity, is now emerging from the difficulty and is positioned to start reaping the benefits of his efforts. I am all in with this guy.