Oklahoma
10 Mid-Major Coaches to Know in Oklahoma State’s Coaching Search
Oklahoma State’s basketball coaching opening coincides with a time in the sport where there are a lot of attractive options among the mid-major ranks.
OSU fired Boynton on Thursday. With the school starting a national search to find his replacement, I thought it would be good to break down some of the most eligible mid-major coaches in this cycle. Upon Boynton’s dismissal, I listed five initial candidates. Four of those guys are also on this list. I’ve also listed a potential sneaky Division-II coach that has been dominant as a bonus name. This list could be longer with guys like Mark Byington (James Madison), Niko Medved (Colorado State) and more all also having impressive resumes.
Danny Sprinkle
Current School: Utah State
Current Season Record: 27-6
Career Record: 108-49
Other Stops: Montana State, Cal State-Fullerton (assistant), Cal State-Northridge (assistant)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 2 (projected to be in for No. 3)
Notes: Danny Sprinkle has only been at Utah State one season, but it has been a good one. Sprinkle’s Aggies won the highly competitive Mountain West conference this season, climbing as high as No. 16 in the AP Poll. Before this year, Sprinkle led Montana State to back-t0-back tournaments, going a combined 52-18 in those seasons.
Darian DeVries
Current School: Drake
Current Season Record: 28-6
Career Record: 150-540
Other Stops: Creighton (assistant)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 3
Notes: DeVries has only been a head coach since 2018 when he started at Drake, but he has since led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournaments, two Missouri Valley tournament titles and a Missouri Valley regular season crown.
Pat Kelsey
Current School: College of Charleston
Current Season Record: 27-7
Career Record: 261-121
Other Stops: Winthrop, Xavier (assistant), Wake Forest (assistant)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 5
Notes: Kelsey coached at Winthrop from 2012 to 2021, leading the Eagles to back-to-back Big South regular season and tournament titles in his final two years with a combined record of 47-12. He then made the move to Charleston, where after going 17-15 in Year 1, Kelsey’s Cougars have won back-t0-back Colonial Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles with a combined record of 58-11.
Will Wade
Current School: McNeese
Current Season Record: 30-3
Career Record: 226-99
Other Stops: LSU, VCU, Chattanooga, Harvard (assistant)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 6
Notes: As controversially as his time at LSU might have ended, no one can deny Will Wade’s ability to win basketball games. With Wade’s McNeese Cowboys winning the Southland regular season and tournament title this season, Wade has now qualified for the NCAA Tournament at three different schools. He made the Tournament at both of his seasons at VCU, made three tourney appearances in five seasons at LSU (winning the SEC regular season one of those years) and now has stormed through the Southland in his one season there.
Bryce Drew
Current School: Grand Canyon
Current Season Record: 28-4
Career Record: 256-139
Other Stops: Vanderbilt, Valparaiso
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 5 (playing in the WAC title game Saturday night)
Notes: The younger brother of Baylor coach Scott Drew, Bryce Drew took over at Valparaiso in 2016 after being an assistant with the Crusaders since 2005. In five seasons as Valpo’s head coach, Drew led the Crusaders to two NCAA Tournaments, four Horizon League titles and a combined 124-49 record. He then made the move to the high-major level with Vanderbilt. Vandy made the Tournament in Drew’s first year but went just 21-43 in his final two years with the program. But he has been grand at Grand Canyon, winning the WAC’s regular season crown and tournament in his first year. The Antelopes are in the WAC championship game Saturday night looking to secure a third NCAA title bid in four seasons under Drew.
Josh Schertz
Current School: Indiana State
Current Season Record: 28-6
Career Record: 62-39
Other Stops: Lincoln Memorial (D-II), High Point (assistant), Queens (assistant), Lynn (D-II, assistant)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 0 (on the bubble entering Selection Sunday)
Notes: Schertz has been a Division-I head coach for only three seasons, but he has already made an impact, as his Sycamores won the Missouri Valley’s regular season crown. After falling to Drake in the tournament final, Indiana State is on the bubble heading into Selection Sunday. Prior to his time at Indiana State, Schertz was 337-69 in 13 seasons at D-II Lincoln Memorial, making three Final Fours.
KT Turner
Current School: UT-Arlington
Current Season Record: 20-13
Career Record: 20-13
Other Stops: Kentucky (assistant), Oklahoma (assistant), Texas (assistant), SMU (assistant), Wichita State (assistant), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (assistant)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 0 (playing in the WAC title game Saturday night)
Notes: A longtime highly regarded assistant, Turner took his first head job with UT-Arlington ahead of this season and has the Mavericks playing in the WAC title game with a chance to make just their second NCAA Tournament ever. Turner also has a lay of the land, coaching in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas.
Dusty May
Current School: Florida Atlantic
Current Season Record: 25-7
Career Record: 126-67
Other Stops: Florida (assistant), Louisiana Tech (assistant), UAB (assistant), Murray State (assistant), Eastern Michigan
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 1 (projected to be in for No. 2)
Notes: After leading Florida Atlantic to the Final Four last season, Dusty May will likely have his pick of open jobs should he choose to leave FAU. The Owls were 66-56 in May’s first four seasons before taking off to a 35-4 record last year. Entering Saturday’s American semifinal, FAU is 25-7 this season, climbing as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll.
Richard Pitino
Current School: New Mexico
Current Season Record: 24-9
Career Record: 218-177
Other Stops: Minnesota, Florida International, Louisville (assistant), Florida (assistant), Duquesne (assistant), Northeastern (assistant), College of Charleston (assistant)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 2 (playing in the Mountain West title game Saturday night)
Notes: The son of Rick Pitino, Richard has carved out a solid coaching resume of his own. At 24-9, New Mexico is on the bubble entering Selection Sunday, but Pitino has gotten the Lobos in the AP Poll each of the past two seasons. He was at Minnesota for eight seasons from 2013-21, leading the Gophers to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
John Becker
Current School: Vermont
Current Season Record: 28-6
Career Record: 308-119
Other Stops: Catholic (D-III, assistant), Gallaudet (D-III)
NCAA Tournaments Qualified for as Head Coach: 6
Notes: John Becker has ran the American East for the better part of a decade, winning eight straight regular season titles. Winning the conference tournament again this season, the Catamounts have made three straight NCAA Tournaments.
Bonus Name: Ben McCollum
Current School: Northwest Missouri State (D-II)
Current Season Record: 27-4
Career Record: 392-90 (all at Northwest Missouri State)
Other Stops: Emporia State (assistant)
Notes: Hiring Ben McCollum to lead a Big 12 program from the Division-II level would be quite the risk, but McCollum has won four D-II titles in the past seven seasons, going for another this season.
Senate Bill 1339 by Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, finalizes teacher pay raises of $3,000 to $6,000 approved by lawmakers in 2023. Pugh introduced the measure on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
“This is to reconcile the access to dollars that were calculated for teacher pay raise and allowing the state Department of Education to use those dollars for that pay raise,” Pugh said.
Pugh also presented SB 201, which raises the minimum salary schedule for teachers by another $2,000 this year, and SB 1189, which appropriates $50 million to the School Security Revolving Fund, to be split equally among all school districts in the state annually for the next three years.
“I’m all in on trying to figure out, whether it be through the funding formula, the teacher empowerment funds or other unique and innovative ways… to have a baseline of pay and funding dollars for school districts, but also reward schools really for growth,” Pugh said in defense of his proposals.
Some Republican lawmakers question budget impact
While the measures passed the Senate floor with overwhelming support from both parties, Pugh’s fellow lawmakers questioned their fiscal impact and whether paying teachers more actually improves educational outcomes.
Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, raised questions about the fiscal impact in light of a tight state budget this year, first regarding SB 1339.
“What is the estimated fiscal impact on this, including maybe projected costs in the first year and over the next couple of years?” Sacchieri asked.
Pugh said the measure has no fiscal impact this year because it makes existing appropriations available for disbursement on a more permanent basis. The attached dollar amount three years ago was $500 million.
Sacchieri also pressed the education chair about the cost of his other proposals, given this year’s projected budget shortfall. SB 201 allocates about $92 million from the General Revenue Fund for a $2,000 pay raise for teachers beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, wondered about the relationship between the money spent on teacher pay and any measurable improvements in student outcomes.
“What measurable outcomes are tied to this increase in spending?” Deevers said.
Pugh said his bills don’t specify any provable outcomes tied to teacher pay raises alone because raising teacher pay is part of a larger plan, along with his proposed investments in early reading and math intervention programs.
He added that the pay raises aim to keep experienced educators in classrooms long-term, as school districts across the state struggle with retention and are forced to fill gaps with emergency certified teachers with less experience and training.
“Having a qualified teacher in the classroom every single day is the number one factor in a child’s education,” Pugh said. “We’re actually bending that curve down in terms of the number of emergency certifications. I think our high water mark as a state was somewhere around 4,500 … emergency certifications. I think this year will probably end significantly below 4,000.”
Quiet for most of the discussion on the measures, Sen. Cari Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, took the opportunity during the debate of SB 201 to point towards the big-picture problem as she sees it.
“As we have heard that we’re bending the curve down on emergency certified individuals in our classrooms, that is accurate,” Hicks said. “There are currently 2,664 emergency certified in the 2025-2026 academic calendar year.”
But she said that, even with the upcoming investments, Oklahoma is still far behind other states in the region, such as Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri, in its per-student investment rate.
“We are $2.1 billion behind the regional investment per student,” Hicks said. “Salary is one component of whether or not our students have the resources… to meet their academic potential.”
And until more students reach that potential, she said, Oklahoma lawmakers must remain “laser-focused” on spending strategically to help its children get there.
A pair of Patty Gasso’s Sooners earned recognition for clutch performances against Ole Miss over the weekend.
Veteran Isabela Emerling was named SEC Co-Player of the Week after her clutch grand slam powered Oklahoma past the Rebels on Monday, and sophomore Audrey Lowry earned SEC Pitcher of the Week after two outstanding appearances.
Emerling, a redshirt senior, needed just one pitch to change Monday’s series finale.
She stepped in to pinch hit for freshman Allyssa Parker in the sixth inning and ruined Kyra Aycock’s outing.
Emerling connected with the first pitch she saw and parked a grand slam deep beyond the fence in left field to put OU on top 5-2.
It was Emerling’s 11th homer of the year, which is three shy of her career-high, and it was the seventh grand slam of her career.
She also homered in the Sooners’ mid-week triumph over Memphis and hit .545 for the week with a 1.091 slugging percentage.
Lowry pitched 7 2/3 total innings across two appearances against the Rebels and allowed zero runs.
She got the start in Saturday’s opener, then stepped in for Sydney Berzon with OU down 2-1 and shut the Rebels out to earn the victory in relief.
Lowry accounted for five strikeouts and gave up four free passes (two walks and two hit batters) in the pair of appearances.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.
For the season, she’s now 15-1, which ranks third nationally in wins, and has a 2.08 ERA with a 52-9 strikeout to walk ratio across 67 1/3 innings of action.
Emerling and Lowry became the second OU duo to capture recognition in the same week, and it was the first time both have been honored individually by the SEC this season.
The No. 5 Sooners will be back on the road this weekend to take on No. 20 LSU.
The series will serve as a reunion for Avery Hodge and Paytn Monticelli, who are both former Sooners, as well as Berzon, who spent the first three years of her collegiate career in Baton Rouge.
Hodge transferred to LSU following the 2024 season, and Monitcelli departed Norman this past offseason.
Berzon is coming off her longest outing as a Sooner, where she threw 57 pitches and allowed zero earned runs on Monday against Ole Miss.
The series opener is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Women’s Basketball
March 24, 2026
UCLA vs. Oklahoma State – Second round NCAA tournament extended highlights
March 24, 2026
Watch the highlights from No. 1 UCLA and No. 8 Oklahoma State’s matchup in the second round of the 2026 women’s NCAA tournament.
Will Louisiana’s U.S. Senate candidates debate? Bill Cassidy says no to Moon Griffon.
Maine Senate advances ‘right to repair’ electronics bill
‘Mattresses all over the place’: Maryland begins yearly operation to clean state highways – WTOP News
Showers, thunderstorms expected to hit SE Michigan Thursday — What to know
Here are 8 Massachusetts Easter egg hunts to bring the kids to this year
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
LaGuardia Crash Timeline: Moments Before Air Canada Plane Collided With Fire Truck
Chicago alderwoman apologizes for ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ comment on slain student
Fake Euronews website targets Hungary election with false claims
An air traffic controller was juggling extra roles during the LaGuardia plane crash
Iran War: Pentagon set to send thousands of elite 82nd Airborne troops to region | BBC News
-
Detroit, MI6 days agoDrummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
-
Georgia1 week agoHow ICE plans for a detention warehouse pushed a Georgia town to fight back | CNN Politics
-
Movie Reviews6 days ago‘Youth’ Twitter review: Ken Karunaas impresses audiences; Suraj Venjaramoodu adds charm; music wins praise | – The Times of India
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Turning Point USA Clubs Expand to High Schools Across America
-
Sports4 days agoIOC addresses execution of 19-year-old Iranian wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
-
Science1 week agoIndustrial chemicals have reached the middle of the oceans, new study shows
-
Science1 week agoHow a Melting Glacier in Antarctica Could Affect Tens of Millions Around the Globe
-
Culture1 week agoTest Your Memory of Great Lines From Classic Irish Poems