The 2017–18 Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball team represented Oklahoma State University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by first-head coach Mike Boynton Jr. The Cowboys were members of the Big 12 Conference and played their home games at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They finished the season 21–15, 8–10 in Big 12 play to finish in a four-way tie for sixth place. They defeated Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Kansas. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Florida Gulf Coast and Stanford before losing in the quarterfinals to Western Kentucky.
Previous season The Cowboys finished the 2016–17 season with 20–13, 9–9 in Big 12 play to finish in fifth place. They lost to Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region where they lost to Michigan in the first round.
On March 18, 2017, head coach Brad Underwood left the school to accept the head coaching position at Illinois after one year at OSU. The school promoted assistant coach Mike Boynton Jr. to head coach on March 24.
FBI investigation
On September 26, federal prosecutors in New York announced charges of fraud and corruption against 10 people involved in college basketball, including Oklahoma State assistant coach Lamont Evans. The charges allege that Evans and others allegedly received benefits from financial advisers and others to influence student-athletes to retain their services. Following the news, Evans was suspended and relieved of all duties. Evans was sentenced to three months in prison in June 2019 for his participation in the scheme, which he also conducted at the University of South Carolina.
In June 2020, a press release by the NCAA announced that the men’s basketball team will be prohibited from participating in 2020-21 postseason competition and the university will self-impose a fine of $10,000 plus 1 percent of the men’s basketball program’s budget.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Jawun Evans 1 G 6'1" 185 Sophomore Dallas, TX Declared for 2017 NBA draft. Drafted by Philadelphia 76ers and traded to Los Angeles Clippers. Phil Forte III 13 G 5'11" 195 RS Senior Flower Mound, TX Graduated Leyton Hammonds 23 F 6'8" 215 Senior North Richland Hills, TX Graduated, signed a pro team in Finland. Tyler Underwood 32 G 6'2" 240 RS Freshman Stillwater, OK Transferred to Illinois. Will Lienhard 34 F 6'7" 255 Sophomore Oklahoma City, OK Walk-on, Transferred to Oklahoma Christian
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Kendall Smith 1 G 6'3" 190 RS Senior Antioch, CA Transferred from Cal State Northridge. Will be eligible to play immediately since Smith graduated from Cal State Northridge. Michael Weathers 23 G 6'2" 170 Sophomore Roeland Park, KS Transferred from Miami (OH). Will redshirt the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Yankuba Sima 35 F/C 6'11" 225 RS Junior Girona, Spain Transferred from St. John's. Will be eligible to play immediately for one year.
Recruits
Future recruits
2018-19 team recruits
Roster
Schedule and results
! colspan=9 style="background:#000000; color:#FF6600;"|Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="background:#000000; color:#FF6600;"| Regular season
!colspan=12 style="background:#000000; color:#FF6600;"| Big 12 tournament
!colspan=12 style="background:#000000; color:#FF6600;"| NIT
References