Oklahoma State’s Boynton Concerned With Lack of Consequences for Tampering

The new name, image and likeness policy in college sports has created a chaotic world of recruiting, especially when it comes to transfers. Certain programs have been able to take advantage of the rule, while others are still trying to get their footing.

While speaking with Sports Illustrated’s Jason Jordan, Oklahoma State men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton explained that as long as there aren’t any punishments to combat tampering in the transfer window, no one will follow the rules.

“A rule is only a rule if there’s a consequence,” he said. “If there is no consequence, you’re really just making a suggestion, you’re hoping that somebody follows the suggestion. People have been walking about tampering for a long time, I don’t know if I know of an instance where someone was punished for ‘tampering.’”

Boynton also mentioned how he doesn’t believe the new NIL rule is being used as it was intended.

“The notion that kids are doing things that represent themselves that have value to somebody and therefore they get compensated for it,” he said. “We’re not talking about kids running camps, we’re not talking about kids making appearances because of what they represent, we’re talking about kids being recruited to play for schools for money, and unfortunately it’s a space that we try to fight from getting to, but with the ‘NIL’ that we have currently, that’s where we are.”

This new world of recruiting has forced coaches to add another element in their pitch to potential transfers along with incoming freshmen. Boynton is also in a unique position as the head coach of a program that was banned from the NCAA tournament stemming from its role in the FBI investigation.

Boynton touched on multiple topics with Jordan, including his thoughts on former Villanova head coach Jay Wright’s retirement.

Watch the video above for Jordan’s full converation with Boynton.