OSU men’s basketball coach announces promotions, finalizes coaching staff

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton has reshaped his staff for the 2023-24 season with a series of moves designed to take OSU’s player development program to the next level.

Terrence Rencher will assume the new title of associate coach, Scott Sutton and James Barrett have both been elevated from support staff to assistant coach positions and Nelson Hernandez has been hired as director of player development.

Sutton and Barrett’s promotions are tied to a new NCAA rule allowing for two additional assistants who may engage in coaching activities outside of recruiting. Sutton and Barrett join forces with the trio of Rencher, David Cason and Keiton Page as on-court coaches. Hernandez will take on operations duties previously handled by Page, whose promotion to assistant coach was announced earlier this summer.

Rencher is in his third season at OSU. Last summer he added recruiting coordinator to his list of duties and, in his first full cycle, helped the Cowboys secure one of the nation’s top-10 signing classes. The former National Basketball Association guard and all-time scoring leader at Texas joined the coaching ranks in 2008 and his resume includes stops at Creighton, San Diego, New Mexico, Texas State, Sam Houston State, Tulsa and Saint Louis.

“Coach Rencher has earned this recognition, based on many factors,” Boynton said. “He has tremendous respect within our program and is deftly driven to help us succeed. He has shown great leadership over this past summer and, I am convinced, will be a head coach in the near future.”

Sutton’s Cowboy roots run deep. The son of legendary coach, Eddie Sutton, helped lead OSU to back-to-back NCAA tournaments as a player in the mid-1990s and still holds the program’s season and career records for assist-to-turnover ratio. After graduation, the younger Sutton carved out his own successful coaching niche, becoming Oral Roberts University’s all-time wins leader. He returned to Stillwater in 2017 and has since held various roles on Boynton’s staff, including the last two years as director of basketball administration.

“Scott has been a vital part of our staff here,” Boynton said. “His experience as a head coach has been very important in the daily operation of the program. It’s great to be able to use even more of his abilities with the current players that we have. I’m excited to have him back on the court coaching and developing our guys.”

Fans are likely less familiar with Barrett, but he made a strong impression within the program during his time as a graduate assistant from 2021-23.

Barrett, a Brooklyn native who finished his playing career at Sam Houston State, climbed the coaching ladder as an assistant at the high school and junior college levels and became a key figure in the summer hoops scene through his involvement with EYBL’s New York Rens and as founder of the Unsigned Hype Unlimited showcase. In 2020, he was recognized on Silver Wave Media’s list of the 50 most-influential coaches in JUCO basketball after helping Seward County (Kan.) and Monroe College to consecutive NJCAA national tournament appearances. He’s had a hand in the development of 10 future NBA players, including Isaiah Whitehead, Jose Alvarado, Hamidou Diallo and Jordan Nwora.

“Coach Barrett has been an integral part of our staff for the last two seasons,” Boynton said. “He has worn many hats behind the scenes, and I am thankful that we are able to reward his hard work with a promotion to assistant coach. He will continue to help with on-campus recruiting and — with the new staff opportunities available — will also continue to help us with our on-court development program.”

Hernandez — a Brooklyn native and 2013 Utah State graduate — has more than a decade of Division I basketball experience, most recently as an assistant coach at Fresno State. Prior to that he served as video coordinator at Utah State and Clemson, director of player development at Wright State and director of basketball operations for both Virginia Commonwealth University and Louisiana State University.

“Nelson will be a valuable addition to our staff,” Boynton said. “He has a ton of experience in various roles around college basketball. He will be responsible for many tasks that are vital to a program’s success, including on-campus recruiting, team travel, student-athlete development and more. I look forward to seeing his immediate, positive impact.”