Oklahoma State basketball coach Mike Boynton has announced updates to the Cowboy coaching staff, including the additions of David Cason and Larry Blunt as assistant coaches.
About David Cason
Cason, a 25-year collegiate coaching veteran with stops at Texas, North Carolina, Notre Dame, VCU and Tulsa, spent the last three seasons as the associate head coach at FIU. He has been a part of more than 400 victories over his career, and Cason’s teams have advanced to the postseason 12 times, including four NCAA Tournament trips and seven NIT appearances.
No stranger to the Big 12 Conference or Gallagher-Iba Arena, Cason spent 2015-17 on Shaka Smart’s staff at Texas, where he was part of more than 30 victories and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Cason followed Smart to Austin after spending the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach at VCU, helping lead the Rams to a 26-10 overall record and No. 25 ranking in the final Associated Press Poll.
“When it comes to versatility of experience, it doesn’t get much better than David Cason,” Boynton said. Coach Cason has coached at every level of college basketball. He has proven time and time again that he has the ability to connect, recruit, develop, and coach elite players for more than 20 years and has been a part of over 400 wins in his career. We are thankful to him and his wife, Tamara, for wanting to join us in our quest to take our program to the next level. His impact will be felt immediately by our players and staff.”
Cason has a reputation as a stellar recruiter, and was identified in 2010 while at Tulsa as the top assistant coach in Conference USA in a FoxSports.com survey of the league’s head coaches. Cason was at Tulsa from 2005-11, including the final three years as associate head coach. The Golden Hurricane posted a 123-78 (.612) overall record in his six years, including four-straight 20-win seasons, made two NIT appearances (2009 and 2010) and won the 2008 CBI Championship.
A native of Baltimore, Cason spent the past three seasons as the associate head coach at FIU, where he helped the Golden Panthers win 19-plus games twice over that span. He came to FIU after spending the 2017-18 season in the same role at Florida Gulf Coast, where he helped the Eagles to a 23-12 record and a berth in the NIT.
He served as the director of basketball operations at Notre Dame for the 1999-00 season before moving to the same role at North Carolina from 2000-03.
Cason played his collegiate ball at the College of Southern Idaho, a program founded by Eddie Sutton, before transferring to Illinois State, where he graduated in 1996. Cason and his wife, Tamara, have three children: daughters Da-Via and Taylor, and son, DJ.
About Larry Blunt
Blunt, who was instrumental in the founding of Orangeville Prep in Ontario, Canada, arrived in Stillwater having spent the last three seasons at Drake, where he helped the Bulldogs win at least 20 games each year and raise the 2019 Missouri Valley championship trophy. Drake is coming off a special season that included 26 wins and a trip to the round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament.
He joined Drake after spending two seasons as an assistant at Canisius, where he helped guide the Golden Griffins to a share of the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season title with a 15-3 conference record and an overall mark of 21-12. The league title was the program’s first since 1993-94 and the 21 wins equaled the school record for regular season wins.
Blunt enjoyed three seasons as the head coach at Orangeville Prep in Mono, Ontario, where he had the opportunity to work with more than a dozen student-athletes that went on to earn Division I scholarships and/or play professionally. Current Cowboy Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe starred at Orangeville Prep prior to his arrival in Stillwater.
“Coach Blunt is an outstanding addition to our staff,” Boynton said. “His experience as an assistant at both Canisius and Drake, in addition to his experience running his own program, give me great confidence that he is ready to help us on our journey to build a champion in Stillwater. LB has recruited, developed, and coached some elite talent in his time coaching and has the ‘Let’s Work’ mentality as he comes in the door. I’m excited to welcome him and Morgan to the Cowboy basketball family.”
Two of Blunt’s former Orangeville players, Jamal Murray and Thon Maker, were taken seventh and ninth, respectively, in the 2016 NBA Draft. Other notable players who Blunt coached at Orangeville Prep include Kyle Alexander (Tennessee), Daniel Cummings (ETSU), Jelani Mofford (UNC-Greensboro), Jalen Poyser (UNLV), Kalif Young (Providence), and Alonzo Walker (Kent State).
Blunt began his basketball coaching career in 2005-06 at Eastern Mennonite, a Division III school in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Courtland, Va., native spent the next two seasons on staff at Shaw University, a Division II program located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Blunt moved on to join the coaching staff at Hampden-Sydney College from 2008-12.
Blunt moved to Canada in 2012 and took over as the head coach for the Oshawa Power of the National Basketball League of Canada. During the 2012-13 season, he helped lead the Power to a franchise-record for victories in a season.
As a student-athlete, Blunt earned two varsity letters in football at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C., before transferring to James Madison, where he completed his collegiate football career playing for the Dukes, helping the team to an NCAA I-AA National Championship. He earned his degree in public administration from James Madison in 2005.
Additional Staff Updates
Scott Sutton will transition from assistant coach to the newly created positon of Director of Basketball Administration, while Barry Hinson‘s staff analyst positon will be restored.
• Boynton on Sutton’s impact on Cowboy basketball:
“Scott has been a tremendously reliable resource with his experience in our profession. His last name is the foundation of our program and he has taken great pride in pouring his all into creating a championship environment for the program he loves. Scott will continue to be a valuable asset to us in the development of our players and in our defensive identity. I’m thankful to have Scott by my side on every game day as I continue to develop as a coach.”
• Boynton on Hinson being back in a full-time role:
“I’m so happy we are able to bring Barry back. There is not a greater example of Loyal and True than coach Hinson. He came here to earn his keep and prove his worth two years ago. He exceeded any expectations I could ever imagine and I’m glad we are able to reward his work.”
Oklahoma State Staff Update
