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Ford: Strong finish equals good vibes
Published: 4/14/2009 2:32 PM
Last Modified: 4/14/2009 2:32 PM

The Oklahoma State basketball team ended its first season under Travis Ford with 23 wins and 12 defeats. Ford, during his first press availability session since the season ended, called it a great year.
This is why:
Said Ford, “What an enjoyable year to be at a point to where you’re fighting for your life and you’re struggling and we’re battling with our team not to think ‘Here we go again, same old stuff.’
“We as a coaching staff talked about how many mental games we played with our team through all those (difficult) stretches -- just getting your team to still believe what you’re doing and still trust you. The way it ended up, it made it all worth it. It was very enjoyable. It was a great learning experience.
“Some teams start out great, like gangbusters, and they fall off at the end. (They may have) the same record we had but you don’t have the same feeling that we had. So, in that aspect, we were very happy with what we did. I think we exceeded probably our expectations even though I didn’t have any for our team. I don’t usually have (expectations) the first couple years.”
OSU was 3-6 in Big 12 games following a 25-point loss at Texas and the Cowboys seemed doomed to a fourth consecutive NIT appearance.
“I told (my staff), these guys, I don’t know if they understand what winning’s all about,” Ford said. “I didn’t know what to expect against Iowa State the next game.”
Ford said was to the point where he didn’t care if the Cowboys won or lost against Iowa State. He just knew he didn’t want to see another performance like the one he saw in Austin. And he didn’t, in the Iowa State game or any other.
“We were fortunate to have Byron (Eaton) and Terrel (Harris), two seniors who played such an important role on our basketball team,” Ford said.
“Especially Byron.... He was one guy who I think just didn’t want (bad things) to happen again. I don’t think he knew what to do. He didn’t know exactly what to say. So it took a lot of time – he and I have spent as much time individually up here in this office watching tape, talking, trying to develop him, which is not easy for a very old senior, a guy who had been around a long time and had played a lot of minutes. But he did change. I give him a lot of the credit. He performed when we needed him to perform.”


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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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