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Eaton sheds weight to help team
NBA hopeful dropped 30-plus pounds in the offseason.

OSU guard Byron Eaton (left) enters the season-opener weighing 210 pounds after checking in at 243 pounds in July. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

 
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Published: 11/14/2008  2:12 AM
Last Modified: 11/14/2008  3:01 AM

NBA hopeful dropped 30-plus pounds in the offseason.



STILLWATER — Byron Eaton averaged 20.6 points during a five-game victory streak late last season. During his surge, Oklahoma State upset Kansas, won at 16th-ranked Texas A&M and beat Missouri in Columbia for only the seventh time ever.

"He might have been the best player in the country in a five-game stretch last year," OSU coach Travis Ford said.

"Unfortunately, this is a 30-game regular season and not just five games. So our challenge is to make him great for 30 games."

Game One arrives Friday, when OSU plays host to Texas-San Antonio, coached by former Cowboy guard Brooks Thompson. It's the first game of the Ford Era, the first game of OSU's 100th basketball season and the first game of Eaton's make-or-break farewell campaign.

"This is it for him and he knows that," Ford said. "That's always a great motivator. Coach (Rick) Pitino always said when he was in the NBA, he loves players in their last contract. You know you are going to get the most out of them because they want to get that next (contract). This is the last chance for Byron and Terrel (Harris) and Anthony (Brown)."

Harris, who averaged 10.5 points last season, averaged 24.0 in two exhibitions. Eaton wasn't unimpressive in exhibitions, but his offseason body of work, pun intended, was far more significant.

Eaton weighed 243 pounds in July. He knew weight would be a strike against him if he wanted to play in the NBA and he knew he would need to be in the best shape of his life to run Ford's up-tempo system, so the point guard got serious about getting trim. He is listed at 210 pounds for the opener.

"It's just something I had to do to give my team at least a chance to make it anywhere," Eaton said.

Eaton knew he was going to have to do some things he didn't want to do. Changing his diet was one of those things. He bypassed pizza and cheeseburgers for baked and grilled fare. He also burned calories the hard way.

"He did stuff nobody did," teammate Ibrahima Thomas said. "In the summer when we were running, we were running so hard that everybody would probably go home and just go to sleep. But still he was coming back here and (running) some stairs."

Before concluding that Eaton was slothful in past seasons, understand that his family tree is a mighty oak.

"There isn't anyone on my mom or my dad's side that is just small," he said. "Everybody is pretty big. I just wanted to get myself in the best shape I could be in and just have fun. I don't want to have to go through this whole season worrying about it or debating and answering questions about it."

Eaton said he feels good and notices a difference on and off the court (pants don't fit). Ford has indicated Eaton will be in the NBA next year if he can remain lean.

"He's a great player," said former OSU and Thunder point guard John Lucas. "If he does stay slim, he's going to run into the same problem I had, height-wise and this and that. But don't let it get you down. You control your own destiny, you and the man above. I think he has a shot. I think everybody has a shot."



Jimmie Tramel 581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL

UT-San Antonio at Oklahoma St.

7 p.m. Friday.

Gallagher-Iba Arena.

TV: KMYT-41/cable 10.

Radio: KFAQ am1170; KRVT am1270.

Texas-San Antonio

  Ht. Pt. Rb.
F Gabbidon 6-7 11.0 6.0
F Bonney 6-6 3.0 9.0
G Johnson 5-7 12.0 *6.0
G Gibson 6-0 22.0 4.0
G Smith 6-4 12.0 1.0

Oklahoma State

  Ht. Pt. Rb.
F Thomas 6-11 10.0 8.0
G Eaton 5-11 12.0 *6.5
G Harris 6-5 24.0 7.5
G Muonelo 6-5 15.0 6.5
G Anderson 6-6 13.0 5.5

*assists per game

By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS 
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3 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Rain Cloud, Chesterfield (11/14/2008 6:13:47 AM)
We seem to have this same article every year about Byron. It sounds like he has an eating disorder. If he weighed 243 in July, he gained at least 20 pounds in three months. Everything I just read in this article I have read almost every year about Byron. He seems like a nice kid so I hope it last even beyond his playing days.
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Rhymeister, Tulsa (11/14/2008 7:19:18 AM)
Whether your family is big or not doesn't have to necessarily dictate if you're overweight or not. Let's call it as it was, Eaton has been overweight and it has hurt his game. Glad to hear he is making better choices on his dietary habits. He has the potential to become a professional athlete and it won't kill him to eat healthy things.

He *did* step it up last season, enough so that most people could see why he was a McDonald's All-Star in HS. The kid has skills and I think he will have a great season. I wanna congratulate him on losing the 30+ pounds, that is no easy thing. His goal though should be to get down to 200. He can do it!
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colin1497, Shawnee (11/14/2008 8:42:30 AM)
Genetics has a lot to do with body type than most skinny people give credit. People with what I call "runner" body types tend to think everyone else would be like them if they'd just try harder. The fact is, some people have long distance runner bodies, some people have linebacker bodies. Byron has the latter and will always have to work hard to stay lean.
 

 
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