Stillwater, Okla. ? Oklahoma State’s search for a new basketball coach began with rumors of a big paycheck being aimed at the leader of the national champions.
It ended with an up-and-coming coach casting his eyes on the same prize.
Travis Ford was introduced as the Cowboys’ new coach Thursday, taking over a program that was in the Final Four as recently as four years ago and in the top 10 in the past 16 months.
“My goals are to take this Oklahoma State basketball program to a national championship,” Ford said. “That’s why I’m here and that’s what I look forward to doing.”
Ford leaves a Massachusetts program that he’d taken to the NIT the last two seasons, losing in the tournament’s championship game earlier this month. He takes over for Sean Sutton.
“We’re hoping to do great things. There’s not a timetable on this at all. I’m not a guy that before the season that sets out goals that we want to do this, we want to do that,” Ford said.
“Every single year, we’re trying to make the national championship. Every year, that’s my goal. Are you going to do that every single year? Probably not every single year, but that’s our goal every year, and we’re going to work extremely hard to get to that point.”
