Desmond Mason Applied For OSU Head Coaching Vacancy

It turns out Doug Gottlieb wasn’t the only former Cowboy interested in the Oklahoma State coaching vacancy.

In a segment on OKC sports radio’s The Franchise, Desmond Mason revealed that he applied for the job.

Related: Brad Underwood's Ascension Among The Coaching Ranks

“Within the last couple of weeks, I had a couple of conversations with Holder on a lot of different fronts about the direction of Oklahoma State basketball,” Mason said on the Dylan and Todd Show. “After the last week or so I made the decision that I was gonna go after the job.”

“I talked to my agent as well. We put together a plan that we thought was beneficial for Oklahoma State. If I decided to go that route, who would be my staff? We had a really big-time recruiter, one of the best in the country if not the best, two guys coming in from the NBA that sit on benches today, the best skills guy in the game right now. We wanted to build an organization that would be able to recruit and develop.”

Mason scored 1,702 points at OSU from 1996-2000 and went on an Elite Eight run in 2000 with Gottlieb playing point and Eddie Sutton coaching. He was drafted 17th overall by the Sonics and had a 10-year NBA career including two seasons in Oklahoma City, once with the Hornets and during the Thunder’s first season.

Mason said he spoke at-length with Gottlieb about the job they were both contemplating and even considered a plan where Gottlieb became head coach and Mason became the associate head coach.

“For me, I have a successful career in art that takes me all over the world. At Oklahoma State, that job became the one thing I would give up (art) for. It’s the only thing in the world that I would’ve given up painting for.”

He also hinted that OSU basketball has lost touch with many of its influential alumni and said that there were probably some who would turn down a jersey retirement in Gallagher-Iba, if offered. From the look of things, Mason didn’t appreciate the way Mike Holder hired Brad Underwood.

“I hate to say this but there’s already some nails in the coffin. It’s unfortunate and it’s sad but it’s just the way things were handled. I think most people would’ve been ok if they felt that it had been handled a different way. Even if you have success you want to have alum come back, you want those guys around. The hard part is, with some guys, that will never happen again.”