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USATSI

After a search that lasted more than two weeks, Oklahoma State has hired Steve Lutz as its next men's head basketball coach, sources told CBS Sports. Lutz will head to Oklahoma State after just one season with Western Kentucky, where he took the Hilltoppers to the NCAA Tournament with a 22-12 record this past season. Lutz, 51, has three years of experience running a program; he was at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from 2021-23, guiding the Islanders to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments as the Southland champions in those years. 

Lutz's deal is for five years, sources said. 

His career record is 69-35, a .663 winning percentage, a high achievement rate with just three years of a head-coaching record. 

Lutz has a great background in recruiting, program-building and player development. He earned endorsements in this carousel cycle from former bosses Greg McDermott (Creighton) and Matt Painter (Purdue). Lutz was instrumental in recruiting future National Player of the Year Zach Edey to Purdue, where he served as an assistant from 2017-2021. 

The Cowboys will bring on Lutz to replace Mike Boynton Jr., who was fired earlier this month after seven seasons, one NCAA Tournament appearance and a 119-109 record. Sources told CBS Sports Oklahoma State took a couple of moonshots on huge names but ultimately was satisfied in targeting a coach who paid his dues and immediately proved to be a candidate capable of making the jump to running a power-conference program.

An official announcement is expected shortly.