Boone Pickens gets his money's worth out of OSU donation

“Now we have a chance,” he figured.

A member of the Cowboy coaching staff since 2001, DeForest knew the lack of state-of-the-art facilities made his job significantly harder during the early 2000s.

With Pickens' donation, DeForest knew the Pokes' program was about to change. And change quickly.

Six years after Pickens' initial gift, OSU features state-of-the-art facilities that are second to none. It's rare to see a recruit visit Stillwater and leave unimpressed with the football facilities.

“Now when kids come on campus, they look at it as a ‘wow', instead of a ‘You've got to be kidding me,'” said offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Cowboy coaches now show potential recruits around with pride, considering their facilities a potential game-changing asset instead of an obstacle to overcome. OSU's unique locker room, spacious meeting rooms, a first-class weight room and top-notch training table are an unquestioned symbol of the commitment to compete for championships in Stillwater.

“It's exciting because you can bring a kid in, bring a parent in and say, ‘Look at these facilities,'” said DeForest, OSU's special teams coordinator and safeties coach.

A huge portion of the credit for the recent rise of OSU football goes to Pickens.

“The bottom line is the Pickens money,” said former OSU coach Pat Jones. “Anything other than that is window dressing. Nothing would have changed if not for the Pickens money.”

That transformation has resulted in a football program that has gone to five straight bowl games and won nine or more games for three straight seasons, including an 11-2 record in 2010.

“There's no way our program would be where it is today without Boone Pickens,” DeForest said.

But money can only do so much; vision and execution were key.

And Boone Pickens was confident Mike Holder could make their vision a reality.

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Athletic director Mike Holder earned Pickens' trust through his success with OSU golf, showing the Cowboy alum he would get a bang for his buck if committed millions to Cowboy athletics.

“He knew based on what I did with golf, that I'd be a good steward with the money,” Holder said. “I wouldn't spend it frivolously.”

Said Pickens: “I told Holder, ‘I trust you to take the money and make sure it's properly spent.'”

Through the desire for first-class facilities for all sports, the plan for OSU's athletic village was born.

“We had to have some structure to be sure it will be wisely spent,” Pickens said. “We can't just throw it out there, we have to have an overall plan.”

That vision is alive today and took another step forward with last week's announcement that construction on the Sherman Smith Center, OSU's indoor facility, would begin on August 1.

“Holder keeps delivering,” Pickens said. “We get more for our money than anybody else does.”

While Pickens' trust in Holder gave him confidence his $165 million gift would be well spent, victories weren't the only goal — or even the No. 1 goal — in Pickens' mind when he made his record-setting gift in 2005.