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Oklahoma State's Travis Ford receives vote of confidence amid buyout rumors

Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma State is considering an expensive buyout of head coach Travis Ford's contract, reports The Oklahoman's John Helsley.

The buyout would cost almost $10 million.

Helsley writes:

The cost of firing Ford: at least $9.6 million - the full remainder owed from a 10-year contract extension given to the coach in September of 2009. It's a sizable sum that serves as a deterrent to making a change, considering the school would then have to pay Ford's replacement. And with the average Big 12 basketball coaching salary - among public schools - at $2.6 million, OSU could have as much as $5 million tied up in its basketball position next year and throughout the terms of Ford's deal, which runs through 2019.

The Cowboys were eliminated in their opening game of the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year, losing 79-73 to Oregon on March 20. They finished the season 18-14 with a 8-12 record in the Big 12. 

On Tuesday evening, Oklahoma State booster T. Boone Pickens tweeted that he's in Travis Ford's camp, and that the coach deserves more time with the school. One would have to figure that sentiment means he will not be footing the bill on a potential buyout.

Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder issued a statement of his own, giving Ford a vote of confidence.

"Given the overwhelming amount of unfounded rumors surrounding the future of our head basketball coach Travis Ford, I am departing from my usual practice of not talking about personnel matters," Holder said. "Travis Ford is our head coach now, and he will be our head coach moving forward."

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