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Tim Gill article in Tulsa World


tmh8286

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A Driving Force

Overall, I'm a bit surprised by the tone of the article. Probably shouldn't be. Written by Haisten; Gill obviously had some issues regarding ORU based on his desire to move to Arkansas. Even so, it's a bit more negative -or maybe I should say less positive - than I would have expected.

No input from anyone at ORU today - only Steve Bontrager, who has had his own issues with ORU . . . Still, I would never have described Tim Gill as "underappreciated". I guess that was intended as a positive description of Gill, but I don't think it's in touch with the attitude of the ORU fan base regarding Tim Gill.

With Tim still living in town I know that the athletic department has tried to reach out to him, at least to some degree, and I've seen him around a few times. But he's never been what you might call a "fixture" at ORU events, and that probably tells you something about his feelings towards the school. At least I'd think it does.

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maybe one of ORU's most efficient scorers.

i was a bit surprised about the negative tone as well, but has he taken any steps to try and heal any old wounds w/the athletic dept?

on his perceived hall of fame snub. perhaps haiston could have taken a look at ORU's hall of fame and noted that tim has not been passed up --- he's in the queue. the most recent player is sutton who just went in. gill and walls are probably next up.

how long did dugger wait? of the ceremonies i've seen, he seemed to appreciate it the most.

Haywood Hill, Men’s Basketball (1969-71)

Richard Fuqua, Basketball (1969-73)

Anthony Roberts, Men’s Basketball (1973-77)

Arnold Dugger, Men’s Basketball (1974-77)

Alvin Scott, Men’s Basketball (1973-77)

Gary “Cat†Johnson, Men’s Basketball (1978-82)

Mark Acres, Men’s Basketball (1980-85)

Haywoode Workman, Men’s Basketball (1986-89)

Greg Sutton, Men’s Basketball (1988-91)

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I totally agree that Tim Gill is in the queue for the ORU Hall of Fame! It's just a matter of time.

Well, I for one appreciate what Tim Gill did for ORU basketball. He is one of my all time favorites. With Tim on the court, you always knew ORU had a chance to score a bunch of points quick.

Tim's numbers in the Tulsa World speak for themselves. There is no doubt this guy will make the Hall of Fame.

7th in scoring

2nd in 3 point percentage

2nd in 3 point baskets made

5th in free throw percentage

4th in steals

9th in assists

Hey, I even like his haircut. :) He would definitely pass hair check.

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I definitely agree with those who sensed a negative tone in this piece of editorial. The school and basketball staff are incredibly different from the days when Gill played. A strong testimony to that is seeing many of our recent players come back and work out on campus, and cultivate relationships with the new Golden Eagles (See C. Green, L. Owens, Y. Ogunoye).

Whatever hang ups Tim may or may not have with our program, I hope we find a way to resolve them. It's a shame for someone to hold a grudge against an institution that will inevitably follow them the rest of their lives.

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TheEagleman never had the opportunity to see Tim Gill play and sounds like I missed out... from what I have heard and read....this guy deserves to be in the ORU Hall of Fame and surely will be at some point in this decade....his stats and history of clutch performances in big games certainly merit induction....but as pointed out above...no one from after 1991 is in yet for men's basketball....but Tim will get in and would get TheEagleman's vote....and I don't blame him for being a bit ticked at Billy Self and RR for giving him the "loyalty speech" and then have Self leave for our arch rival and years later find out that RR and wife were dipping into the till all along....still, let's hope that he can forgive and patch things up with the current administration.....Tim Gill is a 100% ORU Hall of Famer.... :clap::up:

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Even though Bill Self left after Tim's junior year, Tim owes a lot to Bill Self. Self basically ran the offense around Tim and continually ran set plays and screens to try to get Tim open. Of course, at the time there wasn't much other talent to build the team around.

One advantage Tim had was his speed. He had a very quick first step and could blow by defenders toward the hole. This caused defenders to back off him a little bit and gave him more opportunities to shoot jumpers. Also, Tim was so good coming off a screen and catching and shooting the ball before the defender could get in his face. That is how he made a lot of his 3-pointers.

I suspect that Tim doesn't realize that there is a tremendous amount of appreciation for what he did at ORU. When he and Rocky did come back for their senior year, I think the Arkansas episode was mostly forgiven by the fan base.

If I remember correctly, Tim hurt his ankle sometime during his senior year and lost some of his first-step quickness. I think he played a little professional basketball but wasn't as successful in pro ball after ORU as we might have expected. I wonder if his injury lingered. Maybe some others on the board know more about what happened with Tim after leaving ORU.

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Sounds like Self and Gill were a great team but you can certainly understand why Tim might have a grudge....the Coach talks him into staying by laying the guilt trip on him and then up and leaves a month later for greener pastures himself...exactly the same thing he talked Gill out of doing....that's why NCAA basketball is so unfair...maybe coaches should have to sit out a year also if they leave in the middle of a contract.... :ugeek:

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Several overtures have been made to draw Tim Gill back into the mix at ORU, even an open invitation for him to serve on the Board of Directors of the Golden Eagle Club.

For whatever reasons, he has not gotten involved. The invitation still stands - we would love to have him.

Some former athletes are funny in that way, especially once their respective coaches move on: they miss feeling wanted in the same way as when they played, and feel unappreciated by the new generation of fans and staff.

Most accept that it's an inevitable result of the passage of time.

But, some don't...

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it's funny to wonder what might have been if tim and rocky had left. ORU's team would have been decimated losing self, gill, and walls at the same time. there is no way hinson has success his first two seasons and moves on to missouri state. how long would the ORU program have suffered in mediocrity before hinson eventually got canned? there might never had been a coach scott sutton at ORU. big thanks to gill, walls, and slim wilkerson for hastening the departure of hinson.

i have no idea if it's true or not, but i remember someone saying that gill almost got a call up w/the sixers one year when he was doing well in the CBA. supposedly larry brown had a roster spot opening up and was going to give gill a 10 day, but he got injured just prior. the story went that it was self who called larry brown and put in the good word for gill.

hopefully gill's induction into the hall of fame will go a long way to restoring his relationship w/ORU.

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I definitely agree with those who sensed a negative tone in this piece of editorial. The school and basketball staff are incredibly different from the days when Gill played. A strong testimony to that is seeing many of our recent players come back and work out on campus, and cultivate relationships with the new Golden Eagles (See C. Green, L. Owens, Y. Ogunoye).

Whatever hang ups Tim may or may not have with our program, I hope we find a way to resolve them. It's a shame for someone to hold a grudge against an institution that will inevitably follow them the rest of their lives.

I think a lot of guys coming back deals with their relationship to the current coaching staff plus most of those guys are still involved in basketball for their careers while others have moved on to other endeavors.

P.S. I was not an ORU fan at the time of Bill Self and Tim Gill and I didn't really get the negative tone of the article myself except for the fact that he isn't in the hall of fame, but it seems like he is next in line (or so).

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I happen to be in Grad School at the time of the Self/Gill/Walls era and I have to say I have not seen a better overall 2 guard than Tim Gill. We have had some very good shooters since that group but they played with tremendous excitment and emotion. The highlight reel of Tim bouncing the ball off the backboard for a Walls slam was one to remember. However, You are right. Coach Self set up the screens for Gill and he made the most of them. Having said that I can't wait to see this years team. If we can play with emotion and leadership, we will be hard pressed to be beat. ;)

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Great post by ORUAlum above....Larry Brown was a coach who insisted on his guys "playing the right way"....Tim Gill sounds like he would have been a Coach Brown type of player....it probably was Bill Self who made the call...too bad Gill got hurt...TheEagleman would have loved watching him play for the Sixers.... :ugeek:

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  • 3 years later...

I am a little late to this conversation but I do find it amusing. My mother always taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say to not say anything at all. This is the reason none of you know the truth about what went on between me and ORU. I don't want to make the university, it's admin or previous coaches look bad so I stay quiet. My quiet approach, I see has allowed people with no clue to make assessments on why they feel things are the way they are between ORU and myself. Let me just say you are incorrect, my reasons are more than valid and all of them were violations of principles of right and wrong not perceptions of them. With that said my mother also taught me something some of you should subscribe to, if you don't know what happened then you should keep your mouth shut and not speak on it.

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Wow, am I the only one who's scratching their head over this reaction to what (I feel) was a mostly-positive discussion THREE YEARS AGO?

Tim, you probably wouldn't remember me (though we've met a dozen times) but you should know that I and the others who commented on this thread were some of your biggest fans back in the day.

Rail to your heart's content, but you're coming after the very people who actually held you in the highest regard when your light shined brightest.

And also be reminded, this is an athletic message board, not your Facebook page: it's ALL about opinions, predictions, conjecture, etc. on here, and it's a HECK of a lot more balanced and fair on this site than any other sports forum I've ever seen.

In short: It ain't personal, dude - it's just sports talk.

Feel free to jump in anytime to educate us all with details of your playing days.

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You and everyone else are welcome to have whatever opinion you want. If your comment was positive then I obviously wasn't talking to you but there were some comments that spoke to things that people obviously didn't know about. I have always taken the high road in regards to ORU and what went on behind closed doors when I asked to leave to go to Arkansas and things that occurred after I graduated. I guess Bill wrote this article with a certain vibe because he is aware of some of those things but out of respect for me and me asking him not to he did not print any of that. My feelings toward ORU have nothing to do with the Hall of Fame. I am very appreciate of the fans that were here for us during those 4 years. I have very fond memories of my teammates, the fans and what we were able to accomplish! Big turnaround!

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Tim obviously there's been some turnover with the MBB program since your playing days. Do you see a scenario where the relationship could be repaired? Would love to see you reconnect with your alma mater. Best of luck.

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