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OR and Wooden


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found this on ebay when looking at ORU basketball stuff.  i guess maybe Oral interviewed him for a TV special???

 

it reminded me of a story i heard Coach Trickey tell about Coach Wooden.  as i recall, he used to do a weekly spot on sports radio after he stepped down at ORU.  anyway, the topic of what coaches he liked and did not like was brought up.  Wooden was the first name out of his mouth of who he did not like.  he thought he was a phony.  the dispute, if i remember correctly, was over Wooden's unwillingness to exchange game films at some point with Coach Trickey.  it stuck with me because it was the only time i'd heard someone not have anything but a glowing opinion of John Wooden and that after all those years Trickey was still hot about it. 

 

Coach Trickey beat to his own drum....i bet he would have been a joy to talk with over a few adult beverages.

 

LINK

img0042A.jpg

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found this on ebay when looking at ORU basketball stuff.  i guess maybe Oral interviewed him for a TV special???

 

it reminded me of a story i heard Coach Trickey tell about Coach Wooden.  as i recall, he used to do a weekly spot on sports radio after he stepped down at ORU.  anyway, the topic of what coaches he liked and did not like was brought up.  Wooden was the first name out of his mouth of who he did not like.  he thought he was a phony.  the dispute, if i remember correctly, was over Wooden's unwillingness to exchange game films at some point with Coach Trickey.  it stuck with me because it was the only time i'd heard someone not have anything but a glowing opinion of John Wooden and that after all those years Trickey was still hot about it. 

 

Coach Trickey beat to his own drum....i bet he would have been a joy to talk with over a few adult beverages.

 

LINK

img0042A.jpg

One...I feel better now knowing that there are others who search eBay for

ORU bball stuff!

Two...Coach Wooden was a big man of faith...I would love to see the video clip of OR and the Coach discussing basketball and faith!

Thanks for sharing alum

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Ken Trickey was prickly, especially in his later years.  The list of coaches, administrators and such who he felt had offended him over the years was a mile long.

 

One vocation that typically escaped Trickey's wrath, however, was the media:  he seemed to never meet a reporter or microphone he didn't like!

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Um, Trickey had Wooden's "Philosophy of Basketball and Life" schematic, blown up and put on the wall outside the ORU locker room, along with a couple of quotes, if I recall correctly. It was there for several years in the late 80's/early 90's.

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interesting oruvoice...maybe he just had a bad day or my memory isn't all that great.

 

about the only thing i could find from the google machine was a reference to Wooden on his way out the door in '93.

"You could resurrect Mr. (Henry) Iba and Adolph Rupp both, and you're not going to win any more games," Trickey said. "Or bring John Wooden or whoever else you want in here. This has been a very difficult time. " ORU officials announced Trickey's time was up in a Tuesday morning press release. While the release was general in nature and new ORU president Richard Roberts was not available for comment, Trickey confirmed that Roberts had asked for his resignation when the two met Monday.

 

Sitler's full article is worth a read....there had been a movement to can him the previous year, but Oral nixed it.

 

 

i also found that the photo above is from an "Oral Roberts Youth Special" in 1970 that featured Lou Rawls, Wooden and Steve Owens among others.

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Reading about those years certainly puts this past season in perspective, doesn't it? "Dark Ages" in 2014? Not compared to the last Trickey era.

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TheEagleman heard the rumor back in the 70's when he was a student but was never able to confirm it that OR wanted desperately to open his brand new Mabee Center basketball arena vs. the best college basketball team of that era UCLA and the legendary John Wooden.....the story was that Oral and his staff reached out to the Bruins and Wooden but they declined the offer.....ORU settled for the Badgers of Wisconsin who came to christen Mabee Center on 12/4/72 in a battle to Top 20 teams.....ORU won the game by double digits on their way to a tremendous season where we really got stiffed by the NCAA and ended up settling for an NIT bid where we lost to North Carolina at MSG......anybody know if the UCLA rumor was really true?.... :nerd:

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i hope this Google Books link works...Oral Roberts: An American Life

 

read from the last paragraph on pg 244 to the first paragraph on pg 248

 

highlights

 

-why basketball was so important to OR

-did try to get UCLA and USC on the schedule

-fast rise and goal of championship by '75

-tension w/faculty / request for grade adjustment for athletes from OR

-OR's active recruitment of athletes (David Vaughn, Moses Malone)

-pressure Trickey felt "representing God"...never knew who was watching him

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Many years ago I heard Trickey interviewed on 1430 AM - I've talked about that interview before - and this may have happened after they were turned down by UCLA - but Oral and Trickey went to Notre Dame and after lengthy persuasion got a handshake agreement with the head of the school and Digger Phelps to play the opening game in Mabee Center. According to Trickey, as they were leaving he told Oral, "They'll never stick to the agreement," and they didn't. After OR and Trickey returned to Tulsa they received communication of some sort from ND backing out of the agreement. After that, Wisconsin agreed to play the opening game.

Time has faded much of that interview from my memory, but it was FULL of fascinating info on the early days of the program. I'd LOVE to have a copy of that, as I've said numerous times before over the years . . .

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University of Texas Athletic Director, Steve Patterson in an article for ESPN.com:

 

He sees Texas as being in a unique position to grow its international brand and said it's essential to use athletics as a platform to tell the university's story.

 

Sounds like ol' Granville himself!! Someone get this article to Billy Wilson!

 

Link: ESPN.com

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Yeah, TheEagleman recalls the ND was also mentioned as a possible opponent for the Mabee Center opener and declined.....Digger and the Fighting Irish showed up at Mabee a couple of years later for the first round of the NCAA tournament against Rutgers....TheEagleman was at the game and booed ND with gusto..... :nerd:

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