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Tom Hankins Resigns at Central Oklahoma


Old Titan

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Well, so much for former ORU assistant and all-around good guy Tom Hankins leading his UCO Broncos to the Mabee Center this year...

https://bronchosports.com/news/2019/7/24/tom-hankins-resigns-as-mens-basketball-head-coach.aspx

Curious to find out what happened - clue us in, "darrenj" - LOL

And have to wonder if his former boss at Southern Illinois, Barry Hinson, would apply for this job?

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He got a great opportunity!:) Very happy for him.

This past season was a tough one for him and glad this worked out as it was very sudden and unexpected.

Good things happen to good people!:)

I can't see Barry taking a D2 job as he got a good severance and that would be a big adjustment for him.

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7 minutes ago, darrenj said:

He got a great opportunity!:) Very happy for him.

This past season was a tough one for him and glad this worked out as it was very sudden and unexpected.

Good things happen to good people!:)

I can't see Barry taking a D2 job as he got a good severance and that would be a big adjustment for him.

I realize my little interrogation may be putting you in a delicate spot, but I'm hoping what was "very sudden and unexpected" was the "great opportunity", and not someone at UCO suddenly/unexpectedly asking him to resign for some reason?

Looking forward to hearing more when the time is right!

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Scott Sutton to UCO???....😜🤪

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16 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said:

Scott Sutton to UCO???....😜🤪

...or Sean Sutton.

...or Chris Crutchfield.

...or Corey Williams.

Problem is, none of those guys (with the exception of Crutchfield) "wins the press conference" when it comes to talking about past achievements, and Crutch would likely have to take a pay cut from his new gig at Arkansas.

I will bet they definitely get someone with Oklahoma ties; remains to be seen if it's a younger up-and-comer (like a Kyan Brown?), or an older retread.

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18 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

Good for Tom - he is a great guy.

Yeah, and if anyone wants to REALLY solve that "Where did things go wrong 8-or-9 years ago?" conundrum as mentioned earlier, they need look no further than when Tom left and Sean Sutton took his place.

ORU basketball hasn't played a lick of defense since...

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10 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

Yeah, and if anyone wants to REALLY solve that "Where did things go wrong 8-or-9 years ago?" conundrum as mentioned earlier, they need look no further than when Tom left and Sean Sutton took his place.

ORU basketball hasn't played a lick of defense since...

I agree 1000%. Hankins departure was the beginning of ORU's recent downturn. Our coaching, recruiting, retention, and win/loss percentage was severely hampered...

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ah...the root cause of our Mens' ORU round ball problems.....one too many Suttons??......😬

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2 hours ago, Old Titan said:

Yeah, and if anyone wants to REALLY solve that "Where did things go wrong 8-or-9 years ago?" conundrum as mentioned earlier, they need look no further than when Tom left and Sean Sutton took his place.

ORU basketball hasn't played a lick of defense since...

Spot on OT. That is the truth.  I wish he would get the opportunity to come back to ORU and teach some defense. He was a great coach and not a bad recruiter. Just look at what he has done with that UCO program. It will be interesting to see where he lands. I hope the best for him and his family.image.jpeg.5cb1ad6180b65b97b37a6d5bb4aa3bdf.jpeg

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Per Facebook, it appears that Tom is headed to the Indiana Pacers.  My mom's favorite team!!

 

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13 hours ago, MrsSmith said:

Per Facebook, it appears that Tom is headed to the Indiana Pacers.  My mom's favorite team!!

 

Great find, MrsSmith - any details?

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He did take a job with the Pacers. Kevin Pritchard is President of basketball operations and everyone probably knows the connection there from playing together in high school.

Great opportunity to get involved in the NBA with ample opportunity to move up with that organization.

He is really happy and looking forward to starting really soon!:)

Nice job security and really big step up.

Couldn't happen to a better guy! 🙂

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4 hours ago, darrenj said:

He did take a job with the Pacers. Kevin Pritchard is President of basketball operations and everyone probably knows the connection there from playing together in high school.

Great opportunity to get involved in the NBA with ample opportunity to move up with that organization.

He is really happy and looking forward to starting really soon!:)

Nice job security and really big step up.

Couldn't happen to a better guy! 🙂

That's awesome.  I can't recall any other ORU coaches ever getting gigs in the NBA, though it wouldn't surprise me if one of Bill Self's guys had/has made it that far.

The Edison Eagles connection paying off big time!

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Bob Hoffman has had an interesting relationship with ORU basketball over the years:  the former Oklahoma Sooners assistant beat the dog out of the Golden Eagles a couple of times while head coach at Pan American, and applied at least once (maybe twice) for the head coaching job at ORU, when Scott Sutton (and Barry Hinson?) were hired instead.  His last stop was Mercer, where he had a stunning NCAA tournament upset of Duke in 2014, only to be fired 5 years later.

Hoffman is a tough and excellent coach who will no doubt pull out all the stops when UCO visits the Mabee Center. 

Five bucks says Paul Mills drops this game from the schedule before September 1st.  The prospect of losing to yet another non-D1 team, coached by a guy who was once (twice?) turned down for the same position, might be a little too much to risk at this stage of his career..

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