Clutch Response: ORU's Mwamba Ignores Pain (Tulsa World 3/8/23)

[Old Titan]

[SonofaLegend]

Has the Tulsa World ever given us this attention? Or had had a staff writer take a liking and interest in the program like Bill has? I remember in the Tutt/Green era the board often felt over looked in favor of the inferior cross town rival.
 

He's a good writer, and takes great pictures! I would love it if Tulsan's claim the Golden Eagle's as their favorite local team! Keep up the great work Bill. 

[Ting]

Will be interesting how our nagging injuries heal this week. Chapel hosting a prayer conference this week for these guys? Would be nice to have a 100% Abmas, Vanover, and Mwamba

[theeagleman5]

12 seed my A$$....this ORU team should be at least an 11......

[ORUFan2009]

I like our odds against 20 san diego st, 25 Missouri and 22 TCU. 

 

[ORU40]

Patrick has played great basketball all year, his defensive intensity and effort have helped take this team to a different level!! His toughness has changed this teams identity and made everyone better and his offense and scoring ability at all 3 levels has been a more than welcome surprise!

I have no doubt that his play has attracted a lot of attention in various basketball circles. We just saw Eli's name pop up on the board a few days ago which got me a little concerned. My understanding was that a big driver in his decision to leave the team was that as a foreign player he could not enter into NIL deals and receive endorsement compensation. I'm assuming the same is true for Patrick? Is that still the rule for foreign players? 

[Old Titan]

1 hour ago, SonofaLegend said:

Has the Tulsa World ever given us this attention? Or had had a staff writer take a liking and interest in the program like Bill has? I remember in the Tutt/Green era the board often felt over looked in favor of the inferior cross town rival.
 

He's a good writer, and takes great pictures! I would love it if Tulsan's claim the Golden Eagle's as their favorite local team! Keep up the great work Bill. 

Haisten and Mills have apparently become fast friends, as referenced in an earlier post where Coach Mills gave him 30 minutes of time late one night for a podcast ranging from philosophies on life to old-school rappers.

[Old Titan]

5 minutes ago, ORU40 said:

Patrick has played great basketball all year, his defensive intensity and effort have helped take this team to a different level!! His toughness has changed this teams identity and made everyone better and his offense and scoring ability at all 3 levels has been a more than welcome surprise!

I have no doubt that his play has attracted a lot of attention in various basketball circles. We just saw Eli's name pop up on the board a few days ago which got me a little concerned. My understanding was that a big driver in his decision to leave the team was that as a foreign player he could not enter into NIL deals and receive endorsement compensation. I'm assuming the same is true for Patrick? Is that still the rule for foreign players? 

There is a case to be made whether ALL or NONE of ORU's entire 8-man rotation will return next year, in addition to everyone on the bench, including the coaching staff.

Other than that, we're set for next season!  LOL

[dbl78]

I really did not like the phrasing that Paul Mills “staggered into bed at 6 o’clock” - thoughts of Ken Trickey in 1974 immediately popped into my head.  That’s the last thing we need right now.

[Old Titan]

22 hours ago, dbl78 said:

I really did not like the phrasing that Paul Mills “staggered into bed at 6 o’clock” - thoughts of Ken Trickey in 1974 immediately popped into my head.  That’s the last thing we need right now.

…and he’s the last one that you need to worry about anything like that. 

The plane landed in Tulsa at 2:00am, he was too wired to sleep so he looked at NBA inbounds plays till 6:00am and then finally turned in - that’s his kind of all-night bender.

 

[theeagleman5]

Sounds about right for Coach Mills....have always felt bad for Ken Trickey.....OR wanted to fire him for a couple of whiskey sours?....but then again it was 1974 and things were extremely tight at ORU....wonder who the cop was who stopped Coach Trickey?....obviously a TU fan.....I was never able to fully confirm but a good friend on that team told TheEagleman that the players were prepared to boycott if Coach Trickey wasn't reinstated which he was....as of early morning that day he was suspended and the asst coach was gonna take over...but early afternoon Trickey was back in charge.....he quietly resigned a few days later....maybe Old Titan knows the full story???.....

[Old Titan]

12 hours ago, theeagleman5 said:

Sounds about right for Coach Mills....have always felt bad for Ken Trickey.....OR wanted to fire him for a couple of whiskey sours?....but then again it was 1974 and things were extremely tight at ORU....wonder who the cop was who stopped Coach Trickey?....obviously a TU fan.....I was never able to fully confirm but a good friend on that team told TheEagleman that the players were prepared to boycott if Coach Trickey wasn't reinstated which he was....as of early morning that day he was suspended and the asst coach was gonna take over...but early afternoon Trickey was back in charge.....he quietly resigned a few days later....maybe Old Titan knows the full story???.....

Welp, as a matter of fact, I do.

Very few remember that Coach Trickey had already resigned early In January, 1974, effective the end of the season but by agreement to remain secret until April 1st.  After word started to get out, Coach Trickey's resignation was made public by President Roberts on February 3, 1974, following an ORU loss to Long Beach State.

Following his arrest in the wee hours of Friday morning, March 13, 1974 (after the landmark 96-93 win over Denny Crum and Louisville in the Midwest Regional first round at the Mabee Center on Thursday night) Coach Trickey suspended himself (since he was also the athletic director) and offered to step down immediately rather than when the season officially ended, but President Roberts insisted he coach the game against Kansas on Saturday that would have put the Titans in the Final Four.  He did, and ORU played well, but Kansas rallied in regulation before winning in overtime to end both the Titans' season and Coach Trickey's first stint at ORU.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  Which is all I have to say about that... 

[tmh8286]

11 hours ago, Old Titan said:

Welp, as a matter of fact, I do.

Very few remember that Coach Trickey had already resigned early In January, 1974, effective the end of the season but by agreement to remain secret until April 1st.  After word started to get out, Coach Trickey's resignation was made public by President Roberts on February 3, 1974, following an ORU loss to Long Beach State.

Following his arrest in the wee hours of Friday morning, March 13, 1974 (after the landmark 96-93 win over Denny Crum and Louisville in the Midwest Regional first round at the Mabee Center on Thursday night) Coach Trickey suspended himself (since he was also the athletic director) and offered to step down immediately rather than when the season officially ended, but President Roberts insisted he coach the game against Kansas on Saturday that would have put the Titans in the Final Four.  He did, and ORU played well, but Kansas rallied in regulation before winning in overtime to end both the Titans' season and Coach Trickey's first stint at ORU.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  Which is all I have to say about that... 

Kinda like doing genealogy - you gotta accept the truth you uncover, both the good and the bad. For me, it’s all part of our “family” history, and over time I’ve come to love every bit of it, warts and all.

[theeagleman5]

Thanks for filling in the blanks and setting the record straight, OT....now that makes sense....any idea why Trickey wanted out of ORU where he was building a dynasty? Was it $$$??? And bringing in Jerry Hale was quite a come down...nice guy but.....

[ORUTerry]

Shows how important coaching is. Making that ‘next’ hire is crucial in maintaining momentum 

[Old Titan]

1 hour ago, ORUTerry said:

Shows how important coaching is. Making that ‘next’ hire is crucial in maintaining momentum 

No question.  Every time a high-profile "name" coach is fired or resigns at a Power 5 school, I wonder if they're being added to Tim Johnson's list of potential candidates if Paul Mills leaves (Josh Pastner at Georgia Tech, Mike Anderson at St. John's, etc.)

[theeagleman5]

TheEagleman took a few minutes to read the article above and obvious that Trickey left ORU due to coaching philosophy which is strange....he came to ORU because Oral loved his "run and gun" style at Middle Tennessee....then in 1974 he wants coach to run more set plays?....very odd....that 73-74 ORU team along with the two previous teams were run and gun all starts....still a shame we didn't get the the Final Four in 1974....should have happened....and those Titans could have won the whole thing in Greensboro......oh what could have been......

[Old Titan]

8 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said:

TheEagleman took a few minutes to read the article above and obvious that Trickey left ORU due to coaching philosophy which is strange....he came to ORU because Oral loved his "run and gun" style at Middle Tennessee....then in 1974 he wants coach to run more set plays?....very odd....that 73-74 ORU team along with the two previous teams were run and gun all starts....still a shame we didn't get the the Final Four in 1974....should have happened....and those Titans could have won the whole thing in Greensboro......oh what could have been......

...and then President Roberts grew disillusioned with Jerry Hale (Ken Trickey's successor) for installing a traditional offense and not running as much as Trickey did (while Jerry Tarkanian was setting the college basketball world on fire with his UNLV Runnin' Rebels averaging 100 points a game).