Old Titan Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 And, here are the post game stories after the OT loss to Kansas. So close... SOURCE: Glenn Smith, "Smitty's Book" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bballmangc Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Very cool story OT great post was interesting to read. Also read in that clipping that the game was going to be blacked out for TV because it was not a sellout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Great stuff, OT - would LOVE to see more!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 it makes you wonder what might have been if the patrolman had given trickey the obligatory "i'll follow you home coach" that was afforded people of prominence at that time. w/out the distraction ORU might have been in the final 4. how in the world did little old ORU get that good that fast in basketball? i assume after Texas Western in the mid sixties that the game was fully integrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacAlum Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Great stuff! Thanks for sharing ORU fired up 99 FGA's in that Louisville game Compare that to ORU's last game vs. SMU, where both teams combined for 104 shots in a game that went to OT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 it makes you wonder what might have been if the patrolman had given trickey the obligatory "i'll follow you home coach" that was afforded people of prominence at that time. w/out the distraction ORU might have been in the final 4. how in the world did little old ORU get that good that fast in basketball? i assume after Texas Western in the mid sixties that the game was fully integrated. To this day, Trickey wonders if the whole thing was a set-up. But even if it was, he's never denied he had been drinking that night, just that he wasn't drunk. I have no idea how the case was eventually resolved. How did ORU do it? By starting a pipeline in 1969 of black talent from Tennessee and other parts of the South, at a time when most colleges in that region were not yet recruiting black athletes. Remember, the 1969 Arkansas-Texas "Game Of The Century" in college football featured all-white rosters on both sides of the ball, and some SEC teams were segregated as late as 1972. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 good info...here is what i found out about how the case was resolved. To worsen matters, the NCAA had begun a preliminary inquiry into alleged violations committed under Ted Owens, the former Kansas coach who had guided Oral Roberts in 1985-86 and '86-87. In '86, several recruits had allegedly held a raucous $1,200 party—paid for by the school—at a local Sheraton. Reports also surfaced of players receiving airplane tickets, using coaching-staff cars and charging nearly $50,000 in telephone calls to credit cards belonging to assistant coaches. Before the NCAA could launch a full-fledged probe, Oral Roberts bolted to the NAIA. "I swear before my maker that the NCAA had nothing to do with [moving to the NAIA]," says Trickey. "To be a member of the NCAA, a school must have six men's teams and six women's teams—plus all that traveling. It just got too expensive." The troubles in Oral Roberts' athletic department didn't begin during Owens' tenure. In 1974, after the Titans upset Louisville at the Mabee Center in the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament, Trickey decided to celebrate the victory at a local bar. He was later pulled over by Tulsa police and charged with DWI. Trickey eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of careless driving and received a suspended sentence, plus a $100 fine and a $25 fee for court costs. This incident was especially embarrassing for the university, where spirits violate not only school spirit but the honor code as well. The Titans lost 93-90 in overtime to Kansas in the next round, and Trickey, under pressure, departed for Iowa State, because, he says, "ORU got snooty." i never realized that ted owens brought on the problems w/the NCAA. the full article is pretty interesting about the ups and downs of ORU's basketball team. LINK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 more on why he left ORU... Then Trickey pulled a McLean Stevenson (who decided to leave M*A*S*H at just about the same time Trickey decided to leave ORU) and walked away from the best job he ever had. FYI, Stevenson was Illinois-reared, too. Trickey said he always wanted to coach at a land-grant institution. Be careful what you wish for. He was hired at Iowa State and realized almost immediately he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said he was glad to part company after two seasons. He said the president told him he was too "big-time" for Iowa State. Why didn't Trickey stick around for a continuation of high-times at ORU? It wasn't because he was pulled over for suspicion of DWI toward the end of his fifth season. He announced that he was quitting long before that occurred (and he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of careless driving). He was ready to leave because he believed folks on campus (not Oral) were getting either too meddlesome or too uppity. They were taking miracles for granted instead of expecting them. For instance, Trickey got Wisconsin to be the opponent for a Mabee Center grand opening game in 1972, and it bothered him when a vice president asked "you mean you can't get anybody better than Wisconsin?" (Trickey thought he had secured Notre Dame, but he said Digger Phelps nixed the game.) Also, Trickey said he was hearing too many comments that he needed to coach a different way and maybe even — yuck! — call plays. He got the idea people didn't think he was worthy of the very program he built, so he let them have it. Trickey Business - TW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Absolutely great stuff, OT....superlative....to read those old newspaper articles again after 37 yrs brings back some good and bad memories....sounds like OR and Trickey had some issues back then...and I always wondered why a Tulsa cop would nail Ken Trickey after the biggest win for a Tulsa school maybe ever in basketball....maybe it was a set up.....who knows?.....I just remember the euphoria of the great win on Thursday night and then the awful feeling after losing that 9 pt lead on Saturday....it still hurts after 37 yrs because ORU could have won the whole thing.....if David Vaughn was still with the team, we could have won the NCAA Championship....oh well....that was our one chance to grab the brass ring....I will make this comment....Sam McCants was not a very good guy....lots of problems there and you can't tell me that he was an "innocent victim" at Florida State...Sudden Sam had a lot of issues....he never even came back the next year....one and done...he either flunked out or Jerry Hale wanted no parts of him...McCants was not a Jerry Hale type player....no more run and gun...Sam could fill it up but he was a wildman on and off the court.....he was probably not living within the honor code.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 i never realized that ted owens brought on the problems w/the NCAA. the full article is pretty interesting about the ups and downs of ORU's basketball team. I don't think Ted Owens did anything wrong himself, nor would he have approved of such - it was instead a NOTORIOUS assistant coach he had working for him named Dave Pritchett, who was Satan personified. A highly-moral volunteer assistant on the staff was so appalled by Pritchett's conduct, both on and off the job, that he wrote a letter to the NCAA naming specific violations involving Pritchett that he had witnessed. But Trickey still swears that the reason ORU went NAIA was not to avoid NCAA prosecution - it was because Oral was ready to pull the plug on athletics altogether because of money. Trickey convinced Oral that if they went NAIA, they could remain afloat for a few seasons on a bare-boned budget until the money situation improved. Which, in hindsight, is exactly what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Thanks for the interesting historical info on the program. My freshman year at ORU we announced the drop to NAIA (89-90) and by my senior year (92-93) we were back in the NCAA as a provisional member. At the time it was clearly explained as a financial decision. But it is interesting to hear some of the background information. I'm sure Oral probably regretted a couple of the coaching decisions he made in 70s & 80s, but it only makes me appreciate our current leadership (Rutland/Mike Carter) that since the Bill Self hire we have had consistently good decisions rather knee-jerk decisions in the athletic department. By my senior year, there was a definite feeling that it was time to move on from Ken Trickey. He was acting as the athletic director as well as the head coach and some things were falling through the cracks as well as the product on the floor wasn't that great. Of course, it was a difficult situation to try and be competitive at D-1 after returning from NAIA. It was time to get younger and to play better defense. I believe that Ken Trickey had the best interests of the university at heart. But I certainly wouldn't blame the policeman for charging Trickey with DWI. I think Trickey is the only one to blame in that situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Outstanding finds, alum. You and OT have provided us with some great info from the earlier days of the program. I used to think it would make a great book - although one with a limited market, I'm sure. We're gradually losing our primary characters - those that experienced this stuff first hand. Thankfully, much has already been written about the highs and lows of ORU athletics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Calling Dave Pritchett "Satan" is a bit harsh, OT. Dave was a "character", no doubt. And, he may have bent the rules, but my experiences with him were all positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Calling Dave Pritchett "Satan" is a bit harsh, OT. Dave was a "character", no doubt. And, he may have bent the rules, but my experiences with him were all positive. Let's compare stories some time - mine may literally make you sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Let's compare stories some time - mine may literally make you sick. You know that I enjoy a good story. All I know are MY experiences with the guy. All of which were pretty positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 The last ON TOPIC post in this thread was the very first one!! Back on topic: I heard this week that sections of the wood floor from the Mabee Center will be made available soon. Larger sections(11" x 11") will be available in limited numbers, and will be first come first served. Smaller sections (5" x 8" and 2 1/2" x 8") will also be for sale. They'll be made available on orugoldeneagles.com, so be watching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOLO_Gold Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 The last ON TOPIC post in this thread was the very first one!! Back on topic: I heard this week that sections of the wood floor from the Mabee Center will be made available soon. Larger sections(11" x 11") will be available in limited numbers, and will be first come first served. Smaller sections (5" x 8" and 2 1/2" x 8") will also be for sale. They'll be made available on orugoldeneagles.com, so be watching! Purchase your very own piece of Mabee Center history here! LINK TO MABEE CENTER ORIGINAL FLOOR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Purchase your very own piece of Mabee Center history here! LINK TO MABEE CENTER ORIGINAL FLOOR Good job, SOLO_Gold! I checked right before I posted the above and it wasn't up yet - at least that I could find, and it's easy enough to find now. Can't say I knew it would be up THAT quickly!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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