Nolan - Tubby - Hollywood = Tulsa University

Tulsa University basketball has had its ups and downs over the years. I started watching TU as a very short and small person. Joe Swank was the head coach. We played our home games in the Fairgrounds Pavilion, and the seats were mostly wooden.

I remember the thick haze of SMOKE that would linger like a cloud in the upper portion of the pavilion. At times, birds would chirp and make a flight from one crevice to another.

The Golden Hurricane broke the color barrier when they signed players Sherman Dillard, Julian Hammond, Larry Cheatham, Herm Callands and Eldridge Webb [LIVE FROM NEW YORK!!!! writers note: what a superb talent!] to name a few.
Ken Hayes became the next head coach and had standout scorers like Steve Bracey, Bobby "Bingo" Smith and long range bomber Willie Biles whose high arching shots from the deep corner only counted for two points, while he still would easily score over 30 points.

Three hours ago I enjoyed visiting with three coaches that formerly coached at the University of Tulsa. Interestingly, all three of them reached the pinnacle in their chosen career of coaching.

What did these former Hurricane coaches do?

They won the national championship in the NCAA March Madness national championship tournament.

Nolan Richardson led the Arkansas Razorbacks to the title in 1994. They knocked off Duke and Coach K. Grant Hill was the star of the team. Cherokee Parks had the best name. The Duke guard in the game is now the OU SOONERS head coach. Not many of you will remember, but Tulsa's own Clint McDaniel from Booker T Washington nailed a clinching free throw late in the game. One of Arkansas' fans that attended the game just happened to be the person who made Monica Lewinsky and cigars a famous combination. Scotty Thurman hit his 3rd three pointer of the game to put Arkansas in the lead, while current Oklahoma University Coach Capel had a shot blocked by Hog All American Corliss Williamson. Wanna see a few clips? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrZG_qgqrco

Orlando "Tubby" Smith left the friendly confines of Tulsa to the hotseat in Lexington Kentucky. It didn't take him long to show that it was a good hire. He led the blueblood Wildcats to a National Championship in their first year. Tubby was very popular during his Tulsa stint. The personable coach with the fun to say nickname left a lasting impression on our city. After the "Bring your plate home with you" dinner, I had each of the three national champion coaches sign the imprinted white collector plate. As I visited with Tubby, we spoke of a book I had given him during his first months in his head coaching debut job in Tulsa. He asked for my email address and without thinking, I pulled out of my front pocket, the brand new recruiting DVD I had just produced for my 17 yr old, 6' 4 1/2" senior combo guard that can also play the point. And I said, "Coach, this is the only thing I have with my email address on it." He took it, wrote my name on the clear plastic case, and said "Is that your boy?", pointing to the color picture of Brock which was imprinted on the front of the DVD.

I don't know if anything will come of it, but I in surfing around, I found that his son GG, who I saw play in high school at Cascia Hall before Tubby left for Kentucky, is back in the coaching business and is at Loyola of Maryland as an assistant.
I uploaded the two different short "highlight" videos to You_Tube so I could include them in emails if I wanted to.
Brock Morton -Class of 2009 - Video #1
Brock Morton -Class of 2009 - Video #2

Then last year, former Hurricane coach Bill Self, the OSU Cowboy from Edmond who began his coaching career at Oral Roberts University before moving all the way from 81st and Lewis to 11th and Harvard to guide Tulsa University and lead them to the Elite 8. He then jumped over to Illinois before being wooed to Kansas. Self led the Kansas Jayhawks to an improbable late comeback to steal the Championship away from Memphis State.

Nolan may have had the best line of the night when he said, "Everyone keeps asking how I lost all the weight." After the appropriate comediennes pause, he answered, "When I got my ass fired, all the rats left the house,, and there was nothing left to eat!"

The three "Champions" were honored by Herb Suggs, former Tulsa player under Richardson who runs the Basket of Dreams program to help inner city children become healthier, and provide the guidance and support to be great kids. Because great kids become great adults.

My son played basketball for Basket of Dreams three or four years ago and it was a valuable experience for him.

A few former Hurricane players in attendance were Jeff Malham, Jeff Rahilly, David Moss, Anthony Fobbs, Steve "Silk" Harris, Mike Anderson (who happened to coach his Missouri Tigers to the Elite 8 this year!), Tracey Moore, Bob Patterson, Steve Ballard, Rod Thompson, Dante Swanson [one of my all time favorites who is still playing in Poland], Jason Parker [like myself, a member of a Memorial High School State Championship team; Jason played in the NBD league for a team from Texas, but said he is going to Europe this next year], and otheres.

Basketball Season is upon us..

Golden State Warriors guard Kelenna Azubuike (7) shoots the ball as New Orleans Hornets players Desmond Mason (24) and Rasual Butler (45) look on in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Ty Russell)January 2, 2007



Waymon Tisdale....Mark Price [Enid].....Richard Dumas....Anthony Bowie.....Lee Mayberry... John Starks.... ummm.... the list of TULSA HIGH SCHOOL area basketball players that made/make it to the NBA is a pretty short list......well it's time to add a new name! Kelenna Azibuike~~

Now is the time of year that football winds down and basketball gets goin full throttle. Celtics and former Celtics are playing for their high schools in Oklahoma, Kansas and Washington State (Kale Larkin) and it sure is fun checking the box scores and watching live the kids I've coached and played against for the last 8 or 9 years. Cascia Hall, Booker T. Washington, Victory Christian, Bishop Kelley, Broken Arrow, Jenks, Bixby, East Central, Holland Hall, Enid, Verdigris, Pawnee,...I want to see all of them play this season.

Today I took my son Brock and fellow Celtic Alan Santos and their drummer friend Chris to Oklahoma City to check out the injury plagued NBA Hornets (Chris Paul the most recent to leave the lineup due to injury) go up against the Baron Davis led Golden State Warriors, who recently lost Jason Richardson.

Thinking back a few years....
I remember as if it was yesterday watching Kelenna Azubuike play high school ball for Victory Christian. One memorable game was catching him at the Memorial High School gym; truly a man among boys, if I remember correctly he quietly scored 39 points~ but still I scoffed at the idea that his father believed him to be an first round pic in the NBA draft out of high school. "Maybe after he plays 4 yrs of college", I said.

He ended up playing for former Tulsa Coach Tubby Smith and the Kentucky Wildcats. Kalenna came out after his junior year but spent his first season in the Developmental league. In fact, he played two straight games in Tulsa a few weeks ago and was near the top of the league in scoring.

CELTIC TIES?
Remember who Don Nelson played for during his NBA Career? you give up????? Red Auerbach,,, and the BOSTON CELTICS!
The Warriors superb and respected new coach, Don Nelson, evidently believes it's Kelenna time, as Azubuike made his NBA debut tonight in his home state. He played 17 minutes, had 3 rebounds and 2 steals, one which he finished with a slam dunk, and totaled 4 points.

I am thrilled for Kelenna. From what I've heard, he is a fine young man. His father evidently made some bad choices and a lot of the negative attention and publicity was piled on Kelenna both here and at Kentucky. He persevered, kept working, and didn't waste energy on things he had no control over..... He already had the NBA body in high school; it looks like he has added the other integral ingredients necessary to play in the best basketball league in the world. Congrats and best wishes to Azzzzi. I look forward to keeping cheks on his box score.