Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball

Tulsa Golden Hurricane
2015–16 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team
University University of Tulsa
Conference The American
Location Tulsa, OK
Head coach Frank Haith (2nd year)
Arena Reynolds Center
(Capacity: 8,355)
Nickname Golden Hurricane
Student section The Storm Front
Colors

Royal blue, Old gold, and Crimson

                  
Uniforms
Home
Away
Alternate
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
2000
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1994, 1995, 2000
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003
NCAA Tournament appearances
1955, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2014
Conference tournament champions
1982, 1984, 1986, 1996, 2003, 2014
Conference regular season champions
MVC: 1955, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1994, 1995, WAC: 1999, 2000
C-USA: 2002, 2014

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team represents the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The team participates in the American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane hired Frank Haith from Missouri on April 17, 2014 to replace Danny Manning, who had resigned to take the Wake Forest job after the 2013-14 season.[1]

The team has long been successful, especially since the hiring of Nolan Richardson in 1980. Many big-name coaches previously worked at Tulsa, like University of Kansas coach Bill Self and Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith. The Hurricane have been to the NCAA Tournament 14 times in their history. In addition, they have won two National Invitation Tournaments, in 1981 and 2001, and one CBI tournament. In 2005, Street & Smith's named the University of Tulsa as the 59th best college basketball program of all time.[2]

Coaches

Clarence Iba, brother of Henry Iba, helped to springboard Tulsa to success when named the head coach in 1949. He coached at the school for 11 years, the longest tenure of any Tulsa coach, and is the second all-time winningest coach at the school with 137 wins in his 11 seasons.

Nolan Richardson is credited with bringing the Tulsa program to national prominence when hired in 1980, and he led the school to the 1981 NIT Championship and had a .763 winning percentage at the school. He became the first coach in NCAA history to win 50 games in his first two seasons.[3]

In the 1990s and 2000s, a succession of Tulsa coaches went on to big name programs across the country, including Tubby Smith, Buzz Peterson, and Bill Self. The team remained successful throughout the string of coaches.

Doug Wojcik, coach from 2005 to 2012, is the all-time winningest coach at the school with 140 wins.

Notable assistants in the program's history have included Billy Gillispie, Flip Saunders, Kevin O’Neill, Tom Izzo, Mike Anderson and Ron Jirsa.

Players

Retired basketball jerseys
Number Player Year
12 Willie Biles 1974[4]
20 Steve Harris 1985
21 Shea Seals 1997
24 James King 1963
25 Paul Pressey 1982
30 Bob Patterson 1955

Tulsa has had a series of great players at the program, many of whom have gone on to play in the NBA. Successful players to never make it to the NBA include Gary Collier, the 1994 MVC player of the year, Michael Scott, the 1989 and 1991 MVC defensive player of the year, and Willie Biles who led the MVC in scoring in both the 1972-73 and 1973-1974 seasons.[5]

Among those who did make it to the NBA, James King, who came back to coach the program after his NBA career, and Bingo Smith had the greatest success. King was selected to the 1968 NBA All-Star Game, and Smith scored more than 10,000 points in his career, having his number retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Golden Hurricane players in the NBA

History

Tulsa's basketball program was founded by W.R. Bergen in 1907, when the school still went by the name Kendall College. It went 1-1 in its first season. Following the 1908-09 season, the team went on hiatus for several years before restarting for the 1913-14 season under Harvey Allen.[7] In 1917, the school played its first games outside the state of Oklahoma, but did not see great success until Francis Schmidt became head coach in 1918; Schmidt led the school to 16 consecutive victories in the 1919-20 season, the school record.[8] The team hit hard times and achieved occasional modest success until the arrival of Clarence Iba in 1949. Of special note is the 1942-1943 winless squad under Mike Milligan, whose team went 0-10.[9]

Under Iba, Tulsa reached the post-season for the first time in the 1953 NIT.[10] (In March 1921, Tulsa had been invited to the National A.A.U. tournament after an 18-1 season which widely regarded them as Oklahoma champions).[11] In 1955, Iba led the Golden Hurricane to their first Missouri Valley Conference title and NCAA tournament appearance. Joe Swank succeeded Iba in 1960. It was under Swank that the color barrier was broken in the Tulsa basketball program.[12] Swank had some winning seasons, but the program would be without real success until the arrival of Nolan Richardson.

Nolan Richardson’s hiring helped to usher in a new era of success at Tulsa that has remained fairly consistent since then. He led the team the NIT Championship in the 1980-1981 season, his first at the school. Richardson also won two MVC regular season and two MVC tournament championships in his five season tenure. His flamboyant personality made him extremely popular; his teams adopted McFadden & Whitehead's "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" as their theme song during the Richardson years.[13] Richardson was succeeded by J. D. Barnett, who continued the team's success, winning one tournament and one regular season championship and finishing lower than third in the conference only once. Barnett was fired, however, due to the significant increase in expectations at Tulsa following Richardson's success.[14]

Barnett was succeeded by Tubby Smith, who went on to coach at Kentucky, Georgia and Minnesota. Smith spent four seasons at Tulsa, winning two MVC championships and leading them past the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time, to the Sweet Sixteen in both the 1993-1994 and 1994-1995 seasons. A succession of high-profile coaches came through following Smith’s departure for Georgia. Steve Robinson led the team to consecutive NCAA appearances before departing for Florida State. Bill Self succeeded Robinson for three seasons, winning two WAC titles in the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons and leading Tulsa to its best record ever, a 32-5 record in the 1999-00 season. Tulsa advanced to the Elite Eight in the 2000 NCAA tournament as a #7 seed.[15] Self departed for Illinois and was succeeded by Buzz Peterson. Peterson led the team to the 2001 NIT Championship and promptly took the head coaching position at the University of Tennessee.

Following Peterson’s departure, John Phillips led the team to NCAA tournaments in his first two seasons and won a WAC title. However, he passed on local high school star Caleb Green, a decision that came back to haunt him when Green signed with ORU.[16] Phillips resigned on Christmas Day, 2004. The team finished that season 9th in the WAC, TU’s worst ever conference finish.[17] Doug Wojcik was hired before the 2005-06 season to revive the program. He led the team to 20 wins in both his second, third, and fourth seasons and the 2008 College Basketball Invitational championship, led by tournament MVP Jerome Jordan. Wojcik's hiring also coincided with Tulsa's decision to join Conference USA.

Much has been made of Tulsa's ability to hire good coaching candidates but their inability to retain them like Gonzaga has been able to. Since Barnett's firing after the 1990-1991 season, only one coach has stayed at the program more than four seasons and all but one have departed for larger programs. Barnett has speculated that finances may be a reason when larger programs come calling, but he also “[does]n’t know what the real philosophical reasons are.”[18]

Awards

Coach of the Year

Player of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year

Freshman of the Year

Retired jerseys

The following jerseys have been retired by the University of Tulsa basketball program:[20]

Post-season

The Golden Hurricane have made 15 NCAA Tournament appearances (12–15 combined record), 10 NIT appearances (12–8 combined record), and two CBI appearances (5–2 combined record). They are twice NIT champions, in 1981 and 2001, and were champions of the CBI in 2008.

NCAA Tournament Results

Year Round Opponent Result/Score
1955 Sweet Sixteen
Regional Third Place Game 		Colorado
SMU 		L 69–59
W 68–67
1982 Second Round Houston L 78–74
1984 Second Round Louisville L 69–67
1985 First Round UTEP L 79–75
1986 First Round Navy L 87–68
1987 First Round Oklahoma L 74–69
1994 First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen 		UCLA
Oklahoma State
Arkansas 		W 112–102
W 82–80
L 108–84
1995 First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen 		Illinois
Old Dominion
Massachusetts 		W 68–62
W 64–52
L 76–51
1996 First Round Louisville L 82–80 OT
1997 First Round
Second Round 		Boston U
Clemson 		W 81–52
L 65–59
1999 First Round
Second Round 		College of Charleston
Duke 		W 62–53
L 97–56
2000 First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight 		UNLV
Cincinnati
Miami (FL)
North Carolina 		W 89–62
W 69–61
W 80–71
L 59–55
2002 First Round
Second Round 		Marquette
Kentucky 		W 71–69[21]

L 87–82[21]

2003 First Round
Second Round 		Dayton
Wisconsin 		W 84–71[22]
L 61–60[22]
2014 Second Round UCLA L 76–59

NIT Results

Year Round Opponent Result/Score
1953 First Round Duquesne L 88–69
1967 First Round Marquette L 64–60
1969 First Round Saint Peter's L 74–71
1981 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Semfinals
Championship game 		Texas-Pan American
UTEP
South Alabama
West Virginia
Syracuse 		W 81–71
W 76–72
W 69–68
W 89–87
W 86–84
1990 First Round Oklahoma State L 83–74
1991 First Round Oklahoma L 111–86
2001 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
Championship 		UC Irvine
Minnesota
Mississippi
Memphis
Alabama 		W 75–71
W 73–70
W 77–75
W 72–64
W 79–66
2009 First Round
Second Round 		Northwestern
Auburn 		W 68–59[23]
L 74–55[23]
2010 First Round Kent State L 75–74[24]
2015 First Round
Second Round 		William & Mary
Murray State 		W 70–67
L 83–62

CBI results

The Golden Hurricane were Champions of the 2008 College Basketball Invitational which was the inaugural tournament.

Year Round Opponent Result/Score
2008 First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals Game 1
Finals Game 2
Finals Game 3 		Miami (OH)
Utah
Houston
Bradley
Bradley
Bradley 		W 61–45[25]
W 69–60[25]
W 73–69[25]
W 73–68[25]
L 83–74[25]
W 70–64[25]
2013 First Round Wright State L 72–52

Record by season

Source:[26]

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Henry Kendall College (Independent) (1907–1920)
1907-08 W.R. Bergen 1-1
1908-09 W.R. Bergen 3-1
1909-13 --- No program
1913-14 Harvey Allen 3-2
1914-15 Forest Rees 6-3
1915-16 Francis Schmidt 9-7
1916-17 Francis Schmidt 11-7
1917-18 Hal Mefford 1-5
1918-19 Francis Schmidt 5-3
1919-20 Francis Schmidt 16-3
University of Tulsa (Independent) (1920–1935)
1920-21 Francis Schmidt 18-2 1-1 (Nat’l AAU Tourney)
1921-22 Francis Schmidt 14-4
1922-23 Howard Acher 1-3
1923-24 Howard Acher 2-1
1924-25 Howard Acher 13-8
1925-26 J.B. Miller 7-10
1926-27 J.B. Miller 3-6
1927-28 J.B. Miller 2-12
1928-29 J.B. Miller 2-11
1929-30 J.B. Miller 2-6
1930-31 Oliver Hodge 10-4
1931-32 Oliver Hodge 10-7
1932-33 Chet Benefiel 11-6
1933-34 Chet Benefiel 6-8
1934-35 Chet Benefiel 6-10
University of Tulsa (Missouri Valley Conference) (1935–1996)
1935-36 Chet Benefiel 6-14 5-7 5th
1936-37 Chet Benefiel 9-9 4-8 5th
1937-38 Chet Benefiel 12-10 8-6 3rd
1938-39 Chet Benefiel 15-6 8-6 3rd (tie)
1939-40 H.B. (Tex) Ryon 12-15 5-7 5th
1940-41 Jack Sterrett 12-9 7-5 3rd
1941-42 H.B. (Tex) Ryon 3-13 3-7 5th
1942-43 Mike Milligan 0-10 0-10 6th
1943-44 Woody West 5-3 5-3 3rd
1944-45 Paul Alyea 4-8 4-8 -?-
1945-46 Don Shields 6-12 3-9 7th
1946-47 Don Shields 5-19 3-9 5th (tie)
1947-48 John Garrison 7-16 2-8 5th
1948-49 John Garrison 4-20 0-10 6th
1949-50 Clarence Iba 12-11 3-9 6th
1950-51 Clarence Iba 10-17 4-10 6th (tie)
1951-52 Clarence Iba 14-10 5-5 3rd
1952-53 Clarence Iba 15-10 5-5 2nd (tie) 0-1 (NIT)
1953-54 Clarence Iba 15-14 5-5 3rd
1954-55 Clarence Iba 21-7 8-2 1st (tie) 1-1 (NCAA Reg 3rd)
1955-56 Clarence Iba 16-10 4-8 5th
1956-57 Clarence Iba 8-17 5-9 5th (tie)
1957-58 Clarence Iba 7-19 4-10 6th (tie)
1958-59 Clarence Iba 10-15 2-12 7th (tie)
1959-60 Clarence Iba 9-17 5-9 6th
1960-61 Joe Swank 8-17 2-10 6th
1961-62 Joe Swank 7-19 4-8 6th
1962-63 Joe Swank 17-8 5-7 5th
1963-64 Joe Swank 10-15 2-10 6th
1964-65 Joe Swank 14-11 7-7 5th (tie)
1965-66 Joe Swank 16-13 6-8 6th (tie)
1966-67 Joe Swank 19-8 10-4 2nd 0-1 (NIT)
1967-68 Joe Swank 11-12 5-11 7th
1968-69 Ken Hayes 19-8 11-5 3rd 0-1 (NIT)
1969-70 Ken Hayes 15-11 8-8 5th
1970-71 Ken Hayes 17-9 8-6 4th (tie)
1971-72 Ken Hayes 15-11 5-9 6th
1972-73 Ken Hayes 18-8 10-4 3rd (tie)
1973-74 Ken Hayes 19-8 7-6 3rd (tie)
1974-75 Ken Hayes 15-14 5-9 6th
1975-76 Jim King 9-18 4-8 4th (tie)
1976-77 Jim King 7-20 3-9 7th
1977-78 Jim King 9-18 7-9 7th
1978-79 Jim King 13-14 7-9 7th
1979-80 Jim King 6-12 3-6 ---
1979-80 Bill Franey (interim) 2-7 2-5 8th (tie)
1980-81 Nolan Richardson 26-7 11-5 2nd (tie) 5-0 (NIT Champion)
1981-82 Nolan Richardson 24-6 12-4 2nd (tie) 0-1 (NCAA)
1982-83 Nolan Richardson 19-12 11-7 3rd (tie) 0-1 (NIT)
1983-84 Nolan Richardson 27-4 13-3 1st (tie) 0-1 (NCAA)
1984-85 Nolan Richardson 23-8 12-4 1st 0-1 (NCAA)
1985-86 J.D. Barnett 23-9 10-6 2nd (tie) 0-1 (NCAA)
1986-87 J.D. Barnett 22-8 11-3 1st 0-1 (NCAA)
1987-88 J.D. Barnett 8-20 4-10 7th
1988-89 J.D. Barnett 18-13 10-4 2nd (tie)
1989-90 J.D. Barnett 17-13 9-5 2nd (tie) 0-1 (NIT)
1990-91 J.D. Barnett 18-12 9-5 2nd (tie) 0-1 (NIT)
1991-92 Tubby Smith 17-13 12-6 4th (tie)
1992-93 Tubby Smith 15-14 10-6 4th
1993-94 Tubby Smith 23-8 15-3 1st 2-1 (NCAA Sweet 16)
1994-95 Tubby Smith 24-8 15-3 1st 2-1 (NCAA Sweet 16)
1995-96 Steve Robinson 23-8 12-6 3rd 0-1 (NCAA)
University of Tulsa (Western Athletic Conference) (1996–2005)
1996-97 Steve Robinson 23-10 12-4 2nd 1-1 (NCAA 2nd Round)
1997-98 Bill Self 19-12 9-5 3rd
1998-99 Bill Self 23-10 9-5 1st (tie) 1-1 (NCAA 2nd Round)
1999-2000 Bill Self 32-5 12-2 1st 3-1 (NCAA Elite 8)
2000-01 Buzz Peterson 26-11 10-6 2nd 5-0 (NIT Champion)
2001-02 John Phillips 27-7 15-3 1st (tie) 1-1 (NCAA 2nd Round)
2002-03 John Phillips 23-10 12-6 2nd (tie) 1-1 (NCAA 2nd Round)
2003-04 John Phillips 9-20 5-13 8th (tie)
2004-05 John Phillips 2-5 0-0 ---
2004-05 Alvin “Pooh” Williamson (interim) 7-15 5-13 9th
University of Tulsa (Conference USA) (2005–present)
2005-06 Doug Wojcik 11-17 6-8 6th (tie)
2006-07 Doug Wojcik 20-11 9-7 4th (tie)
2007-08 Doug Wojcik 25-14 8-8 5th (tie) 5-1 (CBI Champion)
2008-09 Doug Wojcik 25-11 12-4 2nd 1-1 (NIT)
2009-10 Doug Wojcik 23-12 10-6 5th 0-1 (NIT)
2010-11 Doug Wojcik 19-13 11-5 2nd (tie)
2011-12 Doug Wojcik 17-14 10-6 3rd (tie)
2012-13 Danny Manning 17-16 8-8 6th 0-1 (CBI)
2013-14 Danny Manning 21-13 13-3 t-1st 0-1 (NCAA 2nd round)
Total: 1360-1094 (.554)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Conferences

Tulsa has been a member of a variety of conferences over its history. With Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference was formed for the 1914-1915 season. Tulsa would participate in this conference for fifteen years, with occasional breaks.[7] In 1929, the program co-founded the Big Four Conference, which lasted five seasons.[8]

The University of Tulsa joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 1934. Tulsa remained a member of the MVC until 1996, when it joined the Western Athletic Conference for the 1996-1997 season. While a member of the WAC, it was at various times in both the Mountain and Pacific Division. Tulsa joined Conference USA with the 2005-2006 season.[27]

Arenas

The Reynolds Center

Tulsa currently plays in the Reynolds Center, an 8,355-capacity on-campus arena adjacent to Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The Reynolds Center was completed in 1998. The student section is known as the Storm Front, and is known in the current year for members of the TU Chapter of Beta Upsilon Chi, who carry shields and wear various animal masks during opponent free throws.[28] Efforts are made by the coaching staff through frequent e-mails to encourage attendance and creativity from the student body. Previously, the Golden Hurricane had played off-campus, using the Tulsa Convention Center from the mid 1976-77 season on. Before the Convention Center, the team played at the Expo Square Pavilion from the 1947-48 season. In the early years of the program, the team played at various area high schools and in smaller on-campus gymnasiums.

Rivals

Tulsa's primary basketball rival is Wichita State University, but that rivalry has faded somewhat since Tulsa left the Missouri Valley Conference after the 1995 season. Tulsa also has a mild rivalry with Oral Roberts University, which is located in southern Tulsa. The teams began play in 1974 and has largely been one sided, however Oral Roberts has tightened the gap quite a bit in recent years, the two teams currently play annually. A traveling trophy, the Mayor's Cup, is exchanged between the winner of the game. Tulsa hired Bill Self away from Oral Roberts in 1997.

While in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Golden Hurricane had an extensive rivalry with Wichita State[8] Creighton, Southern Illinois and Bradley. The team has also had longstanding competitions against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Arkansas. The rivalry with Arkansas was enhanced with their hiring of Nolan Richardson away from Tulsa in 1985. Tulsa had an intense rivalry with Fresno State and Hawaii while a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Southern Methodist remains a fairly interesting rivalry, given that the two schools sometimes recruit similar players and that former Southern Methodist coach Matt Doherty was considered a front-runner for the Tulsa job prior to Doug Wojcik taking the helm; likewise, Doug Wojcik once interviewed for the Southern Methodist job. The current SMU coach, Larry Brown, was the college coach of former Tulsa coach Danny Manning who left to become the head coach at Wake Forest in 2014.

Tulsa will move into the American Athletic Conference in July 2014 where it is hoped that a restoration of the Golden Hurricane program will form a natural rivalry with current AAC members Memphis, Cincinnati, SMU and Houston.[27]

References

  1. ↑ http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10797288/frank-haith-missouri-tigers-deal-coach-tulsa-golden-hurricane-per-sources
  2. ↑ University of Tulsa men’s basketball media guide, pg. 139
  3. ↑ "Coaching Great Nolan Richardson and Three Former Athletes to Receive Induction into TU Athletic Hall of Fame." Best of Tulsa. Oct. 8, 2006.
  4. ↑ Bailey, Eric. Golden Hurricane to honor Biles, Tulsa World, February 12, 2010.
  5. ↑ University of Tulsa Media Guide, pp. 24, 26
  6. ↑ Basketball Reference. “Players from the University of Tulsa.”
  7. 1 2 Bonham, Chad. Golden Hurricane Basketball at the University of Tulsa. Chicago: Arcadia, 2004, pg. 9
  8. 1 2 3 Bonham, pg. 10
  9. ↑ Bonham, pg. 19
  10. ↑ Bonham, pg. 22
  11. ↑ Logsdon, Guy Williams. The University of Tulsa: A History from 1882 to 1972, Doctoral Dissertation at the University of Tulsa, 1975, pp. 158, 262.
  12. ↑ Bonham, pg. 35
  13. ↑ "Tubbs happy for Richardson: Q&A with Nolan Richardson." Tulsa World, Oct. 13, 2006.
  14. ↑ Bonham, pg. 68
  15. ↑ Bill Haisten, "When TU was Elite: Ten years ago, Bill Self coached the Golden Hurricane to a 32-5 record and within one game of advancing to the Final Four", Tulsa World, March 26, 2010.
  16. ↑ Brown, Mike. ORU seniors hoping for a Tulsa sweep, Tulsa World, November 28, 2006.
  17. ↑ University of Tulsa Media Guide, pg. 153
  18. ↑ Tiberii, Jeff. “Tulsa produces, can’t keep best coaches.” Daily Orange, Jan. 26, 2005.
  19. ↑ University of Tulsa Media Guide, pg. 24
  20. ↑ "2012-13 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball media guide, page 90" (PDF). Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  21. 1 2 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2001-02 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN
  22. 1 2 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2002-03 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN
  23. 1 2 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2008-09 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN
  24. ↑ Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2009-10 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2007-08 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN
  26. ↑ http://www.tulsahurricane.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/tuls/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/0708mbbhistory
  27. 1 2 ”Six Schools Join Conference USA”. NCAASports.com, July 5, 2005.
  28. ↑
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