ESPN Classic’s SportsCentury series came to town several years ago and interviewed me about Bud Wilkinson.
In a moment of rare clarity, I said something short that trumped all the flowery praise and honors due Wilkinson.
He changed a state. This state.
The debate over the greatest coach or sports contributor in Oklahoma’s 100 years really comes down to two men. Two contemporaries.
Wilkinson or Henry Iba.
Wilkinson spent 18 football seasons at OU, 17 as head coach, and forged the greatest dynasty the sport has seen. The 47-game winning streak in the 1950s remains the standard by which all college football excellence is judged.
Iba spent 36 years as the basketball coach at OSU. He coached two NCAA championships, two Olympic gold-medal teams and went to four Final Fours in becoming the most revered hoops coach in America.
In the past, when I’ve had to pick, I went with Iba over Wilkinson as the greatest coach in state history. My thought was this: Iba’s influence on other coaches was greater.
From Don Haskins and Eddie Sutton in the recent past to Bobby Knight in the present, Iba cast a giant shadow on the game. His coaching tree is basketball’s best. Coaches as varied in styles as Abe Lemons and Norm Stewart trace back to Iba; both played in college for coaches who played for Iba.
And Iba’s impact on high school coaches was profound. It is not stretching the truth to say that virtually every Oklahoma high school player in the 1950s and 1960s was taught Hank Iba basketball.
Factor in what Iba meant to OSU — he’s the primary reason the Cowboys were admitted to the Big Eight in the late 1950s — and it’s not a wrong answer to say Iba is the greatest coach in Oklahoma history.
But Wilkinson is the right answer as the state centennial approaches.
The unmatched success of Wilkinson’s teams changed the mindset of Oklahomans.
The great ‘49ers, who went 11-0 with war veterans, the rebuilt 1950 team that won the national championship and extended OU’s winning streak to 30 before a Sugar Bowl loss to Kentucky, the ’56 seniors — Jimmy Harris, Tommy McDonald, Jerry Tubbs and that grand old gang — who never experienced losing.
They did exactly what OU regent and state benefactor Lloyd Noble hoped they would do, when he suggested that December day in 1945 that the Sooners go hire a big-time football coach that could change the state’s view of itself.
Darned if it didn’t happen, away from the Dust Bowl and to the Orange Bowl. Away from the Depression and to the celebration of autumn Saturdays, when Oklahoma football was the best in the land.
Unlike any basketball success, football brought the nation’s sporting press to Oklahoma. From New York and Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, they came to check out Wilkinson’s skilled ruffians and took the Oklahoma story back to American gothams.
OU was a football school long before Bud Wilkinson. Read Harold Keith’s masterpiece, “Oklahoma Kickoff,” about the early days on campus, and you know nothing juiced the university like a big football win.
Bennie Owen brought big-time success to the Sooners, and Tom Stidham took the ’38 Sooners to the Orange Bowl.
But Wilkinson made Oklahoma a football state. Suddenly, an OU game drifted far beyond the Norman train depot or even the downtown Oklahoma City barber shops.
Suddenly, OU football became the passion in Elk City coffee shops and Ada oil rigs, in Muskogee courts and Hobart farms. Suddenly, Sooner football consumed this state that was just 39 years old when Wilkinson arrived.
Wilkinson’s success lit a flame that has not extinguished.
And so as we approach the centennial, it seems fitting to declare Oklahoma’s best coach the man who most changed it.
Bud Wilkinson.
100 Greatest Contributors
Bud Wilkinson
1. Bud Wilkinson, OU
Wilkinson’s record is so ridiculously good, you can have all kinds of funs with it. For instance, he went 12 years, 1947-59, without losing a game by more than seven points. And in his two big winning streaks, 47 and 30 games, he won by single digits nine teams each.
2. Henry Iba, OSU
From coaching Classen High School in 1929 to his OSU retirement in 1970, Iba cast a huge shadow. He coached Allie Reynolds in baseball at OSU and is almost solely responsible for OSU’s inclusion in the Big Eight. He won a few basketball games, too.
3. Bertha Frank Teague, Byng
More than just a big winner at Byng (1,157 wins from 1927-69); Teague was a rules pioneer who fought nationally against those trying to ban girls from playing basketball.
4. Barry Switzer, OU
An offensive innovator who talked Chuck Fairbanks into deploying the wishbone in 1970 and a racial pioneer who put black players in leadership positions (captain, quarterback) years before other Southern culture schools.
Ed Gallagher
5. Ed Gallagher, OSU
The Bud Wilkinson and Bennie Owen of OSU wrestling. Combined. Introduced the sport in Stillwater and coached the Cowboys 23 years; the NCAA Tournament didn’t start until halfway through his career, then Gallagher won 11 of 13.
6. Lee K. Anderson, Seminole
Oklahoma’s Kenesaw Mountain Landis. As the 40-year chief of the Oklahoma High School Athletic Association, 1927-67, Anderson brought order to eligibility rules that had been ignored.
7. Don Haskins, Enid, Oklahoma A&M
They made a movie about The Bear. His 1966 NCAA championship at Texas Western, with an all-black starting five, is one of the seminal events in American sport. The Henry Iba disciple also won 719 games coaching the Miners.
8. Steve Owen, Aline, Phillips U.
Invented the zone defense and won two NFL titles as the 23-year coach of the New York Giants. Won the Sneaker Game, the 1934 NFL title game, the most famous pro football game before 1958.
9. Elvan George, Ada, East Central U.
Coached football 30 years and never allowed his players to scrimmage, saving the physicality for opponents. Didn’t seem to hurt his success. He won six state titles in 19 years at Ada High, igniting the greatest tradition in Oklahoma high school football.
10. Perry Maxwell, Ardmore
The father of Oklahoma golf. Designed Twin Hills, Dornick Hills, Elk City’s Elks Club, Bartlesville’s Hillcrest, Hefner North, Lawton Country Club, Muskogee Country Club, Enid’s Oakwood, Ponca City Country Club, Tulsa’s Rolling Hill, Shawnee’s Elks and Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club. And, oh yes, Southern Hills, which in August will host its seventh major.
11. Darrell Royal, Hollis, OU
Quirky twist of history. Royal and Bob Stoops have the same winning percentage as head coaches in OU-Texas, .625. Royal was 12-7-1 against his alma mater; his overall record was 184-60-5.
Eddie Sutton
12. Eddie Sutton, OSU
It’s hard now to remember now how dead was OSU hoops from 1965-90. Sutton revived it with two Final Fours, six Sweet 16s and a doubled-in-size Gallagher-Iba Arena.
13. Dr. Don O’Donoghue, Oklahoma City
Pioneer orthopedic surgeon. Among the athletes who came to OKC for knee surgery: Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, Jim Plunkett, Willis Reed and Earl Monroe.
14. Billy Tubbs, Tulsa Central & OU
From virtual anonymity, built Sooner basketball into a national phenomenon with Wayman Tisdale and Billyball.
15. Seymour Williams, Tulsa
Coached 34 years (three at Muskogee Manual and 31 at Tulsa Washington), going 284-35-20. Had 13 unbeaten teams and 19 black-school state champions.
16. John Zink Jr., Tulsa
Inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2004, Zink was a car owner who twice won the Indianapolis 500, in 1955 with driver Bob Sweikert and in 1956 with Pat Flaherty.
17. Jim Lookabaugh, Watonga & OSU
In 14 high school seasons at Jet and Capitol Hill, Lookabaugh’s record was 108-27-17. Then he became the most successful coach in OSU history, going to the 1945 Cotton Bowl and 1946 Sugar Bowl.
18. Bob Stoops, OU
Sooners’ record five seasons before Stoops: 24-32-1. Sooners’ record in Stoops’ eight years: 86-19.
19. Boone Pickens, Holdenville
For 200 million reasons, Pickens has given Oklahoma State football a fighting chance to compete with the big boys.
20. Don Wallace, Kingston
23-year producer and host of The Wallace Wildlife Show; 1965-88; for two generations of Oklahomans, Wallace was synonymous with fishing.
Abe Lemons
21. Abe Lemons, Walters & OCU
An American original. Yes, he really did have his team scrimmage shirts vs. skins at halftime of a an NIT game against Duke at Madison Square Garden. He also had his team play uptempo when that just wasn’t done.
22. Bob Bass, OBU
Coached Oklahoma Baptist to the 1967 NAIA national title, then as a front-office man helped turn the Spurs and the Hornets into solid NBA franchises.
23. Steve Nunno, Edmond
His unheralded Dynamo Club became one of the hot spots for gymnastics and produced Shannon Miller, the most-decorated American gymnast ever.
24. Hugh Alexander, Seminole
A 60-year baseball scout after his playing days ended in 1937, Alexander is credited with discovering Allie Reynolds, Don Sutton, Steve Garvey and Davey Lopes. But he always lamenting going to Commerce and, upon hearing that Mickey Mantle had arthritis, not talking to Mantle or watching him play.
25. Bennie Owen, OU
Perfect seasons by Sooner coaches: Barry Switzer 1, Bob Stoops 1, Bennie Owen 3, Bud Wilkinson 4. Owen’s unbeaten, untied squads were in 1911, 1915 and 1918.
26. Jenks Simmons, El Reno
Played pro football in the 1920s for the Cleveland Bulldogs and Providence Steamrollers, then coached El Reno basketball for 26 years, winning five state titles and going 436-144.
Bruce Drake
27. Bruce Drake, OU
17-year Sooner basketball coach won big but also influenced the game. Originator of the Drake Shuffle, a motion offense that was embraced by Dean Smith, among others. Drake also led the move to install the defensive goaltending rule.
28. Mike Little, Yukon
No high school coach ever won so many places that never had won before. Little won state titles at Putnam West and PC North, and turned Yukon and Bethany into contenders, during a 23-year career.
29. Port Robertson, OU
Re-instituted OU’s wrestling program after World War II and coached three NCAA title teams in the 1950s. Also was the disciplinarian for Sooner football players of many generations.
30. Stanley Draper Jr., Oklahoma City
Organized the Oklahoma City All Sports Association in 1957 and ran it for 42 years, bringing to town the National Finals Rodeo; NCAA basketball regionals; NCAA championships in track, softball and wrestling; and the Big Eight baseball tournament.
31. Mike Holder, OSU
Coached the Cowboys to eight NCAA titles in his 32 years as golf coach, now the athletic director spearheading the total facilities overhaul.
Don Porter
32. Don Porter, Oklahoma City
As executive director of the Amateur Softball Association, brought the ASA and the Softball Hall of Fame to Oklahoma City, and now OKC hosts the World Cup and the Women’s College World Series in the stadium named in Porter’s honor.
33. Clem McSpadden, Chelsea
Hall of Fame rodeo announcer and 18-year general manager of the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City.
34. Art Griffith, Tulsa Central & OSU
Architect of two wrestling dynasties. In 15 years at Tulsa Central, Griffith won 10 state titles and the only two national high school championships conducted. Then in 13 years at OSU, Griffith won eight NCAA titles.
35. Zip Gayles, Langston
Not the greatest state-college basketball coach or the greatest state-college football coach, but he was very good at both. Coached Langston basketball for 35 seasons, 1930-65, and went 571-281; coached Langston football for 28 years and went 146-78-18.
36. Clay Bennett, Oklahoma City
Brought the Hornets to OKC and might bring the Sonics.
37. Ken Trickey, ORU
Put Oral Roberts University virtually on the map with his run-and-gun teams that made the NIT in the early 1970s and then took Kansas to overtime in an NCAA regional final in 1974.
38. Gary Ward, OSU
Hired away from an Arizona junior college in 1977, Ward turned Oklahoma State baseball into a national brand. In 19 Ward seasons, the Cowboys won 17 Big Eight titles, reached the College World Series 10 times and played in the CWS title game thrice.
39. Chuck Fairbanks, OU
Unsung Sooner football. Three of his six teams finished No. 2 in the nation.
Joe Ross
40. Joe Ross, Thomas
Won a bronze star after invading Normandy, then re-started the program at Thomas and won seven state football titles, building the greatest small-school dynasty in state history.
41. Jimmy Houston, Cookson
Since 1976, Jimmy Houston Outdoors has been a television staple for fishermen. Now the 15-time Bassmaster qualifier is on ESPN.
42. Bloomer Sullivan, Southeastern State
Coached the Savages from 1937-67 and posted a record of 662-222, reaching three NAIA title games.
43. Bob Barry Sr., Oklahoma City
Radio voice for both OU (1961-72, 1991-present) and OSU (1973-90), Barry has called the games of Wilkinson, Fairbanks, Stoops, Jim Stanley, Jimmy Johnson and Pat Jones.
44. Paul Ziert, Norman
As the Sooner gymnastics coach, brought Bart Conner and NCAA championships to OU, now a world-renown promoter.
45. Boney Matthews, Purcell
The winningest coach in Oklahoma high school boys basketball history. Matthews went 922-245 over 40 years, mostly at Purcell, where he won three state titles.
Sherri Coale
46. Sherri Coale, Healdton
In 10 years at OU, has turned Sooner women’s basketball into a phenomenon, with packed crowds and Big 12 championships.
47. Lloyd Noble, Ardmore
An OU regent in 1945, Noble suggested hiring a big-time football coach as a way to improve state morale. Noble also donated $1 million to finance the arena that now bears his name.
48. Pappy Waldorf, OSU
A big winner at Northwestern and California, Waldorf got his head-coaching start in Stillwater. In five seasons at Oklahoma A&M, Waldorf went 34-10-7. He and Pat Jones are the only OSU coaches with five straight winning seasons, and Waldorf is the only OSU football coach with a winning record against OU (3-0-2).
49. Henry Frnka, Tulsa U.
Frnka coached the Golden Hurricane for five seasons, 1941-45, and went to a bowl every year, including the Sugar twice and the Orange once. TU’s record: 40-9-1.
50. Grady Skillern, El Reno & Tulsa
Won 529 games and seven basketball state championships. He cemented the Tulsa Central dynasty with four state titles in the 1930s.
51. Red Robertson, NEO
Turned Northeastern A&M into a junior-college football power, coaching the Norsemen 22 years, 1945-66, going 162-49-7 with back-to-back national juco titles in 1958-59.
Myron Roderick
52. Myron Roderick, OSU
Hired to coach Oklahoma State wrestling at the age of 22, coached his first NCAA title at 23 and won seven national titles in 13 years. Later became the first executive director of the U.S. Wrestling Federation and the Cowboy athletic director, a post from which he hired Eddie Sutton.
53. Harold Keith, OU
A pioneer sports publicist, the 39-year OU sports information director connected the Sooners with the Eastern press and built OU into a national story.
54. Enos Semore, Keota
a2-year OU coach who brought college baseball into the mainstream with five straight College World Series trips, 1972-76.
55. Ray Miron, Tulsa
Founded the new Central Hockey League in 1992 with rousing success in Oklahoma City and Tulsa franchises; Miron had coached Oklahoma City’s Blazers in the previous CHL.
56. Larry Cochell, OU & ORU
Won the College World Series as the Sooner coach in 1994, but taking Oral Roberts to the 1978 College World Series was almost as monumental an achievement.
57. Don Butler, Tulsa
Fisherman won the 1972 Bassmasters Classic but also helped form BASS, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, loaning founder Ray Scott the money to jump-start the now-thriving organization.
58. Chet Bryan, Norman & OSU
One of the state’s best-ever high school hoops coaches, with four state titles and went 272-103 in 14 years. Then he became OSU’s baseball coach and won four Big Eight titles in 13 years and reached the College World Series title game once.
59. Ray Soldan, Del City
The state’s sports historian. The former Oklahoman sportswriter has kept alive the records and memories of players and coaches going back more than 100 years.
60. Patty Gasso, OU
Elevated softball to a new status when her 2000 Sooners won the Women’s College World Series.
61. Ted Owens, Hollis
Not the best coach from Hollis (Darrell Royal has that distinction), but not half bad. Took Kansas to two Final Fours and six Big Eight titles.
62. Ed Lacy, Tulsa
After Seymour Williams’ retirement in 1951, Tulsa Washington didn’t win another state title for 16 years, then Lacy won three straight and eventually two more.
63. Ron Gardenhire, Okmulgee
The best Oklahoma-produced manager in major-league history, Gardenhire has won four division titles in his five full seasons as the Twins boss.
64. Charles Heatly, Lindsay
One of the big winners in high school girls basketball — 14 state tournaments, two titles — in 40 years at Lindsay, but his biggest contribution was establishing the girls basketball camp that became wildly popular and the girls all-state games, which still are going strong.
Lloyd Simmons
65. Lloyd Simmons, Seminole
The winningest coach in collegiate baseball history, Simmons went 1,643-312 in 26 seasons (1976-01) at Seminole State College.
66. Nolan Richardson, Tulsa U.
Revived Tulsa basketball during his five-year term, 1980-85, starting with the NIT championship back when the New York tournament still meant something.
67. John Brooks, Oklahoma City
The radio voice of OU’s Switzer era, for 13 years in football, plus 16 in basketball and 27 years doing Blazers hockey.
68. Allan Trimble, Jenks
Presider over the greatest run in Oklahoma high school football history, Jenks’ six straight Class 6A state titles (1996-01) and eight in 11 years.
69. Toby Greene, OSU
Succeeded Hank Iba as OSU’s baseball coach in 1941 and lasted 21 years, going 318-132 and leading the Cowboys to the 1959 NCAA title and four other trips to the College World Series.
70. Carl Lowrance, Tulsa
Founder of Lowrance Electronics, which designed the first fish-locating sonar.
Kelvin Sampson
71. Kelvin Sampson, OU
Coached the Sooners to the 2002 Final Four; battled Eddie Sutton virtually even and fell only slightly below Billy Tubbs’ standard.
72. Bill Platt, OSU
The radio voice of the Cowboys for almost 40 years; 27 years in basketball, 17 years in football (1956-72) and 38 years in baseball (1958-95).
73. Donnie Duncan, OU
Sooner athletic director didn’t always hire correctly (Howard Schnellenberger, John Blake) but sometimes did (Sherri Coale, Patty Gasso), and more important, he put together the Big 12 Conference that solidified the futures of OU and OSU.
74. John Smith, Del City & OSU
The only top-100 athlete on this list, Smith has coached OSU wrestling to five NCAA team championships.
75. Clyde Ellis, Oklahoma City
A John Marshall legend, having led its girls track team to 17 state team titles, including 14 straight (1976-89), and also coaching John Marshall to the 1995 Class 5A state football title, Oklahoma City Public Schools’ only football title in the last 30 years.
76. John Dunlap, Oklahoma City
“Mr. Sporting Goods” in the state, Dunlap began peddling athletic equipment in 1921 and still made sporting goods calls into the 1980s. In between, he ran John Dunlap Sporting Goods Co., which for decades on autumn Saturday mornings became a gathering place for football coaches.
Varryl Franklin
77. Varryl Franklin, Oklahoma City
Has coached Millwood to 10 state basketball championships. And counting.
78. Jack Hartman, Shidler
The Henry Iba disciple from OSU coached Walt Frazier at Southern Illinois, where he won the NIT, then became the most successful coach in Kansas State history, going 439-233 in 16 years.
79. John Loftin, Southwestern State
A small-college women’s hoops pioneer, Loftin won five NAIA national titles at Southwestern from 1982 through 1990. His record: 498-99 in 19 seasons.
80. Bus Ham, Oklahoma City
Oklahoman sports editor in 1936 established the All-College basketball tournament, which was run by the newspaper until the All Sports Association took over in 1957.
81. Dale McNamara, Tulsa U.
Nancy Lopez’s college coach, McNamara excelled long after Lopez went on to the LPGA Tour. McNamara led TU to AIAW national titles in 1980 and 1982, and NCAA championships in 1982 and 1988.
82. Paul Young, Muskogee
Produced as much talent for OU football as any coach ever. In 15 years at Muskogee, Young coached four state championship teams and produced such players as Bo Bolinger, Max Boydston, Eddie Crowder and the Burris brothers.
83. David James, UCO
In 25 years coaching wrestling at Central Oklahoma, James’ Bronchos have won 12 national titles.
84. Jerry Finkbeiner, Southern Nazarene
Coached SNU’s women to three straight NAIA basketball titles, then was hired away by Oral Roberts.
85. Bud Carson, Choctaw
A member of the Spring Car Hall of Fame. Revived auto racing in Oklahoma City, helping develop a dragstrip on the state fairgrounds in 1955 that within a few years hosted an NHRA event and in 1957 founded Mar-Car, which turned Oklahoma City into a dirt-track hotbed for racing.
Murl Bowen
86. Murl Bowen, Asher
Bowen coached his alma mater for 40 years and won 43 state baseball titles, counting fall and spring.
87. Terry Don Phillips, OSU
Visionary athletic director who led drive to expand Gallagher-Iba Arena.
88. Ross Porter, Shawnee
A 28-year member of the Los Angeles Dodger broadcast team, working alongside Vin Scully, among others. Joined LA’s KNBC-TV in 1966 at the age of 27, after working at Oklahoma City’s WKY-TV.
89. Mickey McBride, East Central U.
Coached ECU basketball for 39 years and won 601 games.
90. Eddie Crowder, OU
Joins Darrell Royal as another Bud Wilkinson quarterback who became a great Sooner rival. Crowder coached Colorado for 11 years, going 67-49-2 and finishing No. 3 in the nation in 1971. As the CU athletic director, hired Bill McCartney, who replaced him as the greatest coach in Colorado history.
91. Lou Henson, Okay
One of college basketball’s all-time victory leaders, with 779 wins at Hardin-Simmons, New Mexico State and Illinois, Henson coached the latter two schools to the Final Four.
Joe Castiglione
92. Joe Castiglione, OU
Legacy goes far past hiring Bob Stoops. Has spearheaded the renovation of Memorial Stadium and other facility enhancements.
93. Al Eschbach, Norman
Started the sports-radio craze with a talk show on KTOK in 1976 and still is going strong in a market that now sports six all-sports stations, counting Stillwater and Enid.
94. Larry Steele, Oklahoma City
The girls basketball coach at Northeast High School 1973-88 rallied his players behind the full-court version of the game, and from those humble beginnings came the momentum that brought 5-on-5 to Oklahoma girls.
95. Lynne Draper, Oklahoma City
Executive director of the Jim Thorpe Association from its 1986 inception until this spring, building both the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Jim Thorpe Award into state institutions.
96. Cy Curtis
State wildlife biologist principally responsible for increasing Oklahoma's deer population through trapping and transplanting.
97. Bobby Jones, Tulsa
The career victory leader for minor-league baseball in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City, a record he’s still padding as commander of the RedHawks.
98. Pat Jones, OSU
The career leader in wins AND losses for Oklahoma State football, going 62-60-3 in 11 years. Now has a chance to be the greatest radio star in state history.
99. Don Parham, Southeastern
Turned the Savages into a baseball power, going 536-162 over 16 seasons, 1971-1986.
Buddy Ryan
100. Buddy Ryan, Frederick
One of the great defensive coaches in NFL history. His sons, Rob and Rex, were successful coordinators at OSU and OU, respectively, and now in the NFL.
Berry Tramel
