Tourney anniversary: HoopsHD celebrates the 50th anniversary of John Oldham

There are coaches who win games, there are coaches who get a nice plaque when they retire, and then there are coaches who get to paint their own name onto the basketball court in the gym where they previously worked their magic.  John Oldham is a member of the latter group thanks to his remarkable resume.  As a player at Western Kentucky he was named All-American in 1949 before joining the NBA.  After spending a decade as coach at Tennessee Tech, he took over for his former coach Edgar Diddle in 1964 and went 146-41.  He led the Hilltoppers to 4 NCAA tourneys in a 6-year span from 1966-1971, including 50 years ago in the 1967 NCAA tourney when he took eventual runner-up Dayton to the brink before losing by 2 PTS in OT.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Oldham about being an All-American and reaching the Final 4 in 1971.

What are your memories of the 1948 NIT (future Hall of Famer NIT MVP Ed Macauley scored 19 PTS in a 7-PT win by eventual champion St. Louis)? I just remember that we got beat. Macauley was a troublemaker but was also a great player.

In 1949 you were an All-American at Western Kentucky: what did it mean to you to win such an outstanding honor? It was a compliment. I started shooting a tennis ball into a Quaker Oatmeal box when I was 3 years old so it was my lifelong ambition to become an All-American. I got to play at Madison Square Garden when I was 18 years old…and then I got a letter from Uncle Sam and spent 3 years in the Navy.

In 1949 you were drafted 15th overall by the Fort Wayne Pistons (1 spot behind Ralph Beard): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? I played for the coach that drafted me during WWII (Curly Armstrong). We had 12 great players in the Navy. I came out of a very small high school in a town of 1000 people but 5-6 of my teammates ended up playing basketball in college.

In 1950 you scored a team-high 5 PTS in a 19-18 win at Minnesota, which remains the lowest-scoring game in NBA history: how excited were you when they finally instituted a 24-second shot clock? I think that we caused it! We held the ball for most of the game and there was a lot of booing and a lot of coins tossed onto the floor. My only claim to fame was being the leading scorer in that game. We had to physically fight our way off the floor as a couple of guys had me pinned down.

What are your memories of the 1963 NCAA tourney as coach at Tennessee Tech (a 69-PT loss to Loyola, which remains the biggest margin of victory in tourney history)? From that point on I never let anyone sit on the bench who did not wear a coach and tie so that nobody would know who the coach was! They walloped us pretty good but I got even with them a few years later when we beat them.

What are your memories of the 1966 NCAA tourney as coach of your alma mater (Cazzie Russell made 2 FT with 11 seconds left after a foul call on Greg Smith during a jump ball in a 1-PT win by Michigan)? We were leading at the end of the game and then they called a foul on Greg for jumping into Cazzie even though he never even jumped. We had a team that should have won it all.

What are your memories of the 1967 NCAA tourney (Don May had 26 PTS/20 REB in 45 minutes in a 2-PT OT win by eventual runner-up Dayton)? That was the year that Clem Haskins missed a few games with an injury. I started him in that game but he just was not ready for an OT affair. May made a long 2-handed shot to beat us: that was my 2nd team that was capable of winning it all.

In 1970 you received death threats after starting 5 African-American players: how bad was the racial climate at the time, and did you ever regret your decision? I never regretted my decision. It was not an easy time back then to find places to stay/eat. I must have received over 100 letters from racist people but thank god for the writers who hung in there with us. It just so happened that the 5 best players I had were Black and after a while you just look at them as ballplayers. I got called to the president’s office and the chairman of the board said that he was not in favor of my plan. I had some great players such as Dwight Smith/Haskins/Greg.

Take me through the magical 1971 NCAA tourney:
Clarence Glover had 16 PTS/17 REB and made a layup with 4 seconds left in a 2-PT win over Jacksonville (Artis Gilmore had 12 PTS/22 REB): where does that shot rank among the most clutch that you have ever seen? Clarence went over and hid in the far-left corner. I told our team to get the ball to Jim McDaniels but Gilmore switched over to guard Jim. Everyone on our bench jumped up and yelled to get the ball to “C”. He faked it, shot it, and made it. I showed up at the press conference and people said that it was the best designed play they ever saw…but he was the last person I would have ever chosen to take that shot!

McDaniels had 35 PTS (11-11 FT)/11 REB in a 25-PT win over Kentucky: how big a deal was it to get such a huge win in the school’s 1st-ever meeting against its in-state rival? We beat Indiana when they were undefeated as well as teams like Cal/Ohio State. Even though years have passed that was probably the biggest game in our school’s history.

Jerry Dunn scored 25 PTS but missed a FT with 4 seconds left in regulation in a 3-PT 2-OT loss to eventual runner-up Villanova: how devastating was that loss, and does it feel weird that the legacy of such an amazing game is that both teams later had to vacate that tourney appearance due to NCAA violations? That was really a disaster. Glover missed a shot at the end of that game after making the game-winner against Jacksonville. I can still see it today: it rolled around the rim twice and then fell out. We should have won that ballgame but you have to make your own breaks.