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.
News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Friday, February 24
For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Oakland and Green Bay – CLICK HERE.
For the weekly Bracket Rundown Podcast where the Hoops HD staff builds a seed list live on tape delay – CLICK HERE.
We are only 3 days away from the annual fortnight of conference championship games that decide who advances to the NCAA Tournament and who will have to wait until Selection Sunday to hear their fate on national TV. Last night, the regular season was finished in the Atlantic Sun, and you can click HERE to see the bracket for their conference tournament. 12 other conferences will wrap up regular season play this weekend, and on Sunday night we will have our season premiere of Championship Week video podcasts starring Chad, the Puppet, and myself (and other occasional guests).
– It has been a very turbulent couple of weeks for Maurice Watson Jr. While we’ve covered his ACL tear on numerous occasions, that is the least of his problems right now since he has been suspended from Creighton University. He has since been charged by authorities in Omaha with sexual assault and is expected to return from Philadelphia (his hometown where he had his ACL surgery) to turn himself in to authorities.
– Gonzaga set a record for most lopsided road win by a #1 team last night; they waxed San Diego 96-38 last night. Should they beat BYU tomorrow night, they would be the 5th team to clinch a perfect regular season since Indiana won the 1976 national championship with a perfect record. Other teams to run the table in the regular season were UNLV in 1991, Saint Joe’s in 2004 (before the A-10 Tournament), Wichita State in 2014 and Kentucky in 2015.
– Both Arizona and UCLA won to set up a very pivotal matchup at Arizona over the weekend. An Arizona win would put the Wildcats in the driver’s seat for the regular season title, but a UCLA win puts the Bruins squarely back into the race for the top spot in the Pac-12.
– While Cincinnati and Saint Mary’s won with relative ease last night, the only Top 25 team to fall victim to an upset was Wisconsin taking a bath at Ohio State. The score will show the Buckeyes won by 10, but they had an easier time winning that game than the score would indicate. It was not a good in-state homecoming for Badgers Vitto Brown and Nigel Hayes.
– The Big South now has a 3-way tie between UNC-Asheville, Liberty and Winthrop. I suspect that the Liberty-Asheville game tomorrow will be a leading candidate for Chad’s UTR Game of the Day.
– Mount St. Mary’s failed to clinch the NEC outright last night after falling at home to Long Island-Brooklyn. It was the first time all year the Mountaineers lost at home in NEC play. The Mount clinches the top NEC seed either with a win against St. Francis-Brooklyn or a loss by LIU-Brooklyn against Wagner. However, the Blackbirds could clinch the top seed if The Mount loses against SFBK and if they beat Wagner.
– If New Mexico State wasn’t finished after losing games at Bakersfield and Grand Canyon, a home loss against archrival Utah Valley was another nail in the coffin (at least as far as the regular season is concerned).
– New Orleans and UNC-Wilmington were other UTR teams to hold serve last night.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
– SIENA AT MONMOUTH (MAAC, 7 PM – ESPN2). Tonight is Senior night for Monmouth – notable Hawks to be honored include Justin Robinson, Josh James, Je’Lon Hornbeak, Zac Tillman and Chris Brady. We would be remiss if we didn’t include other members of the Hawks’ Nest like Collin Stewart and Greg Noack, though.
– PRINCETON AT COLUMBIA (Ivy, 7 PM – Ivy League Digital Network). While Princeton has been cruising towards the Ivy League regular season crown, they will have to complete the job in the Ivy League Tournament in two weeks. Columbia has really struggled of late and are now battling with Penn for the 4th and final spot into the tournament.
– PENN AT CORNELL (Ivy, 7 PM). And speaking of the Quakers, they will be going to upstate New York tonight to take on the Big Red. They have won 4 straight games after an 0-6 start to Ivy League play.
– YALE AT HARVARD (Ivy, 7 PM – ESPN3/WatchESPN). While there are still 4 games left in the Ivy regular season title, it’s hard to imagine that Harvard would finish anywhere other than 2nd and Yale would finish anywhere other than 3rd. As it stands right now, this would be one of the semifinals for the inaugural Ivy League tournament.
– VALPARAISO AT WRIGHT STATE (Horizon, 7:30 PM – ESPN3/WatchESPN). Chad has already highlighted Oakland/Green Bay as his UTR Game of the Day, but there are still high stakes to this game if Valpo wants to hold onto their spot as leaders in the Horizon. A Valpo win AND an Oakland loss clinches the top seed in the Horizon League Tournament.
– DAYTON AT DAVIDSON (A-10, 9 PM – ESPN2). This is one of 2 games tonight involving power league teams – the Flyers are looking to avoid stubbing their toes in a trap game that precedes their rematch with VCU next week. Davidson did beat VCU earlier this season, but they are in a slump in which they’ve lost 4 of 6 games (including losses at home to URI and an improved George Mason team).
– OREGON STATE AT CALIFORNIA (Pac-12, 11 PM – FS1). Cal has already endured a tough loss to Oregon earlier this week. They absolutely must win this game tonight and likely need to sweep the Utah/Colorado roadie next week to feel comfortable about their bubble chances on Selection Sunday.