Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball

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.[2]

Tulsa Golden Hurricane
2019–20 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team
University	University of Tulsa
Head coach	Frank Haith (6th season)
Conference	The American
Location	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Arena	Reynolds Center (Capacity: 8,355)
Nickname	Golden Hurricane
Student section	The Storm Front
Colors	Old Gold, Royal Blue, and Crimson[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
2000
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1955, 1994, 1995, 2000
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1955, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2014, 2016
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 AAC: 2020

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 Minnesota 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.[3]

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.[4]

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, Mike Anderson, Ron Jirsa and Jerry Wainwright.

Players

Retired basketball jerseys
Number	Player	Year
12	Willie Biles	1974[5]
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.[6]

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

• Steve Bracey (1973–1975)
• Al Cueto (1970–1971)
• Julian Hammond (1968–1972)
• Steve Harris (1985–1990)
• James King (1964–1973)
• Tracy Moore (1992–1997)
• Paul Pressey (1983–1993)
• Michael Ruffin (2000–2007)
• Shea Seals (1998)
• Bingo Smith (1970–1980)
• Ken Smith (1976)
• Ben Uzoh (2010–2012)
• Jerome Jordan (2010–2012)
• Jordan Clarkson
• Shaquille Harrison (2018)[7]

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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

Under Iba, Tulsa reached the post-season for the first time in the 1953 NIT.[11] (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).[12] 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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16] 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.[17] Phillips resigned on Christmas Day, 2004. The team finished that season 9th in the WAC, TU's worst ever conference finish.[18] 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."[19]

Awards

Coach of the Year

• Clarence Iba – 1955 – MVC
• Joe Swank – 1967 – MVC
• Ken Hayes – 1969, 1973 – MVC
• Nolan Richardson – 1981, 1985 – MVC
• J. D. Barnett – 1987 – MVC
• Tubby Smith – 1994, 1995 – MVC
• Bill Self – 2000 – WAC
• Danny Manning – 2014 – C-USA

Player of the Year

• Bingo Smith – 1969 – MVC
• Paul Pressey – 1982 – MVC
• Gary Collier – 1994 – MVC

Defensive Player of the Year

• Michael Scott – 1989, 1991 – MVC
• Lou Dawkins – 1994 – MVC

Freshman of the Year

• Shea Seals – 1994 – MVC
• Greg Harrington – 1999 – WAC[20]

Retired jerseys

Seven jerseys have been retired by the University of Tulsa basketball program.[21] The most recent was that of Bingo Smith on February 22, 2020.[22]

Tulsa Golden Hurricane retired numbers
No.	Player	Years
12	Willie Biles	1971–1974
20	Steve Harris	1981–1985
21	Shea Seals	1993–1997
24	Jim King	1960–1963
25	Paul Pressey	1980–1982
30	Bob Patterson	1951–1955
32	Bingo Smith	1966–1969

Post-season

The Golden Hurricane have made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances (12–16 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[23] L 87–82[23]
2003	First Round Second Round	Dayton Wisconsin	W 84–71[24] L 61–60[24]
2014	Second Round	UCLA	L 76–59
2016	First Four	Michigan	L 62–67

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 Semifinals 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[25] L 74–55[25]
2010	First Round	Kent State	L 75–74[26]
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[27] W 69–60[27] W 73–69[27] W 73–68[27] L 83–74[27] W 70–64[27]
2013	First Round	Wright State	L 72–52

Record by season

Source:[28]

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
W.R. Bergen (Independent) (1907–1909)
1907–08	W.R. Bergen	1–1
1908–09	W.R. Bergen	3–1
W.R. Bergen:		4–2
1909–13	---	No program
Harvey Allen (Independent) (1913–1914)
1913–14	Harvey Allen	3–2
Forest Rees (Independent) (1914–1915)
1914–15	Forest Rees	6–3
Francis Schmidt (Independent) (1915–1917)
1915–16	Francis Schmidt	9–7
1916–17	Francis Schmidt	11–7
Hal Mefford (Independent) (1917–1918)
1917–18	Hal Mefford	1–5
Francis Schmidt (Independent) (1918–1922)
1918–19	Francis Schmidt	5–3
1919–20	Francis Schmidt	16–3
1920–21	Francis Schmidt	18–2			1–1 (Nat’l AAU Tourney)
1921–22	Francis Schmidt	14–4
Francis Schmidt:		73–26
Howard Acher (Independent) (1922–1925)
1922–23	Howard Acher	1–3
1923–24	Howard Acher	2–1
1924–25	Howard Acher	13–8
Howard Acher:		16–12
J.B. Miller (Independent) (1925–1930)
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
J.B. Miller:		16–45
Oliver Hodge (Independent) (1930–1932)
1930–31	Oliver Hodge	10–4
1931–32	Oliver Hodge	10–7
Oliver Hodge:		20–11
Chet Benefiel (Independent) (1932–1935)
1932–33	Chet Benefiel	11–6
1933–34	Chet Benefiel	6–8
1934–35	Chet Benefiel	6–10
Chet Benefiel (Missouri Valley Conference) (1935–1939)
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)
Chet Benefiel:		65–63	25–27
H.B. "Tex" Ryon (Missouri Valley Conference) (1939–1940)
1939–40	Tex Ryon	12–15	5–7	5th
Jack Sterrett (Missouri Valley Conference) (1940–1941)
1940–41	Jack Sterrett	12–9	7–5	3rd
H.B. "Tex" Ryon (Missouri Valley Conference) (1941–1942)
1941–42	Tex Ryon	3–13	3–7	5th
Tex Ryon:		15–28	8–14
Mike Milligan (Missouri Valley Conference) (1942–1943)
1942–43	Mike Milligan	0–10	0–10	6th
Woody West (Missouri Valley Conference) (1943–1944)
1943–44	Woody West	5–3	5–3	3rd
Paul Alyea (Missouri Valley Conference) (1944–1945)
1944–45	Paul Alyea	4–8	4–8	-?-
Don Shields (Missouri Valley Conference) (1945–1947)
1945–46	Don Shields	6–12	3–9	7th
1946–47	Don Shields	5–19	3–9	5th (tie)
Don Shields:		11–31	6–18
John Garrison (Missouri Valley Conference) (1947–1949)
1947–48	John Garrison	7–16	2–8	5th
1948–49	John Garrison	4–20	0–10	6th
John Garrison:		11–36	2–18
Clarence Iba (Missouri Valley Conference) (1949–1960)
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
Clarence Iba:		137–147	50–84
Joe Swank (Missouri Valley Conference) (1960–1968)
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
Joe Swank:		102–103	41–65
Ken Hayes (Missouri Valley Conference) (1968–1975)
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
Ken Hayes:		118–69	54–47
Jim King (Missouri Valley Conference) (1975–1980)
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	---
Jim King:		44–82	24–41
Bill Franey (interim) (Missouri Valley Conference) (1980–1980)
1979–80	Bill Franey	2–7	2–5	8th (tie)
Nolan Richardson (Missouri Valley Conference) (1980–1985)
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)
Nolan Richardson:		119–37	59–23
J.D. Barnett (Missouri Valley Conference) (1985–1991)
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)
J.D. Barnett:		106–75	53–33
Tubby Smith (Missouri Valley Conference) (1991–1995)
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)
Tubby Smith:		79–43	52–18
Steve Robinson (Missouri Valley Conference) (1995–1996)
1995–96	Steve Robinson	23–8	12–6	3rd	0–1 (NCAA)
Steve Robinson (Western Athletic Conference) (1996–1997)
1996–97	Steve Robinson	23–10	12–4	2nd	1–1 (NCAA 2nd Round)
Steve Robinson:		46–18	24–10
Bill Self (Western Athletic Conference) (1997–2000)
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)
Bill Self:		74–27	30–12
Buzz Peterson (Western Athletic Conference) (2000–2001)
2000–01	Buzz Peterson	26–11	10–6	2nd	5–0 (NIT Champion)
John Phillips (Western Athletic Conference) (2001–2004)
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	---
John Phillips:		61–42	32–22
Alvin "Pooh" Williamson (interim) (Western Athletic Conference) (2004–2005)
2004–05	Pooh Williamson	7–15	5–13	9th
Doug Wojcik (Conference USA) (2005–2012)
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)
Doug Wojcik:		140–92	66–44
Danny Manning (Conference USA) (2012–2014)
2012–13	Danny Manning	17–16	8–8	6th	0–1 (CBI)
2013–14	Danny Manning	21–13	13–3	1st (tie)	0–1 (NCAA 2nd round)
Danny Manning:		38–29	21–11
Frank Haith (American Athletic Conference) (2014–present)
2014–15	Frank Haith	23–11	14–4	2nd	1–1 (NIT)
2015–16	Frank Haith	20–12	12–6	3rd (tie)	0–1 (NCAA First Four)
2016–17	Frank Haith	15–17	8–10	7th
2017–18	Frank Haith	19–12	12–6	4th
Frank Haith:		77–52	46–26
Total:		1436–1146 (.556)
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.[8] In 1929, the program co-founded the Big Four Conference, which lasted five seasons.[9]

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.[29] For the 2014–2015 season, the Golden Hurricane joined the American Athletic Conference.[30]

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.[31] 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[9] 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 moved into the American Athletic Conference in July 2014, restoring natural rivalries with AAC members Memphis, Cincinnati, SMU and Houston.[29]

With Wichita State joining the AAC in 2017, the rivalry was renewed indefinitely. The two schools announced a rivalry competition across all sports.

References

1. University of Tulsa Graphic Style Guidelines (PDF). July 1, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
2. "Haith leaving Mizzou, agrees to coach Tulsa". go.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
3. University of Tulsa men’s basketball media guide, pg. 139
4. "Coaching Great Nolan Richardson and Three Former Athletes to Receive Induction into TU Athletic Hall of Fame." Archived April 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Best of Tulsa. Oct. 8, 2006.
5. Bailey, Eric. Golden Hurricane to honor Biles, Tulsa World, February 12, 2010.
6. University of Tulsa Media Guide, pp. 24, 26
7. Basketball Reference. “Players from the University of Tulsa.”
8. Bonham, Chad. Golden Hurricane Basketball at the University of Tulsa. Chicago: Arcadia, 2004, pg. 9
9. Bonham, pg. 10
10. Bonham, pg. 19
11. Bonham, pg. 22
12. Logsdon, Guy Williams. The University of Tulsa: A History from 1882 to 1972, Doctoral Dissertation at the University of Tulsa, 1975, pp. 158, 262.
13. Bonham, pg. 35
14. "Tubbs happy for Richardson: Q&A with Nolan Richardson." Tulsa World, Oct. 13, 2006.
15. Bonham, pg. 68
16. 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.
17. Brown, Mike. ORU seniors hoping for a Tulsa sweep, Tulsa World, November 28, 2006.
18. University of Tulsa Media Guide, pg. 153
19. Tiberii, Jeff. “Tulsa produces, can’t keep best coaches.” Archived December 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Daily Orange, January 26, 2005.
20. University of Tulsa Media Guide, pg. 24
21. "2012–13 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball media guide, page 90" (PDF). Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
22. "Bobby "Bingo" Smith's Jersey Retired by Alma Mater". nba.com. January 15, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
23. "Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2001-02 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
24. "Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2002-03 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
25. "Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2008-09 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
26. "Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2009-10 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
27. "Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 2007-08 Schedule - Golden Hurricane Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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