It’s refreshing in this day of bullies and phonies to see nice people have success in their endeavors. I actually liked Jeff Capel and wish it would have ended differently for him in Norman. Joe C said at the time, ‘the firing of Jeff Capel was the toughest thing he’s ever done as the athletic director at OU.’
But in the end, Joe C was gold in that he convinced Lon Kruger to leave UNLV and come to Norman to get the program back to where it was under Billy Tubbs and Kelvin Sampson. Ask any local sportswriter what they’ve learned about Lon Kruger in his five years in Norman and you’ll hear words like… total class, true gentleman, accommodating, professional, excellent teacher, someone you’d want your son to play for.
So here we are with Oklahoma needing a win over Villanova to advance to their third national championship game in the program’s history. In 1947, the Sooners lost to Holy Cross in the championship game. But of course, the one game which agonizes OU hoops fans most was the 1988 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks in the title game which was played at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Some call it ‘the crime of the century.” I still haven’t gotten over it. Billy Tubbs and I are soul mates in that regard.
I still have visions of Ed Hightower raising his arm on a foul call on Stacy King with the Sooners in possession of the ball and a chance to tie in the last twenty seconds. Tubbs has forgiven Hightower, but not me. But at least I’m honest about it. I actually sat next to Tommy Tubbs at a game during the Jeff Capel era (Missouri-Cade Davis played sick) and told him this. He smiled knowingly. Billy Tubbs isn’t fooling me.
OU was clearly the best team in college ball that season and beat Kansas twice before the NCAA Tournament. Kansas was a huge disappointment in the regular season and was something like a sixth seed. The thought of them somehow advancing to the home court setting in Kansas City never really crossed anybody’s minds. But Danny Manning and the Miracles caught fire and beat the Sooners 83-79 in a final played with a decided home court advantage for the Jayhawks. Guys named Milt Newton, Chris Piper, Mark Pritchard, and Mike Maddox were the Miracles. Pritchard was a Tulsa kid and Maddox played at PC North in OKC. Traitors.
Having written this, it doesn’t really crush me Villanova ended Kansas’s season last night. Bill Self is a nice guy, but still I could care less. They have our trophy in their case and things eventually need to be righted in the basketball universe. Ironically–in OU’s magical run in ’88 they beat Villanova in the Southeast Region to advance to the Final Four. The Sooners then handled Sean Elliot’s Arizona team in the semis while Kansas was beating Duke. I think that was the Danny Ferry team.
In that same ’88 tournament a young coach by the name of Lon Kruger coached Mitch Richmond and the Kansas State Wildcats to a regional final where they lost to the Kansas Jayhawks. So many ironies between ’88 and what is unfolding in front of our eyes.
And to think, when this season started everyone in Oklahoma thought the story would be if Durant in his free agency year could finally get OKC’s Thunder over the hump. Instead–the storyline’s been stolen by a well mannered coach and a player from the Bahamas who decided to stay for his fourth season in Norman.
Clay Bennett is a smart dude. He’s on the OU Board of Regents. One of his teams got to the Final Four. Nothing wrong with hedging.
2015 season
2016 season