Many factors go into OCU success

By Bob Hersom

Published: March 19, 2008

Tradition is part of the reason Oklahoma City University continues to excel in men's and women's basketball. But tradition can take teams only so far.

Just look down the road.

"Tradition,” OCU athletic director Jim Abbott said, "is evidenced by the OU football era with John Blake and others. Tradition only gets you so far. Because these kids, their memories aren't as long as ours.”

Pride is part of why OCU is the defending NAIA champion in men's basketball and why the Stars' 295 wins in women's basketball the last nine years is topped only by Connecticut's 296.

When Abbott presented the school's athletic budget proposal last week, he mentioned Duke and Vanderbilt and how he first heard of those schools from the sports section, because there aren't any chemistry sections or biology sections or law school sections in daily newspapers.

"What athletics brings our university and almost any university is visbility,” Abbott said. "Sports brings our campus together. It's something you can rally around.”

Talent is part of it, and a lot of the talent — especially on the men's side — comes from major college transfers. Abbott noted that 24 of the 32 teams in last year's NAIA men's tournament had NCAA Division I transfers on their rosters.

"You've got to have the right group of kids. You can't have bad kids,” OCU men's coach Ray Harper said. "You've got to have good kids who understand what's important, and fortunately in recruiting we've done a good job in getting those types of kids.”

Being in Oklahoma City is part of why the OCU men are ranked No. 7 in the nation and the OCU women are ranked No. 5.

The OCU men's starting lineup includes one major college transfer from Oakland and Cal Poly, another from Chicago and Rutgers. They were drawn to OCU, in part, by the city of Oklahoma City.

"It's absolutely perfect in my mind,” Abbott said of Oklahoma City. "I tell the players that they're going to love Oklahoma because the people here are very embracing and hospitable, and at the same time, a lot of the things you have in Chicago or Oakland you can find in Oklahoma City, just without the traffic and without the crime.”

Abbott has been a big part of OCU's sports success. The Stars have won 32 national championships at the NAIA level, and 10 of those have come in Abbott's five years as athletic director.

"We haven't won one of them, and there's some pressure there,” OCU women's coach Rob Edmisson said. "You know, I took over a program that was the winningest college basketball program in America over the last decade. Nobody has won more games than Oklahoma City University. And trust me, I want to get one. I want to get that. Trust me.”

While tradition and pride and talent and location have played big parts in OCU's success in basketball, Abbott knows those aren't the biggest reasons.

Coaching has been the biggest part of the Stars' successes.

"Having the right coach is absolutely critical,” Abbott said, "and we have and have had terrific coaches. And a big part of those coaches is their willingness to work. Our coaches work very hard to, one, recruit and two, prepare for opponents. You can see the difference that that preparation makes. And ultimately, if you've recruited well and you're prepared then you're probably going to have a pretty good chance to win.”

Both Edmisson and Harper are in their third seasons at OCU. Their records: Edmisson 86-15, Harper 90-17.

The defending national champion OCU men take a 26-7 record and 10-game winning streak into this week's NAIA Tournament in Kansas City.

After winning the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament title last week, Harper told his players in their locker room:

"A guy came up to me before the game and said, "How do you compare this team to last year?' and I said, "Well, I don't know. It's hard to compare teams.' And he said, "I'll tell you what, coach. You're not as tough and you don't rebound the ball.' Guys, take it to heart. You've got an opportunity, in this room, if you'll stay together, to win five more games. You win five more games, you win the national championship.”

Same goes for the OCU women, who take a 27-4 record and 17-game winning streak into this week's NAIA Tournament in Jackson, Tenn.

"When you have to win five games in seven days, that tournament comes down more to three things,” Edmisson said. "You've got to play well in your first game, because that's when most upsets happen. Second, you've got to be able to come back in your second round game and have energy the next day. And third, you've got to have luck. You've got to win three outright, because you're good; you've got to win by luck; and then when you get to the last game you just hope you're ready.”

Comments