Ford worked his way up the coaching ladder

By Berry Tramel
Published: April 17, 2008

Travis Ford was a Kentucky high school star. Little white guy who rarely missed a shot and never missed a free throw. Sort of a Bluegrass Keiton Page.
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Then he became a Kentucky hoops legend. A 5-foot-9 sharpshooter who in a UK Final Four season made more than 50 percent of his 3-pointers and 88 percent of his foul shots, a point guard who is No. 2 on the Kentucky single-season assist list.

That kind of ballplaying is appreciated in most ports. In a hoops haven like Kentucky, that kind of ballplaying is revered.

So when Ford, at the age of 26, decided to try coaching, he didn't have to start out coaching high school JV in Bowling Green. He spent a year just watching Rick Pitino at Kentucky, then got a college head-coaching job without ever spending a minute as an assistant.

But here's why I like Oklahoma State's hiring of Ford to be sheriff of Gallagher-Iba Arena: He had a big name, entered the profession with silver sneakers on his feet, and still he worked his way up.

Campbellsville University, an NAIA school of little more than 2,000 students. Eastern Kentucky, which hadn't sniffed hardwood success since the 1970s. And finally Massachusetts, which was a force when John Calipari coached the Minutemen but at no other time.

UMass can rate as big time, but at Campbellsville and Eastern Kentucky, you ride a lot of buses to Pikeville, Ky., and Montgomery, W.Va., and Clarksville, Tenn. That's a long way from the Big Blue royalty of Kentucky basketball.

"He can coach anywhere,” said Eddie Ford, Travis' father and director of Kentucky HoopFest, a huge summer basketball tournament in Louisville. "If you can coach, you can coach.”

Time will tell if Stillwater qualifies as anywhere. But Ford's track record says OSU athletic director Mike Holder has to be given a thumbs-up for landing Ford.

No Bill Self. No Billy Gillispie. But at every stop, Ford has made the basketball program better, much better, than how he found it.

"Travis, he will never ever get outworked,” said Keith Adkins, hired by Ford as a Campbellsville assistant and now the head coach of the NAIA power, which lost to Oklahoma City U. in the 2008 national semifinals.

"That can be evidenced by his playing days. Oklahoma State's getting a heck of a coach and a heck of a guy. It won't take him long to get that thing rolling.”

Campbellsville was a solid NAIA program. Ford's last two seasons there, 1999 and 2000, produced records of 28-3 and 23-11, the latter team making the NAIA national tournament. And today, Campbellsville remains an NAIA power.

Eastern Kentucky won the 1971 All-College Tournament, and OSU officials were so enamored, they hired EKU coach Guy Strong to take over the Cowboys. Strong didn't work out, of course, and Eastern struggled, too, for 30 years. In the two years before Ford's arrival, the Colonels went 9-44.

Ford's record at Eastern, 61-80, makes you wince. But Ford built up the Colonels and won the 2005 Ohio Valley title. More impressive, in their first NCAA appearance since 1979, Eastern Kentucky gave mighty Kentucky a scare, losing 72-64.

"He put Eastern Kentucky back on the map,” said Austin Newton, a senior captain on that 2005 team. "Put Travis on the map as a coach.”

Newton was a non-scholarship player who became a starter after Ford trimmed the roster. "It was pretty bad,” Newton said. "They say that first year was brutal. What he did in five years, people didn't give him enough credit for it.”

They did in Kentucky, after the first-round NCAA Tournament game in Indianapolis, where UK took a 17-point lead on Eastern Kentucky, before the Colonels rallied to within five points in the final minutes.

That earned Ford the job at UMass, where Steve Lappas had gone 50-65 in four seasons. Ford's teams went 13-15, 24-9 and 25-11. All the latter two seasons earned UMass was the NIT, which is one reason a coach jumps to a school like OSU.

Eddie Sutton always said OSU was a hard job, and maybe he was right. But it sounds like Holder hired a guy willing to roll up his sleeves, silver sneakers and all.

Toolbar sponsored by: David Stanley Ford
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Comments

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wow, you all are so mature. How old are we? And JJ, give it a rest about the Suttons...its over, done with. But if it makes you feel better to bring up things in the past that make you feel good, then so be it.
brad, Stillwater - Apr 17, 2008 3:34 PM
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JJ- I want eveyone on here to know that you aleep with dead people! My mother is deceased and has been for 5 years. You and your friend danny/itmustsucktobeYOU are disgusting!
Katie, Oklahoma City - Apr 17, 2008 3:06 PM
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Love the name itmustsuck!
JJ, oklahoma city - Apr 17, 2008 3:00 PM
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wow, the comments in here are awesome
itmustsucktobeosu, ardmore - Apr 17, 2008 2:41 PM
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ST, this is an open forum. I can say what I want big man. But I will STFU for a while as I am about to visit yo mama for a little back door action.
JJ, oklahoma city - Apr 17, 2008 2:25 PM
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JJ - Old and tired...just STFU! Eddie is gone and Sean is gone so blow it man!
Katie, Oklahoma City - Apr 17, 2008 1:33 PM
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If you're wondering if he can recruit all you have to look at what he was up against. Big East Conference with UCONN, Syracuse, Pitt, WVA, Georgetown. Slim pickings after those, let alone BC in his back yard. The bottom line is he won everywhere he has been. He has built programs, something SS did not have to do on his own. The problem is if does well at OSU, Kentucky will come calling after they get tired of BG, or he wilts under the pressure. I see it as a short term hire, but a good one.
Dean, Kankakee - Apr 17, 2008 12:05 PM
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Bottom line... he has taken what is there and made it better... we have talent, we just need to bring it all together. Remember, the previous programs he took over ALL had losing records and turned them into winners... imagine what he can do in Stillwater...
JP, Oil City - Apr 17, 2008 9:56 AM
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Scott, you ask if he can recruit the Kentucky area? I bet it will help a bunch that his father runs "Kentucky HoopFest, a huge summer basketball tournament in Louisville". You don't get to be director in something like that without major high school basketball connections.
joe, edmond - Apr 17, 2008 8:48 AM
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Eddie Sutton said the OSU job was hard. I'm sure he was right. Which job is easy? Certain aspects of the job become easy with winning such as recruiting. However, winning causes fan/administration expectations to rise which makes the job hard. I would be glad to trade my job(and pay) with a high level coach anytime. I might get fired after two years but could live pretty good on $20,000/mo.
g, shawnee - Apr 17, 2008 8:27 AM
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How many big name coachs were in Ford's position at one time. His resume says he can recruit and coach, so what else is there? Todays talent pool at OSU is not of final 4 caliber, so no matter who comes in, they have a way to go. Good luck to him.
Don, Guymon - Apr 17, 2008 8:26 AM
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I do like the fact that Ford has worked his way up to coaching at a big university instead of being handed the team because daddy was a drunk and had to resign.
JJ, oklahoma city - Apr 17, 2008 8:17 AM
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I hope the guy can recruit. He made a name for himself taking over bad programs and turning them around. But OSU isn't a bad program and he's taking over a pretty darn good bunch of talent. So is he going to recruit the Kentucky area? You won't make in the Big XII recruiting players that aren't on Rivals100. He won't go 25-11 in the Big XII with walk-ons. I think he's proven that he can coach - I hope he proves that he can recruit as well.
Scott, Broken Arrow - Apr 17, 2008 7:55 AM
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"Little white guy who rarely missed a shot and never missed a free throw." Why is his race even mentioned??? Why is this pertinent?
Roy, Lewisberry - Apr 17, 2008 6:34 AM
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