Playing football, thinking basketball

STILLWATER — Think Missouri State and you think of basketball, which is not a good thing during football season.

The institution formerly known as Southwest Missouri State is where Jackie Stiles became national player of the year, and it’s where Charlie Spoonhour and Steve Alford coached before advancing in their careers. Oklahoma native Barry Hinson also stormed the sidelines as the Bears’ coach before being fired last spring.

A 1983 OSU grad, Hinson attended last week’s game between the Cowboys and Houston at Boone Pickens Stadium. He and wife Angie will not be at Saturday night’s game, however.

“I’m still a Missouri State guy, but we’d be wearing orange for that game, and we thought that might get somebody upset,” said Hinson, who plans to return to Stillwater for the Oct. 4 contest against Texas A&M.

Born in Marlow, Hinson began his coaching career at Stillwater Junior High. From there, he was an assistant at Stillwater and Edmond Memorial, head coach at Tulsa’s Bishop Kelley, an assistant at Oral Roberts and then served as head coach at ORU and Missouri State.