The Glory Days of Basketball

November 30, 2004

In the middle of the 1960s, Shawnee was a hotbed for college basketball in Oklahoma. People would come from across the state to stand in ticket lines for the chance to pack into OBU's Clark Craig Fieldhouse and watch the Bison play.

From the fall of 1964 through the spring of 1967, OBU fans were rarely disappointed. Over that three-year span, the Bison appeared in the NAIA championship game each season, bringing home the school's only basketball national championship in 1966. OBU fans young and old can relive those storied seasons with a new book which was released in early November 2004. The Glory Years of Bison Basketball, written by John W. Parrish, hon. '89, chronicles three remarkable seasons, providing comprehensive coverage of 97 OBU games.

Parrish, who was OBU's sports information director for all three of the seasons, conducted interviews with coaches, players, and opponents as he reconstructed the events of the unprecedented era of OBU basketball success. The book includes details about OBU coach Bob Bass, Bison legend Al Tucker, and the OBU players who joined them as they reached the NAIA's pinnacle contest for three straight times.

The Glory Years of Bison Basketball is the first book in OBU's Centennial Book Series, which will include several works covering different periods in the life of the university as OBU prepares for its 2010 centennial celebration. Copies of the book are available for $30 each through the OBU Alumni Office.