By JIMMIE TRAMEL Sports Writer on Aug 23, 2012, at 6:59 AM Updated on 8/23 at 8:33 PM
ORU SPORTS
I’ve got a story in today’s Tulsa World that poses the question of whether it’s time to invite regular season champions of ...
Oral Roberts’ new conference just lost a heck of a coach.
Danny Kaspar, who led Stephen F. Austin to a regular season ...
The Missouri Valley Conference is searching for a replacement for Creighton and there are many in Tulsa who would like to ...
Here’s a sentence you didn’t read in today’s Tulsa World: Former Oral Roberts University basketball player Eduardo Najera is retiring from the NBA to become head coach of the NBA Development League’s Texas Legends.
Najera -- true story -- is retiring from the NBA to coach the D-League squad. But, of course, he is not a former ORU player. He is a former University of Oklahoma player.
If Najera had attended the first school he committed to, then he would have suited up for the Bill Self-era Golden Eagles.
Southern Illinois coach and former ORU assistant Barry Hinson told me this story in 2011:
ORU was beating the bushes for recruits in an attempt to jump-start the program. A Texas recruiting service listed a kid (Najera) from Chihuahua, Mexico who was playing for Cornerstone Christian Academy in San Antonio. Coaches will play any angle in recruiting and Hinson got an angle when he was told by then-ORU president Richard Roberts that the pastor of Cornerstone Christian was on ORU’s board of regents.
“I watched this kid play,” Hinson said, referring to Najera. “True story. I call coach (Self) from a pay phone. I think this kid can play in the NBA. I come back. And I know what coach is thinking (“yeah, right”) because he coached (great players as an assistant at Oklahoma State).”
Two weeks later, Hinson returned to San Antonio and the secret was out. Schools like New Mexico, Duke, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas were sending coaches to watch Najera play, according to Hinson.
Despite competition for Najera’s signature on a letter of intent, ORU was able to sweet-talk Najera into coming to Tulsa for a recruiting visit.
Najera stayed at a hotel across the street from ORU's campus. “And right before we get him in the car to take him to the airport, he commits to us,” Hinson said. “He is coming to Oral Roberts.”
Or not.
Najera signed with OU and became an All-Big 12 player. You know the rest of the story.
Only active print or digital subscribers of the Tulsa World are allowed to post comments on stories posted to Tulsaworld.com. After you fill out the form below and click submit, your comment will be published instantly online along with your screen name.
By clicking "Submit" you are agreeing to our terms and conditions.
