High school coaches’ hall of fame to induct 11
BY BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer
Sunday, July 22, 2012
7/22/12 at 8:11 AM
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Nate Harris, who guided Booker T. Washington to 10
state boys basketball championships
in 25 seasons before
retiring in 2007, is among 11
coaches who will be inducted
into the Oklahoma Coaches
Association Hall of Fame on
Sunday at Tulsa’s Marriott
Southern Hills.
Others to be inducted are
Ted Younts, Jim Walling,
Cotton Wade, Laura Clay,
David Brese, Jim Mathews,
L.J. Powell, former Stillwater
wrestling coach Richard
Lemler and Thomas’ Mike
Tyson. Also inducted for distinguished
service will be
George Hauser.
An Old Timers Reception
will be held at 5 p.m., and the
Hall of Fame banquet starts
at 6:30 p.m.
Harris led the Hornets to
four straight state titles from
1984-87 and three straight
from 1995-97.
He also coached Washington
to titles in 1999, 2001
and 2002. Harris also led the
Hornets to two runner-up
finishes.
Harris is a 1965 graduate of
Booker T. Washington, where
he was a basketball all-state
selection. Later that year, he
played on Oral Roberts University’s
first basketball team.
Harris coached in the Tulsa
Public Schools system from
1973-2007.
He was a Mason High
School assistant for two years
before being elevated to head
coach, a position he held until
the school’s closure in 1979.
Harris then coached three
seasons at Edison before
moving to his high school
alma mater.
When he became the head
coach at Mason in 1975, Harris
was the first black head
coach in a boys revenue sport
(football and basketball) at
a predominantly white TPS
high school.
Harris coached at Edison
from 1979-82 before returning
to his high school alma
mater in July 1982.
Younts led Ardmore to
boys state basketball titles
in 1993 and ’94. Clay has
won two state titles and led
Westmoore to six runner-up
finishes in 20 years as head
girls track coach. She is only
the second woman to be inducted.
The other was Byng’s
Bertha Frank Teague in 1970.
Walling was a basketball
coach for 30 years, including
the last 24 at Earlsboro,
which he led to a state boys
title in 1993. He also won
basketball and baseball state
titles at Asher in 1981. He had
a career basketball coaching
record of 644-240.
Wade was 102-72 in 15
football seasons at Norman,
including a 1992 state title.
He also coached at Chandler,
Healdton and Durant, which
he led to a state title in 1979.
Tyson was a coach at
Thomas from 1973-2003. He
was a head football coach for
16 seasons and won a state title
in 2002. He also won three
girls basketball state titles in
1980, ’81 and ’83.
Brese coached football and
baseball at Durant from 1980-
2002. Mathews led Wewoka
to consecutive state boys basketball
titles in 1995 and ’96.
Powell was Chickasha’s baseball
coach from 1958-96 and
won a state title in 1966. He
later coached 12 seasons at
the University of Science and
Arts of Oklahoma.
Hauser had 792 career basketball
wins in 43 seasons,
including 388 at Southwestern
State from 1976-2003. He
was a high school coach at
Choctaw, Cherokee, Covington
and Woodward. He also
coached in college at Bacone
and Tulsa’s American Christian.
Barry Lewis 918-581-8393
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com
