All College Basketball Tourney

[pawneesooner]

Back in the day, the All College BB tourney held in OKC was a major draw for teams across the country. Since it is now a 2-game tourney?, why not make it an All College BB tourney much like the Tournament of Champions and invite the state majors along with schools like Northeastern State, Southeastern, Southwestern, Central and so-on. I know the majors have nothing to gain but it would be great for the state.ldwt356:

 

[SoonerTraveler]

The "tournament" is long dead. It is currently a one-game "classic."

Two teams. One game. That is all.

The only reason there is even one game is because OU & OSU work with the All Sports Association to get a game into downtown OKC. It is my understanding that OSU will play in it next season.

http://www.okcallsports.org/

To the best of my knowledge, OU currently only schedules games against Division-1 teams. (Exhibition games are a different matter.)

 

[ByronHoustonsSweatyPalms]

Let it die


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[AdaSooner]

My best memory of the All-College tourney was the 1984 championship game. My wife and I were there to watch OU beat Louisiana Tech, featuring none other than Wayman Tisdale going head to head with Karl Malone. Those were the glory days of the annual All-College tournament.

 

[usedtobe1]

My best memory of the All-College tourney was the 1984 championship game. My wife and I were there to watch OU beat Louisiana Tech, featuring none other than Wayman Tisdale going head to head with Karl Malone. Those were the glory days of the annual All-College tournament.

I definitely remember that game. I took my 8 year-old son to the game. His idol was Wayman Tisdale so we planned on getting Wayman's aoutograph but we couldn't get within 10 feet of him. He was mobbed by autograph seekers.

I looked into the stands and saw Karl Malone and their center just sitting there by themselves watching the mob on the floor. I told my son Malone was a pretty good player and that he should get his autograph. We went over and got both autographs and visited with them for about 5 minutes. Nobody else came over.

We never ever got Wayman's autograph......

My fondest memory of the All-College tournament was watching Pistol Pete Maravich in the old Civic Center ........

 

[ByronHoustonsSweatyPalms]

My best memory of the All-College tourney was the 1984 championship game. My wife and I were there to watch OU beat Louisiana Tech, featuring none other than Wayman Tisdale going head to head with Karl Malone. Those were the glory days of the annual All-College tournament.

I remember that game. First time I ever saw Malone. He was a monster


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[AdaSooner]

I remember that game. First time I ever saw Malone. He was a monster


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No doubt. One of the best power forwards to ever play the game. He had a great game against OU. It just wasn't enough to beat the WT and the Sooners that day.

Usedtobe1 brought up one of my all-time favorite players, "Pistol Pete" Maravich. He created a highlight video in nearly every game he played. I found this newspaper article about his performances in the All-College tournament.

http://newsok.com/article/3331302

These highlight video are for the youngsters on the board who didn't have the privilege of watching "Pistol Pete" play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq1oUk7sgRY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0BCvV0oX9o

 

[tooney]

Our high school boys basketball team used to get to go to the all college tournament. Three days of basketball when eight teams were in the field. Big deal for a small school in sw Oklahoma to send their hs team to the city for three days of hotels and meals plus getting to watch the tournament.

I watched Calvin Murphy, Artis Gilmore and Maravich play.....Got to watch OCU play when they hosted the tournament. I'll never forget watching Murphy in the pregame warmups. Niagra let Murphy perform along with the rest of the team during warmups. Maravich was something to watch. The other teams guarded him and he still got his.

:dance005:

 

[Sooner04]

Maravich was inducted into the All-College HOF in December of '87, and it coincided with our victory over Illinois State in the final game of the four-team tourney. Sold out the Myriad. Before the Ford Center was built, it was the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game in the state of Oklahoma.

The Pistol died a week later.

 

[coolm]

So much fun to watch. Like a basketball savante. I wish we really knew what Press did to instill some of that in him. Never seen anyone to this day who could pass like him. Magic might have been the closest or Skiles.

 

[sybarite]

I can't remember the early days of the All College. In the fifties, OCU was a national power, and they were always in the All College. I think they had a tall center for that time, 6-10 Hub Reed (don't hold me to that). But, Seattle came to the All College in 56 or 57 with Elgin Baylor. San Francisco came with Bill Russell, KC Jones, and Mike Farmer, and they won the title in 55 and 56. At that time, the All College was THE holiday tournament attracting major powers like Seattle and San Francisco.

 

[AdaSooner]

So much fun to watch. Like a basketball savante. I wish we really knew what Press did to instill some of that in him. Never seen anyone to this day who could pass like him. Magic might have been the closest or Skiles.

I read the book. He had a basketball in his hands almost constantly, so much so it was like the ball was part of his body. He also had dribbling and passing drills he practiced for hours on end. I remember watching a documentary about it on television several years ago. I'll bet it's available online somewhere. I got the impression one of the reasons Pete wanted to be great was to please the head coach, his father Press. He was a unique talent, that's for sure.

I like your comparison to Magic. He was more of an entertainer than Skiles, something Maravich tried to be every time he stepped onto the court. His coaches didn't always approve of his playing style. Basketball fans loved it!

 

[usedtobe1]

I read once that Press had a car with no doors for the back seat, and Pete would dribble the basketball down the street as his dad drove. Crazy if true......

Going back to the All-College and OCU, I went to HS in OKC (US Grant). We used to go the OCU fieldhouse to play pickup games. We played against guys like the Koper brothers, Gray, etc. We even talked to Abe Lemons a few times ..... funniest coach ever. I later became good friends with Paul Hansen who coached OCU and OSU ...... one of the truly nicest guys I've ever known.

Ah, the memories.......

 

[Sooner24]

It's a shame that the All College is reduced to a one game classic. With the plethora of college basketball tournaments now the All College got pushed to the bottom of the list. That '84 All College was incredible. La Tech brought a ton of fans but they had even more in Dallas for the Regional Final. We were standing outside Reunion Arena, waiting for them to open the doors, and the La Tech fans were all chanting Mailman, Mailman, Mailman.

The '85 Regional Finals were three of the best games I have ever seen.