Oklahoma City Stars men's basketball

Last updated
Oklahoma City Stars
Basketball current event.svg 2023–24 Oklahoma City Stars men's basketball team
Oklahoma City Stars logo.svg
University Oklahoma City University
Head coach Mark Berokoff (1st season)
Conference Sooner Athletic Conference
Location Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Arena Abe Lemons Arena
(Capacity: 3,500)
Nickname Stars
ColorsBlue and white [1]
   
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1956, 1957
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1963, 1965
NCAA tournament appearances
1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1973
NAIA tournament champions
1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007, 2008
Conference tournament champions
Midwestern City Conference
1981 [2]
Sooner Athletic Conference
1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2019 [3]

The Oklahoma City Stars men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Oklahoma City University (OCU) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Sooner Athletic Conference.

Contents

Until 1998, the team was known as the Oklahoma City Chiefs.

History

Oklahoma City competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA's) Division I for many years, and the program was especially noted for its success under coaches Doyle Parrack (1950–1955) and his successor Abe Lemons (1955–1973 and 1984–1990). [4] OCU appeared in eleven NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments.

As an NCAA Division I team, OCU was an independent team until joining the Midwestern City Conference (MCC), now known as the Horizon League. In 1985, the school moved from the NCAA to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), citing as reasons for the move the number of sports the NCAA required at member schools, the MCC's insistence that teams host their games in arenas with seating capacities greater than 7,500, and the concerns of other MCC members that OCU lacked geographic proximity to their institutions. [5] Since the move to the NAIA, OCU has won six national championships. [6]

In 1998, OCU changed the name of its athletic teams from Chiefs to Stars.

National championships

YearCoachOpponentScore
1991 Darrel Johnson Central Arkansas Bears 77–74
1992 Darrel Johnson Central Arkansas Bears 82–73
1994 Win Case Life Running Eagles 99–81
1996 Win Case Georgetown (KY) Tigers 86–80
2007 Ray Harper Concordia Eagles 79–71
2008 Ray Harper Mountain State Cougars 75–72
National Championships6

Tournament results

NCAA tournament results

The Chiefs appeared in 11 NCAA Division I basketball tournaments from 1952 to 1973, making them the most prolific tournament team that is no longer in Division I. Their record in tournaments was 8–13, giving them the second most wins (after New York University) among teams no longer in Division I. [7]

YearSeedRoundOpponentResult
1952 Sweet Sixteen
Regional Third Place		 Wyoming
UCLA 		L 48–54
W 55–53
1953 Sweet Sixteen
Regional Third Place		 Kansas
TCU 		L 65–73
L 56–58
1954 First Round Bradley L 55–61
1955 First Round Bradley L 65–69
1956 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight		 Memphis State
Kansas State
SMU 		W 97–81
W 97–93
L 63–84
1957 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight		 Loyola (LA)
Saint Louis
Kansas 		W 76–55
W 75–66
L 61–81
1963 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Regional Third Place		 Colorado State
Colorado
Texas 		W 70–67
L 72–78
L 83–90
1964 First Round Creighton L 78–89
1965 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Regional Third Place		 Colorado State
San Francisco
BYU 		W 70–68
L 67–91
W 112–102
1966 First Round Texas Western L 74–89
1973 First Round Arizona State L 78–103

NIT results

The Chiefs played in the National Invitation Tournament twice. [8]

YearSeedRoundOpponentResult
1959 Quarterfinals NYU L 48–63
1968 First Round Duke L 81–97

NAIA results

YearSeedRoundOpponentResult
1987 1First Round
Second Round		 Northwood
(16) Georgetown (KY) 		W 101–66
L 64–67
1991 2First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight
Fab Four
National Championship		 Concordia (NE)
(15) Concord
St. Mary’s (MI)
(6) Pfeiffer
(5) Central Arkansas 		W 80–77
W 107–85
W 112–94
W 100–83
W 77–74
1992 1First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight
Fab Four
National Championship		 Columbia Union
(16) Urbana
Cumberlands
(5) Pfeiffer
(7) Central Arkansas 		W 107–73
W 96–89
W 97–63
W 102–92
W 82–73
1993 6First Round
Second Round		 Spring Hill
Lenoir–Rhyne 		W 84–79
L 67–85
1994 5First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight
Fab Four
National Championship		 Siena Heights
St. Mary's (TX)
(4) Drury
(16) Oklahoma Baptist
Life 		W 104–99
W 86–75
W 90–70
W 86–85
W 99–81
1995 3First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight		 Iowa Wesleyan
(14) Transylvania
(11) Pfeiffer 		W 107–75
W 98–67
L 78–92
1996 14First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight
Fab Four
National Championship		 St. Xavier
(3) The Master’s
(6) Birmingham–Southern
Belmont
(1) Georgetown (KY) 		W 94–58
W 108–85
W 82–66
W 80–77
W 86–80
1998 8First Round
Second Round		 The Master’s
(9) Incarnate Word 		W 84–73
L 52–63
1999 6First Round
Second Round		 Houston Baptist
Life 		W 61–59
L 74–87
2000 5First Round
Second Round		 Westmont
(12) Spring Hill 		W 70–62
L 67–77
2001 –First Round
Second Round		(15) Xavier (LA)
(2) Azusa Pacific 		W 91–69
L 54–94
2002 16First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight		 Houston Baptist
(1) Georgetown (KY)
(9) Azusa Pacific 		W 88–82
W 74–59
L 72–80
2003 –First Round(9) St. Xavier
L 56–82
2004 –First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight		(7) Columbia (MO)
(10) Lewis–Clark State
(15) Mobile 		W 81–48
W 79–65
L 62–75
2005 –First Round
Second Round		(6) Mobile
Carroll (MT) 		W 77–74
L 65–66
2006 7First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight
Fab Four
National Championship		 Columbia (MO)
(10) Houston Baptist
Lindsey Wilson
(3) Robert Morris (IL)
Texas Wesleyan 		W 91–64
W 99–77
W 77–67
W 94–92
L 65–67
2007 2First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight
Fab Four
National Championship		 Wiley
(15) Illinois–Springfield
(10) Azusa Pacific
Faulkner
(4) Concordia (CA) 		W 90–74
W 90–78
W 84–68
W 76–61
W 79–71
2008 7First Round
Second Round
Elite Eight
Fab Four
National Championship		 Cumberland
(10) California Baptist
(2) Lee
Campbellsville
(5) Mountain State 		W 81–64
W 69–63
W 86–66
W 78–64
W 75–72
2010 16First Round Southern Poly L 70–78
2013 –First Round(1) Columbia (MO) L 37–68
2015 –First Round(10) Concordia (CA) L 62–74
2016 6First Round(3) MidAmerica Nazarene L 82–87 (OT)
2017 7First Round(2) Dillard L 65–86
2018 2First Round
Second Round		(7) Xavier (LA)
(3) Georgetown (KY) 		W 65–50
L 83–91
2019 7First Round
Second Round		(2) Stillman
(3) Carroll (MT) 		W 101–84
L 69–80

Note: The NAIA shifted from national to regional seeds in 2016. [9]

Frederickson Fieldhouse

Frederickson Fieldhouse was an athletic facility on the campus of Oklahoma City University built in honor of a major OCU benefactor, George Frederickson of Oklahoma City. In his gift to OCU, Frederickson stipulated that the building should be built by his nephew, John Henry Frederickson. Accordingly, it was built by the John Henry Frederickson Jr. Construction Company, also of Oklahoma City, with John Henry Frederickson was the general contractor. John Henry Frederickson's son Chris Frederickson also worked on the job as a laborer.

Frederickson Field House was a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) facility. At the time of its construction in 1959 it the largest hyperbolic paraboloid structure in the world. The Frederickson company was a pioneer in the design and building of extremely thin-shell concrete buildings, of which Frederickson Field House was one. Another famous thin-shell concrete structure built by John Henry Frederickson was the First Christian Church in Oklahoma City, a building has an "eggshell"-shaped roof that is actually thinner in proportion than a real eggshell.

Frederickson Field House held 3,400 for basketball. Asked why the scoreboard at the Field House was the first one to have a three-digit capability for game scores, Abe Lemons, the head coach at the time, said "Come to the first game and you will find out." Teams rarely scored in the 100s at the time (the late 1950s), but in the first game at Frederickson Field House OCU beat Florida State, scoring 129 points in the game. The Chiefs went on to become one of the highest-scoring teams in the United States, scoring over 100 points a game on many occasions.

Frederickson Field House was replaced with the more modern Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activities Center — named for Henry J. Freede — in 2000, and was torn down in 2005.

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References

  1. ↑ "Colors – Oklahoma City University" . Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  2. ↑ "2016-17 Horizon League Men's Basketball" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  3. ↑ "History: Team Achievements". OCU Sports. August 8, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  4. ↑ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game (Random House LLC, 2009), ISBN   978-0345513922, p. 315. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  5. ↑ Kensler, Tom (April 4, 1985). "OCU Drops Affiliation With NCAA, MCC". The Oklahoman. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  6. ↑ "History". Oklahoma City University. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "2023 MEN'S FINAL FOUR RECORDS BOOK" (PDF). p. 127. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  8. ↑ "2018 National Invitation Postseason Records" (PDF). p. 121. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Men's Basketball Championship Records" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
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