This article by Ellen Wilfong appeared in the "50 Years of the Big House" publication by the Oklahoma High School Sports Historical Society and IWasAtTheGame.com in 2016
Coach Bill Self, Sr., was familiar with the State Fair Arena, which is now known as the Big House. But, when he walked in with his team back in 1966, his country girls' eyes were as big as half dollars. He told them to look at the arena. "I said to look around at everything." He expounded further, "Check out the stands, the court, the lights, or whatever else you need to see. Look at everything now and get it out of your system. Because when it's time for our game, I don't want anyone looking around at parents, friends, or anything else in here. That's the time to focus on our goal." The Morris team understood what he meant and tried their best not to be overwhelmed by how different it was than the gym back home.
Since this was the first year for basketball to be played at the State Fair Arena, there were some wrinkles to iron out. Coach Self describes the situation saying, "The OSSAA had hired a group to run the tournament that knew nothing about basketball. A city worker had actually installed one of the basketball goals upside down." Although they got that fixed right away, Self points out, "That's just one example of their lack of knowledge about the sport and shows that the group the OSSAA had hired really had no business running a basketball tournament, especially not one of this magnitude."
According to Self, dressing rooms wouldn't be unlocked when they were supposed to be, and the arena leaked in different places. Another example of the hiccups they experienced that first year happened when the Morris team was going out to warm up. They had given different colored passes to coaches and players. "My girls and the assistant coach had the right colored passes, and they had already gone onto the court." Self explains, "But, when I tried to join them, the guy they hired to run the gate wouldn't let me through because he said I had the wrong colored pass." Expressing increasing frustration, Self says, "I could literally see my team out there warming up, but this guy would not let me out to coach them because someone had given me the wrong colored pass!" After a brief pause, Self says, "We had words for a while, and I won't tell exactly what I said... but eventually he did let me through."
Another problem arose because the Morris team had gotten new uniforms that year. He says, "The uniforms were really sharp, orange and black uniforms." Morris had never had an issue wearing them before. But, when they were playing Sterling in the finals, both teams had the same colored uniforms. "We had to wear our old uniforms ..." Self explains, "which wouldn't have been a problem except there had been a rule change that year, and the colors on our numbers didn't comply with that change." Because of the violation, Morris had to start the game with a technical foul. Coach Self laughs as he says, "I can remember that game like it was yesterday. The Sterling coach pretty much
begged them not to enforce it, saying it would only serve to get us fired up." After a brief pause, Self continues, "And he was right."
The Morris team was a talented group of girls, and according to Coach Self, their confidence was really built earlier in the season when they beat Bixby. They had beaten Bixby in 3 overtimes at Morris the year before. But in 1966, a year later, with the same players on both teams, Morris beat them pretty convincingly. "I remember the score was 75-38 at the end of the 3rd quarter, and our subs played the rest of the game." Self continues, "That win really boosted their confidence."
"We had a lot of very talented players, but Carol Lane was definitely the star. And on that day, she could hardly miss." Self asks, "Did you know Carol was nearly blind?" She wasn't actually blind, but apparently couldn't see good at a distance. According to Coach Self and his wife, Margaret, Carol's vision was so bad, she couldn't see the score board when she was at the other end of the court. "She would yell over and ask what the score was." her coach explained. Carol needs over 3 diopters of correction for near sightedness, which you would assume would have affected her on the court. Although, most of their points were scored on the screen and roll, Carol could shoot really long shots, too. Self says, "Because of her vision, she had to look down at the court and evaluate the distance before she shot from very far. But she just had such a smooth and natural release, she could really knock them down."
There were a lot of girls on their team who were good, but Self says they were all very different. Self confesses, "They were actually kind of difficult to coach, to be completely honest, just because their personalities and backgrounds were so different." When asked if their differences caused drama or division, Coach Self stressed, "Not at all. I wouldn't have allowed that."
Determined not to allow jealousy, bickering or anything that might cause division, Self made the decision to have closed practices. He did not even allow parents to come watch. This may seem harsh to some, but according to Carol Lane, Coach Self's no nonsense approach to team unity was vital to their success.
Patsy Hill was the star for Sterling. She shot long shots, and was making most of hers. Coach Self remembers telling Rita Foster, who was guarding her, "Come out another foot on her to stop her from shooting! I must have yelled that 8 to 10 times," Self said. When Rita got out far enough, Patsy missed some of her shots. Morris was hitting almost everything so the Morris side of the scoreboard was moving ahead.
Bill Self, Sr. only coached high school basketball for 4 years. After winning the State Championship in 1966, he stepped down as the coach. Self actually served as the Superintendent for Morris Schools starting the fall of 1965, until he resigned to open a school supply business in Stillwater. He went
on to be superintendent again at another school before going to work at the OSSAA. He remained at the OSSAA for 27 1/2 years, serving as the Executive Secretary for the association 1991 thru 1999.
In regards to the Big House, Self says that during his time as Executive Secretary, it became increasingly embarrassing to have the tournament there. "We continued to have leaks all over the building. They would fix one, and another seemed to pop up some where else. The city just didn't seem to fix things like they should." So, Self says he put out feelers to see if there was any interest in moving the tournament somewhere else. There was none. "Those small schools were dead set on playing in that barn," Self says, "... so we kept it there and I'm glad we did."
Another thing Self says that he did as Executive Secretary was hire Charles Hately. The games up to that point were pretty quiet. When the games had been played at the Municipal Auditorium, school bands filled the game with music. The only music they had up to that time at the Big House was the playing
of the national anthem. "When I hired him," Self explained, "I asked him to put a little jive in this thing and get people rockin'." Self emphasized, "He played Sweet Georgia Brown and songs like that which really made the state tournament experience more lively." Self added, "I hated to see him retire a couple of years ago, because he always did a great job."
Bill Self, Sr., lives with his wife Margaret in Edmond, OK. They enjoy attending the sporting events that their family members participate in, especially watching their son, Bill Self, Jr., coach the University of Kansas Men's Basketball team.
A few years ago, when the 2013 class was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Bill Self, Sr. had the privilege of presenting his son, who is one of the nation's top college basketball coaches.
When Bill Self, Jr., was asked by Mike Baldwin during an interview for the Daily Oklahoman about why he chose his father to present him, he had this to say: "I thought about Coach (Eddie) Sutton, but his health isn't real good right now;' said the KU coach. "Others suggested people like (Dick) Vitale. My answer was, 'Why wouldn't I have the person who had the biggest influence on me present me?' It was a no brainer asking my dad." Bill Self, Jr. went on to say, "No person, no matter who I've been around, has been more positive or a bigger influence on me than my father."
Bill Self, Sr.'s, impact was seen through coaching a group of high school girls to come together to win the State Championship, which was the highest level of achievement that was possible for them. His example has inspired players like Carol Lane Tiger to follow his lead in coaching other high school athletes in achieving greatness. But, perhaps his most notable contribution is that he continues to inspire his son to do the same but at the collegiate level. Bill Self, Jr.'s, KU Men's Basketball team earned the highest honor for a collegiate team when they won the NCAA National Championship in 2008 and are currently one of the topped ranked teams in the nation.
Whether it's life lessons learned by the teams he coached, by his son, or those who dealt with him while at the OSSAA, Bill Self, Sr.'s, influence continues to impact those who are influencing others.
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