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 of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

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).ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game (Random House LLC, 2009), , p. 315. Excerpts available at Google Books. 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. Since the move to the NAIA, OCU had joined the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) in the 1986–87 school year, which they still compete to this day, and has won six national championships.

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

National championships Year Coach Runner-up Score 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 Tigers 86–80 2007 Ray Harper Concordia Eagles 79–71 2008 Ray Harper Mountain State Cougars 75–72

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.

1952 Sweet SixteenRegional Third Place UCLA L 48–54W 55–53 1953 Sweet SixteenRegional Third Place Kansas L 65–73L 56–58 1954 First Round Bradley L 55–61 1955 First Round L 65–69 1956 First RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight SMU W 97–81W 97–93L 63–84 1957 First RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight Kansas W 76–55W 75–66L 61–81 1963 First RoundSweet SixteenRegional Third Place W 70–67L 72–78L 83–90 1964 First Round Creighton L 78–89 1965 First RoundSweet SixteenRegional Third Place W 70–68L 67–91W 112–102 1966 First Round Texas Western L 74–89 1973 First Round L 78–103

NIT results The Chiefs played in the National Invitation Tournament twice. 1959 Quarterfinals L 48–63 1968 First Round Duke L 81–97

NAIA results 1987 1 First RoundSecond Round (16) W 101–66L 64–67 1991 2 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFab FourNational Championship (15) St. Mary's (MI) (6) (5) W 80–77W 107–85W 112–94W 100–83W 77–74 1992 1 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFab FourNational Championship (16) (5) (7) W 107–73W 96–89W 97–63W 102–92W 82–73 1993 6 First RoundSecond Round W 84–79L 67–85 1994 5 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFab FourNational Championship (4) (16) W 104–99 W 86–75W 90–70W 86–85W 99–81 1995 3 First RoundSecond RoundElite Eight (14) (11) W 107–75W 98–67 L 78–92 1996 14 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFab FourNational Championship (3) (6) (1) W 94–58W 108–85W 82–66W 80–77W 86–80 1998 8 First RoundSecond Round (9) W 84–73L 52–63 1999 6 First RoundSecond Round W 61–59 L 74–87 2000 5 First RoundSecond Round (12) W 70–62 L 67–77 2001 – First RoundSecond Round (15) (2) W 91–69 L 54–94 2002 16 First RoundSecond RoundElite Eight (1) (9) W 88–82W 74–59 L 72–80 2003 – First Round (9) L 56–82 2004 – First RoundSecond RoundElite Eight (7) (10) (15) W 81–48 W 79–65 L 62–75 2005 – First RoundSecond Round (6) W 77–74 L 65–66 2006 7 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFab FourNational Championship (10) (3) W 91–64 W 99–77W 77–67 W 94–92 L 65–67 2007 2 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFab FourNational Championship (15) (10) (4) W 90–74 W 90–78 W 84–68 W 76–61 W 79–71 2008 7 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFab FourNational Championship (10) (2) (5) W 81–64 W 69–63 W 86–66 W 78–64 W 75–72 2010 16 First Round L 70–78 2013 – First Round (1) L 37–68 2015 – First Round (10) L 62–74 2016 6 First Round (3) L 82–87 (OT) 2017 7 First Round (2) L 65–86 2018 2 First RoundSecond Round (7) (3) W 65–50 L 83–91 2019 7 First RoundSecond Round (2) (3) W 101–84 L 69–80 Note: The NAIA shifted from national to regional seeds in 2016.

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 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.

References

External links