Kenneth Franklin Trickey Sr. (August 30, 1933"Ken Trickey", The Oklahoman, May 6, 2001. – December 4, 2012) was an American basketball and baseball coach, best known for his two stints as the head coach for the men's basketball team at Oral Roberts University (ORU) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Jimmie Tramel, "Former ORU coach Ken Trickey dies", Tulsa World, December 4, 2012 (pay site). He was especially remembered for ORU's high-scoring "run and gun" teams of the early 1970s, which helped the young, small school attain national attentionRobert H. Boyle, "Oral Roberts: Small But Oh, My!", Sports Illustrated, November 30, 1970.Milton Richman, "Oral Roberts on the Map: Thanks to coaching of Ken Trickey", UPI in Beaver County Times, February 17, 1972. and competitive success, including a spot in the Elite Eight in the 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. After his death in 2012, the Tulsa World called him "one of the most influential and colorful characters in this state’s basketball history".
Early life Trickey was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and grew up in Cairo, Illinois. He graduated from Cairo High School"Trickey returns 'home' to ORU for hoop revival", The Southeast Missourian, July 17, 1987. and then attended Middle Tennessee State University, where he became the school's all-time basketball scoring leader. After graduation he spent two years in the Army, then moved into high school coaching at Culver Military Academy, at Tullahoma High School in Tennessee, and at his alma mater, Cairo High School."Ken Trickey replaces John at Iowa State", Associated Press in The Telegraph-Herald, August 22, 1974.
College coaching career
Middle Tennessee State University Trickey became head coach at Middle Tennessee State in 1965. He was the first MTSU coach to recruit black players, and in 1967 he had the first all-black starting team in Ohio Valley Conference history.Adam Sparks, "Breaking barriers on the boards" , The Daily News Journal, February 14, 2007. He remained at MTSU until 1969. During his tenure, his teams' overall record was 45–54. He was inducted into MTSU's hall of fame in 1991.Ken Trickey at Blue Raider Hall of Fame (accessed 2012-12-04).
Oral Roberts University (first stint) Trickey took the head coaching job at ORU in 1969 and made an immediate impact with his high-offense approach. He quickly recruited several top prospects from Tennessee, most notably Richard Fuqua, a prep All-American who became one of the nation's leading scorers at ORUKen Bunch, "Oral Roberts Sets Record in Going Big-Time" , Milwaukee Sentinel, March 1, 1972. and was named a second team All-American in 1972. With the strong support of school founder Oral Roberts, who saw the basketball program as a way to bring positive attention to his school and his Christian ministry, the team traveled to games around the country, and was widely noted for what Trickey called its "WRAG" ("We Run and Gun") offense."Oral Roberts has faith in basketball", New York Times News Service in The Miami News, December 7, 1971.David Edwin Harrell, Oral Roberts: An American Life (Indiana University Press, 1985), , pp.244–247. Excerpts available at Google Books. Trickey's teams led the nation in scoring twice,Michael Jaffe, "Naia", Sports Illustrated, November 19, 1990. and went to the National Invitational Tournament in 1972 and 1973. In 1974 the team received its first bid to the NCAA tournament; ORU was also the host for that year's Midwest Regional, at the Mabee Center in Tulsa. An upset win over Louisville moved the team into the Elite Eight, needing only one more win on its home floor to move to the Final Four, but ORU lost 93–90 in overtime to Kansas. During his five years, his teams had an overall record of 118–23.
Iowa State University Leaving ORU after the 1973–1974 season, Trickey briefly served as an assistant coach under Jim Williams at Colorado State"Ken Trickey Happy in Assistant Role", Associated Press in Observer–Reporter, July 10, 1974. then was hired as the head coach at Iowa State. He did not meet the same level of success he had at ORU. In his two seasons, his teams had an overall record of 13–40.Randy Peterson, "Iowa State men's basketball: Former coach Trickey dies at 79", Des Moines Register, December 4, 2012 (pay site).
In 1976 he became the coach at Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Illinois."Trickey accepts post at Illinois high school", UPI in The Telegraph-Herald, August 8, 1976. In December 1976 he took on the job of reviving the basketball program at Claremore Junior College (now Rogers State University)."Trickey returns to Oklahoma", Associated Press in Tuscaloosa News, December 22, 1976.
Oklahoma City University Trickey was the head coach at Oklahoma City University from 1979 to 1981. His teams had an overall record of 27–30, and won the 1981 championship tournament of the Midwestern City League (now the Horizon League)."Former OCU coach Trickey dies", Oklahoma City University press release, December 4, 2012. Trickey's tenure was marked by an NCAA investigation of the athletic program,"Ken Trickey reinstated", Associated Press in Tri City Herald, November 18, 1980. which resulted in sanctions against the school after he left.Kathy Perovich and Jerry McConnell, "OCU Probation Pierces Trickey, Nichols", The Oklahoman, January 8, 1983.
Trickey subsequently became head coach and athletic director at Century High School in Ullin, Illinois, near Cairo.Bob Colon, "Ex-OCU Coach Trickey Answers NCAA's Charges, The Oklahoman, January 9, 1983. Trickey was working as the golf director at a state park resort) when he was hired in 1986 to start a basketball program at Oklahoma Junior College, formerly the Oklahoma School of Accountancy.Scott Munn, "Building Juco Program Just Another Trickey Job", The Oklahoman, January 16, 1986. Among his OJC players was future NBA star John Starks.Jim Lassiter, "A Star Is Born At OJC", The Oklahoman, January 23, 1987.John Starks and Dan Markowitz, John Starks: My Life (Sports Publishing LLC, 2004), , pp. 55–61. Excerpts available at Google Books.
Oral Roberts University (second stint) In 1987, ORU's founder Oral Roberts hired Trickey to return to the school at a time when the institution was facing both financial difficulty and an investigation for possible rules violations in the sports program. Trickey supervised a move from the NCAA to the NAIA. He coached from 1987 to 1993 and had an overall record of 96–93. ORU elected him to its athletics hall of fame in 2009."ORU Names Six to Athletics Hall of Fame" , Oral Roberts University, January 6, 2009."ORU Mourns the Passing of Ken Trickey" , Oral Roberts University, December 4, 2012.
In 2003, Trickey became head coach at Muskogee High School in Muskogee, OklahomaMike Strain, "Muskogee names Trickey coach", The Oklahoman, July 1, 2003. and coached one season.Kenton Brooks, "MHS boys coach relieved of duties; girls coach resigns", Muskogee Phoenix, February 26, 2008.
Head coaching record College basketball
College baseball
Death Trickey died on December 4, 2012, in Tulsa, at age 79. According to the obituary at his official website, the cause of death was complications of cancer and Alzheimer's disease.Obituary at Ken Trickey official website (accessed 2012-12-05).
References
External links Voices of Oklahoma interview. First person interview conducted on April 7, 2011, with Ken Trickey.