The Titans began play as an independent team in 1965. In 1971, the Titans moved up to Division I. From 1979 until 1987, the Titans were a member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. In 1989, they became an NAIA school. In 1991, they returned to Division I. The team joined the Mid-Continent Conference (now The Summit League) effective 1997. In 2012, the school joined the Southland Conference. In December 2013, ORU announced that it would return to the Summit League for all sports in 2014.[2]
The men's basketball team reached the NCAA Elite Eight in the 1974 Tournament before losing to Kansas 90–93 in overtime, in what has been called "the most important basketball game ever played in Tulsa."[5] Most recently, the men's basketball team went to the 2021 NCAA tournament as the #15 seed, advancing as a cinderella to the Sweet 16, losing to #3 seeded Arkansas, 70–72.
In the 2006–07 season, on November 15, 2006, the unranked Oral Roberts basketball team stunned the #3 team in the nation, the University of Kansas, at the Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, 78–71. The team went on to win the Mid-Con conference championship on March 6, 2007, defeating #2 seeded Oakland, overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit to win 71–67.
In 2008, the Golden Eagles captured their third consecutive Summit League title, receiving a 13 seed in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Golden Eagles lost to 4th-seeded Pittsburgh, 63–82.
Overview of team achievement
Overall Record of 907-641 (.586)
Six NCAA Tournament appearances
Eight NIT appearances
17 total postseason tournament appearances
Six Summit League Regular Season Titles
Four Summit League Tournament Titles
Five Summit League Players of the Year
Two Summit League Defensive Player of the Year
Five Summit League Newcomers of the Year
Three Summit League Sixth Men of the Year
2021 victories versus No. 2 Ohio State (72-75) and No. 7 Florida (78-81)
2009 victories over Stanford, Missouri and No. 13 New Mexico
2007 victory over Oklahoma State
2006 victory at No. 3 Kansas
1999 victory over Tulsa's Elite team
21 First Team All-Summit League selections
Nine Second Team All-Summit League selections
15 Summit League All-Newcomer selections
14 Summit League All-Tournament selections
Four Mid-Con Championship game appearances
Three First Team All-Americans
Two Second Team All-Americans
Two Third Team All-Americans
12 Honorable Mention All-Americans
Coaching staff
The Golden Eagles are currently coached by Paul Mills, who took over the program prior to the 2017-18 season.
Mills took over for Scott Sutton, who was the all-time winningest coach in ORU history with 328 wins (328-247) in 18 seasons.
Coaching Career Records
Coach Tenure Yrs. Record Pct.
The ORU baseball team has won the Mid-Con and Summit League tournament titles in 18 of the last 20 years, with the only exceptions being the 2013 and 2014 seasons in which ORU competed in the Southland Conference. In 2006, they advanced to the NCAA Super Regional.
ORU continues to compete against regional rivals such as Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Wichita State, as well as dominating the Summit League.
Notable players
Mike Moore was an ORU standout from 1979–81 and first-round draft pick. He played 14 seasons in the big leagues and was selected an American League All-Star in 1989. He played in consecutive World Series with Oakland (1989–90), winning a World Championship in 1989. Todd Burns (1982–84) was Moore's teammate in Oakland and helped the A's win three straight American League pennants (1988–90) and 1989 World Series. Keith Lockhart (1985–86) played in the 1999 World Series as a member of the Atlanta Braves and helped that team win five consecutive National League Eastern Division titles. Tom Nieto (1981) played in the 1985 world Series with St. Louis Cardinals and won a World championship in 1987 as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Doug Bernier, Michael Hollimon and Steve Holm all made their Major League debuts in 2008. Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez was drafted in the 1st round (23rd overall) in 2013 and made it to the Rangers lineup for his MLB debut May 30, 2015. Jose Trevino (6th round, 2014) and Matt Whatley (3rd round, 2017) were also drafted by the Texas Rangers.
Notable coaches
Former head coach Larry Cochell guided ORU from 1977–86, leading the school to seven NCAA Regional appearances and the 1978 College World Series. Former coach Sunny Golloway was one of the winningest active skippers in the NCAA Division I, guiding the Golden Eagles to a 294–136 record and five NCAA Regional appearances in seven years at the helm. He was an assistant coach for Team USA in the summer of 2002.
As first year head coach in 2004, Rob Walton guided ORU to the nation's best winning percentage (.820) while also setting a Summit League mark with a 50–11 overall record. The 2004 Golden Eagles were ranked in the Top 20 for 12 consecutive weeks, reaching a high of No. 13 in late May...Walton led ORU to its ninth consecutive Summit League Tournament title and the program's 18th NCAA Regional appearance in 2006. Walton also earned ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Golden Eagles to a regional championship and final Top 25 ranking in all three major, a program first. Walton also served as the head coach for USA Baseball's National Team during the summer of 2008.
Since taking over for Walton in 2013, Ryan Folmar led ORU to a 132-93 record and three NCAA Tournament berths in his first five years. In 2017, the Golden Eagles were 43-16 (25-4 Summit League) and beat Oklahoma State in the second game of the Fayetteville Regional in the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA First-Team All-Americans Selections
1977 Bob Volk
1978 Bill Springman
1981 Mike Moore
1981 Tom Nieto
1982 Keith Mucha
1984 Todd Burns
1991 Robert Collins
1999 Jeff Stallings
2004 Dennis Bigley
2008 Brian Van Kirk
Women's basketball
Having 4 conference championships under their belt in the 8 years since joining the Mid-Continent Conference (now The Summit League), the team has a solid reputation among fellow mid-major programs. Head coach Jerry Finkbeiner was hired in July 1996 and has delivered all four of the school's NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship appearances.
Overall record of 219–172 (.5607)
Five NCAA tournament appearances
One WNIT appearance
One Summit League regular season title
Five Summit League tournament titles
Two Preseason WNIT appearances
Five Summit League Players of the Year
Five Summit League Newcomers of the Year
Five Summit League Defensive Player of the year
11 first team All-Summit League selections
Eight Second Team All-Summit League selections
10 Summit League All-Newcomer Team selections
Six Summit League Tournament MVPs
Seven Summit League Championship game appearances
Two Honorable Mention All-American
One Freshman All-American
Women's soccer
The women's soccer team advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2004.
Paul Friedlander, a Swazi golfer, played for the team and became a professional golfer
Men's and women's cross country
Five Women's NCAA Regional appearances
Two Summit League Men's Runner of the Year
Four Summit League Women's runner of the Year
One Summit League Women's Newcomer of the Year
Ben Houltberg, 2000 Mid-Con Student-Athlete of the year
Faithy Kamangila, 2004 Cross Country All-American
Nine Men's First Team All-Summit League selections
Six Men's Second Team All-Summit League selections
16 Women's First Team All-Summit League selections
Eight Women's Second Team All-Summit League selections
Men's indoor track & field
A Golden Eagles men's hurdler in 2017
One individual Nation Champion
Seven Summit League Championships
20 NCAA Qualifiers
Nine All-Americans
Eight Summit League Newcomers of the Year
Eight Summit League Athletes of the Year
149 All Summit selections
Seven All-Summit Championship Event-Records
Men's outdoor track & field
Two individual National Champions
Six All-Americans
One Summit League Championship
40 NCAA qualifiers
One Summit League Athlete of the Year
Two Summit League Newcomer of the Year
2006 4x800 Relay Team Ranked #1 in the World
Ranked #10 nationally in 2002 with a 3.03 GPA
122 All-Summit League selections
Four Summit League Championship event-records
Women's indoor track & field
Two Summit League Championships
40 NCAA Qualifiers
Seven All-Americans
Ranked #1 nationally in 2001 & 2002 in team G.P.A.
115 All-Summit League selections
13 Summite League Championship event-records
Six Athletes of the Year
Three Newcomer of the Year
Women's tennis
Seven NCAA appearances
Seven Summit League Regular Season titles
Eight Summit League Tournament + Championships
Five Summit League Players of the Year
Three Summit League Newcomers of the Year
33 All-Summit League selections
Men's tennis
Eight NCAA Tournament appearances
Seven Summit League Regular Season titles
Nine Summit League Tournament Championships
Five Summit League Players of the Year
Three Summit League Newcomer of the Year
36 All-Summit League selections
Volleyball
Overall record of 259–135 (.657)
Seven Summit League Player of the Year
Three Summit League Newcomers of the Year
Six Summit League Setters of the Year
Three Summit League Defensive Players of the Year
Seven Summit League Regular Season titles
Seven Summit League Tournament titles
Seven NCAA Tournament appearances
1997 NCAA Tournament win over #10 Arizona
Seven Summit League Tournament MVPs
26 First Team All-Summit League selections
18 Second Team All-Summit League selections
155–31 overall record in Summit League Regular Season play
Julianna Moser, 1999 and 2000 Summit League Female Student-Athlete of the Year
Mascot
ORU's athletic teams for both men and women are known as the Golden Eagles, a change which became effective on April 30, 1993.
Originally, ORU's nicknames were the Titans for men and the Lady Titans for women. These monikers were adopted in 1965 by a vote of the student body, many of whom were from the East Coast or were either casual or serious New York Titans (now known as Jets) football fans.[6]
The nicknames endured until 1993, when a search for a new nickname was concluded with the selection of the Golden Eagles. ORU's new mascot, "Eli" the Golden Eagle, hatched out of his papier-mache egg on November 17, 1993, before the start of an exhibition basketball game. With this unveiling, the Golden Eagle nickname became the official symbol of a new era in ORU athletics.
Venues
The Golden Eagles basketball teams play at the Mabee Center. The baseball team plays at J. L. Johnson Stadium. The volleyball team plays at Cooper Aerobics Center. The soccer teams play at the ORU Soccer Complex. The golf teams play at Indian Springs Country Club.
Mabee Center
The Mabee Center, an outstanding collegiate arena, has been home to the Golden Eagles 1972.
Mabee Center was built as an elliptical cable-suspension structure with basketball in mind. The arena has 10,575 permanent theater seats – with no obstacles to clear viewing. The splendid viewing and playing areas have drawn nine different national tournaments since the building opened. The Golden Eagles themselves played in the first NCAA tournament held here in 1974. Four other NCAA regionals (1975, 1978, 1982 and 1985) have been based at the Mabee Center. The National Invitation Tournament picked ORU as host four times (1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983).
J. L. Johnson Stadium has been the home of Golden Eagles baseball since 1978. It hosted its first game on March 6, 1978.
In 2008, a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) facility was added which includes coaches offices, a state-of-the-art weight room and the Grand Slam Room in which boosters and fans can watch ORU games in a climate-controlled environment. The facility is located down the right-field line.
The H. A. Chapman Indoor Practice Facility opened in the Fall of 2009. The 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) facility, located just west of J. L. Johnson Stadium, features indoor practices areas for both baseball and track & field programs. Built at a cost of $1.2 million, the facility was funded exclusively through private donations, including a generous lead gift from the H. A. and Mary K. Chapman Charitable Trust. The baseball portion of the facility features a regulation-sized infield, three pitching areas and three netted batting cages. The track & field area features a complete pole vault area, high jump pit and long jump & triple jump practice areas.
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