by Tulsa World

Jan. 24: The No. 1-ranked Memphis basketball team defeats Tulsa 56-41 before a sellout crowd at the Reynolds Center. Feb. 2: Former OSU basketball coach Eddie Sutton, serving as the University of San Francisco's interim coach, records career victory No. 800 as the Dons prevail 85-82 at Pepperdine. Sutton becomes one of five major-college men's coaches to reach the 800 mark. Feb. 3: At Glendale, Ariz., the New York Giants spoil New England's perfect season, beating the Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. A major factor in the Giants' playoff run is Tulsa native and former Oklahoma State star R.W. McQuarters, who intercepts a pass in each of New York's NFC road playoff victories over Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay. Feb. 22: Former OU basketball coach Kelvin Sampson steps aside as Indiana's head coach, agreeing to accept a $750,000 contract buyout. Sampson is forced out after having been charged with five major NCAA rules violations, allegedly committed after he had become the Hoosiers' coach. Feb. 23: Byron Eaton scores 26 points as the OSU basketball team upsets fourth-ranked Kansas 61-60 at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Feb. 29: In a Class 3A area basketball final at Skiatook, Verdigris guard Rotnei Clarke scores 37 points to become the most prolific scorer in the history of Oklahoma high school basketball . As top-ranked Verdigris beats No. 2 Adair 70-51, Clarke takes his career scoring total to 3,643 points. The record of 3,639 had been set in the late '80s by Maud's Ty Harman. March 6: Oral Roberts men's basketball coach Scott Sutton is named the Summit League's coach of the year. March 8: Championship Saturday in high school basketball . In boys' games, Memorial defeats Putnam City North for the Class 6A title, Guthrie defeats Booker T. Washington in Class 5A, OKC McGuinness defeats OKC Southeast in Class 4A, Verdigris defeats Tahlequah Sequoyah in Class 3A and Pawnee defeats Oklahoma Christian School in Class 2A. In girls' games, Union defeats Sapulpa in Class 6A, Booker T. Washington defeats Coweta in Class 5A, Star Spencer defeats Ft. Gibson in Class 4A, OKC Millwood defeats Tahequah Sequoyah in Class 3A and Pocola defeats Walters in Class 2A. March 11: The Oral Roberts men's and women's basketball teams secure automatic berths in their respective NCAA Tournaments. In Summit League tournament title games at Union High School, the Golden Eagle men defeat IUPUI 71-64 while the women beat IUPUI 66-53. March 15: In the Conference USA tournament finale at Memphis, the University of Tulsa men are beaten 77-51 by the Memphis Tigers. In a Big 12 men's tournament semifinal at Kansas City, Texas routs OU 77-49. In the women's title game, Texas A&M outlasts OSU 64-59. March 18: The OSU men's basketball team is dealt its third consecutive first-round NIT loss. The Cowboys fall 69-53 at Southern Illinois. March 20: In an NCAA Tournament South Region first-round game at Denver, the 13th-seeded Oral Roberts men are eliminated 82-63 by fourth-seeded Pittsburgh. March 23: In an NCAA East Region second-round game, the OU men are crushed 78-48 by Louisville. March 25: In an NCAA second-round contest, the OU women are beaten 79-75 by Notre Dame in overtime. March 29: In an NCAA Sweet Sixteen contest at New Orleans, the OSU women fall 67-52 to second-seeded LSU. April 1: After two seasons on the job, Oklahoma State men's basketball coach Sean Sutton resigns. His record was 39-29 with two first-round NIT losses. April 4: In the inaugural College Basketball Invitational championship game, the University of Tulsa men beat Bradley 70-64. The game attracts a standing-room-only crowd of 8,455 to the Reynolds Center. April 7: In the NCAA championship basketball game at San Antonio, the Bill Self-coached Kansas Jayhawks rally from a nine-point deficit with 2: 12 remaining, forcing overtime and conquering Memphis 75-68. Self coached at Oral Roberts in 1993-97 and at TU in 1997-2000. April 17: Travis Ford, who for three seasons had been the head coach at Massachusetts, is introduced as the new men's head basketball coach at Oklahoma State. Ford gets a seven-year contract worth $1.3 million annually. April 26: Arkansas running back Felix Jones, a product of Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High School, is a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys. May 4: Paula Creamer defeats Juli Inkster in a playoff, winning the LPGA SemGroup Championship at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow. June 3: Conference USA officials announce that the 2010 C-USA men's and women's basketball tournaments will be played at Tulsa's BOK Center. June 7: Denis of Cork, owned by Tulsans Suzanne and W.K. Warren Jr., finishes second in the Belmont Stakes. Aug. 1: OU football coach Bob Stoops announces that freshman wide receiver Josh Jarboe has been dismissed from the program. The expulsion is in response to an Internet video that show Jarboe rapping about guns and shootings. Sept. 20: Playing its first game in renovated H.A. Chapman Stadium, the University of Tulsa football team routs New Mexico 56-14. Sept. 28: For the first time since 2003, OU reaches the No. 1 position in the college football polls. Oct. 11: In Dallas, fifth-ranked Texas rallies for a 45-35 victory over top-ranked OU. In Columbia, Mo., No. 17-ranked OSU upsets No. 3 Missouri 28-23. Oct. 13: The first sports event in Tulsa's new BOK Center. In an NBA exhibition, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeats Houston 110-104. Oct. 19: For the first time since 1945, the OU, OSU and Tulsa football teams all are ranked in the AP football poll. The Sooners are No. 4, the Cowboys No. 7 and the Golden Hurricane No. 21. Oct. 25: Kendall Hunter rushes for 161 yards on Texas' home field, but OSU falls 28-24 to the No. 1-ranked Longhorns. The game attracts an audience of 98,518 the largest crowd ever to see a football game in the state of Texas. Nov. 1: At Fayetteville, the Golden Hurricane's final drive stalls at the Arkansas 7-yard line, and 19th-ranked TU is dealt its first defeat of the season. Arkansas prevails 30-23. Nov. 18: The LPGA Tour and Octagon, the company that had managed the Tulsa-area LPGA Tour stop, announce that the tournament will not occur in 2009 because of a lack of sponsorship. The event had been known as the SemGroup Championship, but SemGroup withdrew its sponsorship after having filed for bankruptcy in July. Nov. 22: In Norman, Sam Bradford passes for four touchdowns as fifth-ranked OU crushes No. 2 Texas Tech 65-21. Nov. 29: In the Bedlam battle at Stillwater, third-ranked OU prevails 61-41 over No. 11 Oklahoma State. Dec. 5: In the Class 6A football championship at Stillwater, Jeremy Smith rushes for 242 yards and three TDs as Union conquers arch-rival Jenks 34-20. Dec. 6: In the Big 12 title game at Kansas City, OU obliterates Missouri 62-21. The Sooners capture their third consecutive league championship. In the Conference USA title game at TU's H.A. Chapman Stadium, the Golden Hurricane commits seven turnovers in a 27-24 loss to East Carolina. Dec. 6: A big day for Tulsa-area high schools. In the Class 5A title contest, Booker T. Washington beats Midwest City Carl Albert and savors its first state football championship since 1984. In Class 4A, Glenpool caps a perfect season with a 27-17 triumph over Oklahoma City McGuinness. In Class 3A, Cascia Hall prevails 28-21 over Claremore Sequoyah, extending its win streak to 28 games. Dec. 7: In the first college basketball game at the BOK Center, OU trounces Tulsa 69-44. Dec. 16: OU quarterback Sam Bradford, OU guard Duke Robinson and OSU wide receiver Dez Bryant are first-team members of the Associated Press All-American team.

DEATHS

Jan. 22: Jim Sellers, Edison High School's athletic director from 1956 until 1991, dies at 79. He also coached the Eagle wrestling and golf teams. Edison's gym is known as Jim Sellers Field House.

May 6: Former Oklahoma State basketball coach and player Sam Aubrey, 85, dies at his home in Stillwater. A World War II hero, Aubrey was a starter on OSU's 1946 national championship team. He was a Sapulpa native who graduated from Tulsa's Central High School in 1940.

May 22: Jack Mildren dies at 58. June 17: Former Oklahoma State wrestler Jimmy Jackson, a three-time NCAA champion, threetimeWorld Cup champion and 1976 Olympian, dies in East Lansing, Mich. He was 51. Jackson reportedly had diabetes and congestive heart failure.

July 7: Clem McSpadden dies in Houston at 82.

July 12: Oklahoma City native Bobby Murcer, a five-time All-Star outfielder who spent nearly four decades with the New York Yankees as a player, executive and broadcaster, dies of complications due to brain cancer. He was 62.

Sept. 5: Former University of Tulsa football standout Neal Sweeney, 63, dies after having been shot in his Tulsa office by an unknown assailant.

Sept. 7: Don Haskins, who played basketball for Oklahoma State's Henry Iba and later was credited with helping to dissolve the color barrier in sports, dies at the age of 78 in El Paso, Texas. In 1966, Haskins' TexasWestern team (later known as Texas- El Paso) was the first to capture the national title with a lineup of five black starters.

Sept. 9: Former All-American quarterback Eddie Crowder, one of the greatest players of OU's Bud Wilkinson era, dies at 77 in Boulder, Colo. After serving as aWilkinson assistant at OU, Crowder was head football coach and athletic director at Colorado.

Copyright 2008 The Tulsa World
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