Double fun for Owens

In a span of two months, Ted Owens will become a two-time Hall of Famer. The reason for this is coaching. Not only the coaching Owens offered, but also the coaching he received. At Hollis High School, there was Joe Bailey Metcalf. At Oklahoma, there was Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Bruce Drake. "We just admired teachers and coaches so much back then," said Owens, who turned 80 on July 16. "We always thought it was one of the most worthy things a person could do." The guidance of Metcalf and Drake carried great influence for Owens, who went on to coach at the college basketball mecca of Kansas. Great timing also played a role. After Owens completed his college eligibility in 1951, Sooners freshman coach Jerome "Shocky" Needy was off to the Korean War as a reserve officer. Drake asked Owens to step in as an assistant. "That chance was helpful in so many ways because I was able to become friends with other assistant coaches," Owens said. One such assistant was Dick Harp, who was serving under another Hall of Fame coach in Phog Allen at KU. After serving in Korea, Owens became head coach at Cameron in Lawton for four seasons. Harp, who had replaced Allen as KU's head coach in 1956, asked Owens to join the Jayhawks' staff in 1960. After the 1963-64 season, Harp resigned. "Coach Harp was a very religious man," Owens explained. "It surprised me when he resigned, but he was offered the deputy directorship of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Kansas City, and that was something he absolutely loved." KU chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe tabbed Owens as Harp's replacement. In the 111-year history of Kansas basketball, there have been only eight head coaches. Owens had come a long way from his freshman year at OU, where he lived in a Norman fire station and delivered groceries for McCall's Supermarket, earning him the nickname "Prune Peddler." Owens served 19 seasons as KU's head coach before being replaced by Larry Brown in 1983. "I was really hurt. It was very painful when I left the University of Kansas," Owens said. "I went back to one game that year just to sit there and say to yourself, 'You're no longer the coach,' just to make that separation." Owens advanced to the 1971 and 1974 Final Fours and was a controversial call away from getting to the 1966 Final Four. It was Owens' second team at KU that nearly derailed the historic run of Texas Western (now UTEP), which had an all-black starting lineup coached by Enid native Don Haskins and went on to defeat Kentucky's all-white lineup for that year's national championship. In the regional final at Lubbock, Texas, Jayhawks guard Jo Jo White buried a 30-footer as time was about to expire with the score tied in the first overtime. Game official Rudy Marich waved off White's basket, saying his foot touched the sideline before he elevated to shoot. Owens insists White's toe was inbounds and his heel was raised slightly above the sideline boundary and not touching it. KU went on to lose 81-80 in double overtime. Owens ranks as the third-winningest coach in Kansas history (348-182) behind Allen (590-218) and Roy Williams (418-101). Two years after his departure from KU, Owens coached at Oral Roberts for two seasons. He then coached Maccabi Tel Aviv in the European Cup Championships for one season before returning to Tulsa to become director of development at Metro Christian Academy under headmaster Dr. Wanda Hartman. Somewhat predictably, Owens was asked to become the school's boys basketball coach. "To which I said, 'Not in a million years,' " Owens said with a laugh. "But I'm telling you, I've never enjoyed coaching more in my life. I always wanted to try some different things coaching, but never found the time to experiment a little bit. I was able to do that and I had a ton of fun." The difference between coaching in Europe and coaching at Metro Christian? "Well, let's see," Owens responded at the time. "At Christmas time last year, I was in Madrid and Paris. This year, I'm in Chouteau and Durant." Owens left Metro Christian in 1994 to become athletic director St. Leo University in Florida, where he instructed young players in the greater Tampa area, including future Oklahoma State standouts and NBA players Joey and Stephen Graham. Owens returned to Tulsa four years later, in large part because he missed Oklahoma. "As you get older, there's a tendency to want to be close to your family," Owens said. "You want to be close to your friends. I love being back here." Owens is an investment advisor at First Capital Management, but never wanders far from basketball. He still teaches basketball fundamentals to young players whenever he gets the chance. This year's Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame inductees will be honored Monday at 7 p.m. in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Owens will be presented by his son, Teddy Owens, the boys basketball coach at Lincoln Christian School in Tulsa. "I thought about asking one of my former players to present, then I thought, 'Oh, I don't want to have to choose,' " Owens said. "They're all special to me. I see coaches pick their best team, or their best players, or their best lineup, and I've just never wanted to do that. I want them all to think they were the best, that they were special." Owens will complete his induction doubleheader Oct. 4 when he is introduced into the State of Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita. Owens admits he's playing favorites. "I'm thrilled with both," Owens said, "but there's something special about being inducted in your home state." In addition to immediate family members being on hand Monday night - wife Michelle and children Nancy, Kelly, Teddy and Taylor - several friends, teammates and players will be there to support Owens, and hopefully Drake's granddaughter and Metcalf's daughters. Owens makes special note of fellow Hollis inductees Darrell Royal and Lindy McDaniel. "This is going to be so special," Owens said. "I am so blessed, so fortunate. What a wonderful (induction) class I'm in. It makes it special to be inducted with people you admire so much, people who were your heroes." Oklahoma SPORTS HALL OF FAME What: Induction of Tom Catlin, Jon Kolb, Cal McLish, Clem McSpadden, Ted Owens and Bob Tway.When: 7 p.m. MondayWhere: National Cowboy & Western Heritage MuseumFor more information: 644-6037.The Oklahoman's series on the four living inductees:Friday: Cal McLishSaturday: Jon KolbToday: Ted OwensComing Monday: Bob Tway