JULIE RADER • MARIAH GEARHART • AUCTION ROUNDUP
L INCOLN L INCOLN M ERCURY M ERCURY GMC GMC
B UICKB UICK P ONTIAC P ONTIAC
LETTER«from»MIKE
contributors The end of the academic year brought many great accomplishments for OSU student-athletes. The Cowgirl softball team finished a good season by making an impressive appearance in the softball College World Series, and the Cowboy baseball team also finished the year participating in post-season play. The OSU women’s golf program again finished very strong and placed fourth in the country. The men’s golf team had another outstanding year and made it to the Elite Eight. Now is the time to look ahead to fall. I encourage each of you to buy season tickets for the upcoming football season. If you already have tickets, talk your friends into buying some as well. There will be eight home games in Stillwater for the first time in school history, including an extremely talented and tradition-rich team from Georgia. We need your energetic participation at all of our games. Your attendance makes a huge impact on our teams. Go Pokes, and we’ll see you in Boone Pickens Stadium this fall.
POSSE DIRECTOR Jason Penry EVENT COORDINATOR Brandon Armstrong DONOR RELATIONS Ellen Ayres PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR Clay Billman ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT Stephanie Boese CLUB SEAT COORDINATOR Matt Grantham PREMIUM SERVICES Karyl Henry PROJECT MANAGER Shawn Taylor DIRECTOR of MARKETING Kyle Wray EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cory Cheney ART DIRECTOR|DESIGNER Kim Butcher CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS Kevin Cates, Austin Hillard DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Phil Shockley CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Gary Lawson CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Clay Billman, Matt Elliott PHOTO CREDITS Phil Shockley: 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14-15, 18, 21, 22-23, 26, 28-31, 36-39, 42-47, 52- 57, 58, 73, 74, 79, 80, 82 Gary Lawson: 9, 68 James Schammerhorn: 76 ADVERTISING: 405.744.7301 EDITORIAL: 405.744.7192 OSU POSSE 102 ATHLETICS CENTER STILLWATER, OK 74078-5070 P: 405.744.7301 / 877.2B.POSSE F: 405.744.9084 WWW.OKSTATEPOSSE.COM POSSE@OKSTATE.EDU The Oklahoma State University Athletic Department would like to thank John Clerico for his vision and dedication to our athletic programs. His generosity has made POSSE magazine possible.
the PLAYBOOK Cover photo by Phil Shockley
FEATURES 28. GOLF: FATHERS AND SONS 36. SOFTBALL: MARIAH GEARHART 42. TRACK: JULIE RADER 52. COVER STORY: KEiTON PAGE 60. POSSE AUCTION 68. HULA SKIRT GUY 74. SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION 76. NATIONAL CHAMPION 78. THE POLLARDS
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5 PHOTO BY PHIL SHOCKLEY
COMPLIANCE
the PLAYBOOK
I can’t believe another school year is already in the books and summer has officially begun in Stillwater. Before you know it we will be packing into Boone Pickens Stadium to watch the home opener against Georgia! In previous issues you have heard me use the phrase “Once a booster, always a booster” in reference to your relationship with the Athletic Department. Did you know the same holds true for student-athletes as well? Even after student-athletes finish their athletic eligibility at OSU, they are still considered student-athletes by the NCAA when it comes to applying certain rules.
photo by Phil Shockley
DEPAR TMENTS 14. THE DONORS: GARY SPARKS 16. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 18. FIRST & 10: ANNIE YOUNG 22. THE DONORS: ANDY JOHNSON 24. THE 150 82. WRAY-VINGS
Specifically, it means that just because an individual might not be playing for us anymore, the university and its booster must still refrain from providing that individual with special treatment or extra benefits not available to the general public. That being said, the NCAA does provide a little leeway in that it is permissible for a former student-athlete to receive a benefit of nominal value (e.g., meal, ride, overnight lodging) on an occasional basis from boosters or institutional staff members, provided the institution is not engaged in recruiting any relative of the former student-athlete. If you have a question about your interactions with any of our former student-athletes, I would encourage you to contact our office (405-744-8166) and we will be happy to guide you through the process. Thanks and have a great summer!! Ben Dyson Assistant AD for Compliance Ben.Dyson@okstate.com
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ary Sparks just wants Oklahoma State to have the best of everything. To hear him tell it, it’s the least he can do. He’ll tell you with all sincerity he owes everything in his life to his time in Stillwater. And would you believe it was happenstance he ended up at OSU in the first place? “It was really a fluke in a lot of ways I ever wound up at Oklahoma State, because most of my life I lived east of the Mississippi,” says Sparks. His father worked in construction, which kept the family on the move. Sparks attended more than 24 schools before graduating from high school in Alabama. The spring before he enrolled at OSU, he was working in Atlanta when he received a letter from his father inviting him to come to Tulsa, Okla., to work on an about-to-be-constructed dam . He took a Greyhound bus from Atlanta to Tulsa, ended up spending the summer living in Sand Springs, but he didn’t get the job working on the dam. “When I got here, there were only two jobs open, and my brother was coming out here, too,” says Sparks. “He was attending college and he needed the job worse than I did. So I baled hay instead, working with a couple other guys and making six cents a bale. “We didn’t make a lot of money.” Then by chance, he encountered another young man who was attending 14
Oklahoma State for architecture. “He started showing me his drawings,” says Sparks, “and finally, something had hit me that I could get excited about academically. “I’d never heard of OSU, but I got in my car, drove to Stillwater and enrolled.” It wasn’t that easy, of course. The disadvantage to attending 24 schools was a lingering disinterest in academics and a background the entrance exams found lacking. “The academic counselor asked me what I was going to major in. I said architecture. He said, ‘Son, based on these scores, you’re not going to make it. What’s your second choice?’ I said I didn’t have a second choice and told him to just give me a chance, that if I didn’t make it, fine, but if I did, that’s great. Just give me a shot. “It was a five year program I breezed through in six years.” He attributes his success to the professors and other students. “I needed all the help I could get to get through this place,” says Sparks. “I had an English professor who went out of her way to help me get through that first freshman English class. I had structural classes where I really struggled and the professors really went the extra mile to help me. They were patient with me. If you were willing to work and they could see that, they’d support you and help you get through the program. I know I wouldn’t have gotten that at a lot of places.” In addition to getting his degree, Sparks gained a hometown. “Stillwater was the first home I ever really had,” says Sparks. “I put roots down for the first time. Stillwater is
still home to me. “I also met a girl from Bartlesville on a blind date. It was at Gallagher Hall for a basketball game. We ended up getting married in 1966. Jerri and I have three daughters and six grandchildren (with a seventh on the way), and this is a special place to her as well. Most of their dates while at OSU were to athletic events, especially since tickets were included in the tuition. “We didn’t miss many,” he says. “Wrestling, basketball, football, track … we went to everything.” After college, Sparks spent a couple of years in the army before returning to Oklahoma and settling down in Tulsa. Even then, he and Jerri tried to attend as many OSU athletic events as they could. “We’ve always bled orange,” he says. Being such a big OSU sports fan, it stands to reason that Sparks’ involvement in the renovation of Gallagher-Iba and Boone Pickens Stadium holds special meaning to him. “Being a part of what’s happened here with the athletic facilities has been the highlight of my career,” says Sparks. “A lot of people have been a part of that. Obviously, without Boone Pickens and Mike Holder, we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing in the endzone right now. It’s a credit to them that this is even happening. We’re just excited to be a part of it.” And to think, he has sports talk radio to thank for it. He’d been in Stillwater giving a lecture to an interior design class and was driving back to Tulsa, listening to the
photo by Phil Shockley
radio. The men’s basketball team had just been to Seattle and the Final Four and there was a great deal of excitement around the program. Talk on the radio turned to the construction of a new arena west of town, somewhere off of Highway 51. “As I listened to that, I thought, we’ve got a great arena,” he says. “We just need to update and expand it. It was in a great location. And the more I thought about it, the more excited I got. I started envisioning what it might look like. When I got back to Tulsa, I got a couple of guys to sit down with me and discuss what that would look like. “We started putting it on paper. We built a model. We had a contractor, a structural engineer and a steel erector come in and look at it. The more we looked at it, the more feasible it became, and I still hadn’t talked to anyone at OSU about it.” He pitched the idea to then new Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips, who liked the idea. There were some hurdles, however. First, there was no money. Second, no one wanted to lose the GIA sound – it had to remain
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loud. Third, the original floor had to remain. Finally, the construction couldn’t interfere with the basketball games because there was no other place for the teams to play. “A lot of people had to take a leap of faith with us,” says Sparks. “They couldn’t understand the concept, how we were going to build over and enclose old Gallagher-Iba, and then at the end, take the roof off the existing arena.” The success of the Gallagher-Iba expansion led to Sparks’ fi rm getting to work on the expansion and renovation of what is now Boone Pickens Stadium. Here again, Sparks’ personal stake in the university inspired him to want to make OSU’s facilities not just good, but the best in the country. “We toured all the stadiums in the Big 12,” he says. “I don’t know for sure how many, but we probably went to between 20 and 30 schools from Oregon to NC State to see what they had before we started work on this. We took things we saw in all these other places and tried to incorporate the
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best ones. When we could, we’d go one step beyond what we had seen. “I believe what we have in the endzone is better than any college facility I’ve seen in the country. There may be some bigger, but there isn’t any better. That’s been our attitude as architects and designers for OSU.” It’s reflective of Sparks’ feelings about the university. “I just don’t know too many things that mean more to me than OSU,” he says. “I’ve got my faith, my family, a few friends, and then it’s Oklahoma State. If I hadn’t enrolled at OSU and struggled through that architecture program and gotten that degree, I don’t know where I would’ve wound up,” he says. “I don’t even want to think about it. I was really wandering. I don’t think I had a goal or a purpose. This place gave me a chance, and not just in architecture, but in all areas of my life, to do something. “I don’t think you can ever give back enough to some place that’s done that much for you. I feel like I have a huge debt and no matter what we give back, it’ll never be enough.” 15
where are they now?
»Jimmy
Barragan Hometown » Cleveland, Ohio Sport » Baseball Position Played » First Base Years Competed » 1985-1987 Hometown » San Diego, CA Major/Degree » Spanish Life After OSU » I played four years in the pros with Philadelphia Phillies. After ball, I pursued teaching and coaching and have been a high school Spanish teacher for 15 years as well as a baseball and football coach. Current Residence » Lee's Summit, MO. Current Job » Spanish Teacher, Raytown South High School/Coach Baseball and Football Hobbies/Interests » Golf Family » One son - Sebastian - 14, one daughter - Gabrielle (Elle) - 10
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Best OSU Memory » Getting inducted into the OSU Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. Honors/Awards » Two-time AllAmerican, 1986 Midwest Regional MVP, 1987 College World Series All-Tournament Team, Two-time All-Big 8. Thoughts about your time as an OSU student-athlete and playing for Coach Gary Ward? » Being able to play baseball with an incredible team and be successful in sports at a Division I school and receive a fi rst-class education is something that has carried me through my adult life and allowed me great opportunities as a teacher and coach. Best game as a collegiate player » The game against Appalachian State in the Midwest Regionals, going six for six with three homeruns.
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Cowboy Baseball has been one of the nation’s top collegiate programs. What does it mean to be a part of this program’s rich tradition? » I am honored and proud, and it is something I hope to pass on to my children. Word Association: Duck Street » Hitting a home run and the ball landing on Duck Street while the song 'You Dropped the Bomb on Me' played. What was it like to go to the College World Series? » An unbelievable dream come true. Do you still keep in touch with former teammates? » Unfortunately, no. I would like to. How closely do you follow the current OSU baseball team » I do follow the baseball team and each year I hope they make it to Omaha.
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FIRST & TEN | Annie Young, OSU Women's Golf Coach
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photo by Phil Shockley
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Former Cowgirl Golfer Annie (Thurman) Young recently completed her first semester as head coach of the Oklahoma State Women’s Golf program. As a player from 2001-05, the Utah native led OSU to three-consecutive Big 12 team titles, twice capturing medalist honors at the conference tourney. In 2005, her Cowgirl team was the NCAA runner-up. She earned fi rst-team All-American honors and was voted the Big 12 Player of the Year. In April, she won her fi rst tournament as a coach, the prestigious Ping/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Arizona. The Cowgirls followed up that victory with a Big 12 Conference title in May. A fourth-place Regional fi nish earned the Cowgirls a trip to the NCAA Championships, where Young’s team fi nished 4th overall.
» What does it mean to coach at your alma mater? It’s a great feeling to come back here to coach where I played golf, where I know the system and I know what’s expected here. It’s an honor to be able coach at Oklahoma State – it’s where it all began. » You had quite a successful career as a player here. What are your goals and expectations as the head coach? Every year I think we should be in the running for a Big 12 Championship. That should defi nitely be one of our goals. But I don’t see any reason why we can’t compete for the National Championship every year, with the resources we have and the tradition. As long as we’re working hard to get those (top) players, I think every year we’ve got a chance to win. We’ve got play to our ability to win, but that's the same for all the teams. Usually who wins are those teams peaking at the right time. » How has the transition been from playing professionally to coaching? Coaching is a lot different than playing, in that you don’t really have control over the results. I think I get more nervous watching than I did playing. The transition has gone well because I have such great coaches to work with here, with Alan (Bratton) and Donnie (Darr) and Mike (McGraw). They’ve been very helpful in helping me adjust. As far as why I gave up playing, I just felt like it was the right thing to do at the time. Obviously you want to be the best player out there, and I kind of lost the feeling that I was in the mix and having a chance to win. 02.04
I didn’t play the game to make money. That wasn’t motivating to me. I played it to have a chance to win every week. I like to win in basically everything I do. It’s not fun for me to just go out and play. I felt like I was working hard, but wasn’t seeing success, and maybe it would’ve turned around had I given it a little longer, but I felt like this (opportunity) was the right thing for me. » Anything surprise you once you took over the job? Probably the paperwork. There’s a lot more paperwork than I expected. Recruiting is fun for me. There are a lot of good players out there, and it will be fun to see the kind of players I can sign and see if I’m good at it. And I think it’s an easy sell for me, because I’ve been here and I know the ins and outs of Oklahoma State, the things you don’t see just coming on a visit. Having experienced everything, I’m able to share that with the girls who are coming in on recruiting trips and eventually coming here. » How did it feel to get your first win under your belt? It was pretty neat, because not only was it my fi rst win, but also it was the girls’ fi rst win of the year. Our freshmen have never won before, so it was fun to win. Plus, it was at Arizona State, and I think it’s always big to go in to somebody else’s golf course and upset them. » What is the toughest hole at Karsten Creek? What’s your favorite hole on the course? I think maybe the hardest hole for me is probably 17. It’s a long hole. That approach is a long shot in to a difficult green. Number 16 is a pretty tough hole. There are a lot of difficult holes out here. I think my favorite hole is 11. It’s a fun par three. I’ve always done well on it. » What’s on your iPod right now? I’ve got a lot of country. I like George Strait, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift. I also like rap. I’ve even got some old school Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s just kind of a big mix. » Do you still have time to play now that you’re the coach? I play quite a bit with the girls when we are practicing. I enjoy playing with them. I haven’t played quite as much as I would like, so I’m not as good as I once was. I think if I start practicing a little more I might be able to get it back a little bit. » Do you ever challenge your players to a contest with the coach to show them you’ve still got game? We have team matches, and we also have chipping and putting matches. I can still get ’em on the putting every time, but they get me on the golf course quite a bit. » You played other sports in high school in addition to golf. How did that competitive nature affect your mentality as a player and coach at the college level? I played basketball growing up and in high school, but I wasn’t real quick. I’m 5’3” and slow. I think the golf aspect is very similar to shooting free throws in basketball, the thought process in that. I wish we were able to take the way you approach basketball into golf, where you just react instead of sit over the ball and think so much. I think people would perform a lot better if they just reacted. There’s a lot of overthinking that goes on in golf, and I think it hurts people in the long run.
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Chances are if you’ve seen Andy Johnson’s custom GMC OSU truck, you’d remember it.
“I just can’t say enough. I love to tailgate. I just can’t get enough of OSU athletics. And my door is always open to anybody, whether it’s a faculty member, a dean or a student.” — Andy Johnson
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For one, it has a Pistol Pete hood ornament. For another, it has Oklahoma State emblazoned basically all over it. Down the sides, across the front and back windows, on the bed cover. Even the inside of the truck is custom, trimmed out in orange with plenty of official O-State logos. Clearly, the owner of this truck bleeds orange. “A friend of mine, Mark Oliver, had an OU truck,” says Johnson. “He said, ‘Andy, you’ve got to get this toy. There’s a dealership in Pryor. They have an OSU truck sitting right there on the floor, and only four of them were made.’ “I bought numero uno. I wasn’t going to let Mark outdo me.” Johnson, who’s had the truck for almost three football seasons, loves driving it around. “I love taking my OSU truck to Stillwater and Grand Lake,” he says. “You get a lot of looks when you drive it around town. People give you a lot of thumbs up. “I’ll never forget the first game I took it to. Some guy came up to me and said, ‘I love your truck. I want to buy it.’ I said, ‘It’s not for sale. I’m having too much fun with it, especially tailgating. I love to entertain. And I love for the kids to come by when we tailgate.” When Johnson says he loves to enter-
tain, it's not just something he enjoys. He made a career out of working in the hospitality business after earning his Hotel and Restaurant Management degree from OSU in 1964. He first learned about OSU’s program from a childhood friend. “He enrolled at OSU in hotel and restaurant,” says Johnson. “OSU at the time had one of the top three schools for hotel and restaurant management. You hear about people becoming doctors and attorneys. I wasn’t smart enough for that. But dealing with the public on a dayto-day basis and working in ballrooms, you didn’t hear about it back then, and it fascinated me. “I had a job offer when I got out of school to work for Howard Johnson’s on the Will Rogers Turnpike at the Stroud exit for $350 a month.” Instead, after graduation, he got into the travel agency business. “My mom and dad started it as a sideline business, and I bought them out in 1985,” he says. “At that time, we had two offices. I expanded the company to 37 offices all the way from Mississippi to Alaska before selling the company in 2000. “We would go to a large customer, like maybe a Williams Co. or an oil company, research firms, businesses of some size, and put an office on their site. Then we could handle and manage all their travel arrangements. It boomed.” Johnson enjoyed the profession because he liked helping people enjoy themselves.
“I’ll never forget the first game I took it to. Some guy came up to me and said, ‘I love your truck. I want to buy it.’ I said, ‘It’s not for sale. I’m having too much fun with it, especially tailgating." — Andy Johnson
“When someone would go on a honeymoon or take their family to a Colorado dude ranch, we’d set all the travel and accommodation arrangements up,” he says. “I would always call them after a week after they got back and ask them how everything went, and they’d usually say, ‘Perfect.’ It excited me to hear I had helped someone have a wonderful trip. It fulfi lled my dreams to make people happy, and was very self-rewarding.” As a travel agent, Johnson’s area of expertise was the continental U.S., the Caribbean and Hawaii. He says that some of the best beaches in the world don’t require a plane to get to. “The most fabulous beaches, in my opinion, are down in southwest Florida in the Naples area,” he says. “Destin has beautiful beaches, too, and it’s just a 12-hour drive from Tulsa.” Johnson’s drive to help other people and a love of all things OSU has led him to give back to his alma mater in a number of ways. In 1995, he endowed a full scholarship for hotel management in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “I like to see young adults flourish in their careers,” says Johnson. “The fi rst recipient of my scholarship was a student out of Lawton MacArthur High School. I drove down and went to their graduation ceremony and presented it myself.” Johnson has also contributed to the
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renovation of Gallagher-Iba Arena and Boone Pickens Stadium. “Andy is quick to step up and support OSU Athletics in our major gift campaigns,” states Craig Clemons, Assoc. AD for External Affairs. “Understanding the impact of building a new state-of-the-art stadium, Andy made a significant commitment to name the team store on the south 50-yard line. He is the quintessential Cowboy in that he supports OSU Athletics at the highest level, purchases season tickets each year, attends all football contests, is a POSSE member and encourages others to get involved.” “Terry Don Philips came to my office in 1994 or ’95 and asked me if I’d be interested in helping out with the renovation of Gallagher-Iba,” he says. “It helped me in my business, and I enjoy the people there. They’re all so friendly. So I gave the weight room there on the main level, and that led into some other gifts I’ve given since then.” As is typical for Johnson, he also started the tradition of inviting the coaches and their families to his home on Grand Lake every year before summer practice starts. “They bring their families for two nights and three days,” says Johnson. “We do golf and watersports. It’s really grown. It’s a nice way for the coaches and their families to enjoy a few days together before the start of summer camp.” Johnson has always been an athletics fan, and over the years he’s made some
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very good friends of the various OSU coaching staffs, including Pat Jones and Dave Wannstedt. The connections he’s made keep him tied to and recruiting for the university. “I like the way everything’s going at OSU,” he says. “I like the new president, though I haven’t had the opportunity to meet him. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about him. I think Mike Holder is doing a whale of a job. I love what he’s doing. I haven’t met Travis Ford yet, but I hope to very soon. I think Craig Clemons does an outstanding job, circulating with as many people as he does. “I just can’t say enough. I love to tailgate. I just can’t get enough of OSU athletics. And my door is always open to anybody, whether it’s a faculty member, a dean or a student.” “"Andy is quick to step up and support OSU Athletics in our major gift campaigns," says Craig Clemons, Assoc. AD for External Affairs. "Understanding the impact of building a new state-ofthe-art stadium, Andy made a significant commitment to name the team store on the south 50-yard line. He is the quintessential Cowboy in that he supports OSU Athletics at the highest level, purchases season tickets each year, attends all football contests, is a POSSE member and encourages others to get involved."
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photo by Phil Shockley
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Fathers & Sons The sons of OSU greats Bob Tway and Lindy Miller are on campus and carving their own golfing legacy
By Matt Elliott
Tway says he endures hen Mike Holder, OSU’s athletic the same thing, but that most director, met freshman golfer Mike realize the two of them are Miller from tiny Aledo, Texas, he their own people. asked the tan, lanky teenager if he “I just play my own game, could play as well as his dad. and I try to do the best I can,” says Tway.
“He made the statement that he was better,” says Holder, seated in a leather chair inside his Gallagher-Iba Arena office, a copy of Cigar Aficionado on an end table at his elbow. Holder, never one to mince words, says “I thought, ‘well, that’s good that you think that, but I kind of doubt it.’” Miller winces and laughs at the memory. The son of four-time All-American Lindy Miller has endured his heritage since he came to OSU, lured by history, his roots and the prestige of 10 NCAA championships. Holder, who coached OSU golf for 32 years, says Miller’s dad, whom he coached, may have been best to ever play at OSU. “Yeah, that’s what I hear,” says the younger Miller softly, looking wryly down at a table inside OSU’s woodpaneled and plush Karsten Creek locker room. “I’ve a lot to live up to.” Sophomore Kevin Tway, the son of former OSU star and PGA Tour champion Bob Tway, sits across from him. A sleepy and knowing laugh emits from under his baseball cap. 28
“My dad is a big help to me in golf, so I just embrace that. He’s a good golfer, and I try to get as much help from him as I can.” Holder says it’s a compliment to OSU’s golf program that two generations of Millers and Tways have chosen it. The two students grew up around OSU, so they knew the college and Stillwater. Tway, from nearby Edmond, was always at games and golf tournaments in Stillwater, while Miller, growing up mostly in Fort Worth, was around less, but visited often. Their dads brought both them up each year for proam tournaments, football and basketball games. Neither of their fathers pushed them to golf, but they couldn’t help but be exposed to it. Kevin remembers the day he got the bug. “One day I got off the school bus, and I was like eight, and dad had a new set of irons laid out on the front door, and I was really excited,” Tway says. “That’s when we went to go hit. I started hitting good shots and wanting to go back and keep getting better.” His family is full of golfers all the way back to his great-great grandfather, and Miller’s is, too. Their ties to golf eventually reeled them in.
Mike Miller became an All-District, All-Region and All-State selection at Aledo. He won the regional title in 2006. Tway was a star during high school. He ended up being one of the most highly sought after recruits in the country. At Edmond North, he was the first state player to win back-to-back large school titles in 27 years. In 2005, he won the U.S. Junior Amateur at 17. Afterward, it was only natural they ended up at OSU, part of fourth-year head coach Mike McGraw’s fi rst recruiting class. They fit in immediately. “They are both really fun-loving kids,” McGraw says. “They’re really popular on the team … They’re good for team chemistry. Kevin’s been playing at a little higher level than Mike so far. But Mike has a lot of talent and a lot of potential and hasn’t played as much national golf as Kevin. Their decision to attend OSU was no surprise to their dads. “I knew he probably didn’t want to go anywhere else,” says Bob Tway. “When he started getting different letters from different schools — he started getting quite a few — he goes, ‘Dad, what am I supposed to do with these?’ And I said, ‘well, I don’t know.’ He says, ‘well, maybe I should just put a big Pistol Pete on them and send them back,’” he says, busting up with laughter. “So, I tell him, ‘son, I don’t think you can do that.’” Tway’s freshman year saw him making
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHIL SHOCKLEY
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“MY DAD IS A BIG HELP TO ME IN GOLF, SO I JUST EMBRACE THAT. HE’S A GOOD GOLFER, AND I TRY TO GET AS MUCH HELP FROM HIM AS I CAN.” —Kevin Tway the fi rst-team All-Big 12 in 2008, medaling at the NCAA Central Regional and fi nishing second to Rickie Fowler at the Big 12 Championship. Despite making the All-Big 12 team this year, 2009 hasn’t been as good a year as he wanted, says his dad. Although he was regularly in the starting lineup, he cracked the top 10 once in tournament play, at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate. On the fl ip side, Miller, who is not a starter, has shown a lot of potential, but is still early into his career, just coming off a red shirt freshman year. So far, their budding college careers have been a far cry from those of their fathers, but McGraw says those comparisons are unfair to the boys. “There wouldn’t have been the same expectations for Michael because he didn’t have the junior record his father did, and he didn’t have the junior record that Kevin did,” Holder says. “Kevin, he did some things as a junior golfer that his father didn’t do. But every day is an opportunity to get better. The real goal is for him to be a great player when he’s 40.” 30
Their family history at OSU began 30 years ago. Lindy Miller, nicknamed “Log” for his tendency to sleep like one between holes, won the Fred Haskins Award his senior year in 1978. He holds the OSU record for most wins in a career. He has won more tournament medals than any other OSU player and led the team to two national championships. OSU won four Big Eight Championships each year he was in Stillwater. “Lindy didn’t need to practice as much as everybody else,” Holder says. “It’s a good thing we had some other great players around him. If we hadn’t, I think a lot of other kids might have thought they could practice like he did and play at the same level.” Tway says his rigid approach to practice was a nice counterpoint to Miller, with whom played he played during his freshman year in 1978. “I made him work a little harder and he made me work a little bit less,” Tway says. “He was a good friend. He’s a good person.” Miller had little success as a professional and hated the travel of the professional circuit, so he instead went into the golf business. He spent 22 years working as a pro at Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth. He now works in corporate development and patron relations with the Ben Hogan Foundation, a charity named for the golfer who won 64 PGA Tour tournaments. Bob Tway’s experience was a bit different. Holder recruited Tway, a high school star like his son later, out of Marietta, Ga., back before it was common for coaches to recruit nationally. At OSU, he was a three-time All-American. He led his team in scoring from 1978 to 1981. He helped win the program’s third national championship in five years. As a pro, he went on to riches and glory, winning the PGA Tour Championship in 1986 over Greg Norman. Holder says his teams back then played at a higher level than today’s athletes. And they did it without a clubhouse or their own course. He believes
that Tway and Miller are part of what built OSU golf into what it is today, one of the most respected in the nation. The boys try not to let that get to them. They just want to improve their game and survive their classes. “Obviously, I want him to do better than I did up there, but whether he does or not, you know it doesn’t really matter to me,” says Lindy Miller. "As a parent, I’m sure Bob would say the same thing. We want them to do the best that they can.” Wrapping up their interview in the clubhouse, the team was in the midst of preparations for the NCAA Regionals at Karsten Creek. Propelled by the success of Fowler and freshman sensation Morgan Hoffman, the No. 2-ranked Cowboys were to kick off play with Arkansas and TCU. Tway was in the starting lineup for the tournament and Miller headed back to Fort Worth. “To me, it’s worked out wonderfully,” says Bob Tway. “I think I’d have been pretty bummed if he’d have gone across the country. I wouldn’t have gotten to see him as much. We’re awfully close and it’s great for us to be able to see each other a lot. And the fact that I played golf for them and now he is, that’s just kind of a bonus.”
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by Matt Elliott
Third baseman Mariah Gearhart can hardly contain herself. She’s sitting down in the Cowgirl coaching staff offices, but she’s bounding at light speed from one subject to the next.
“Honestly, what keeps me playing every single day is the bottom of the seventh, two outs, bases loaded, game’s tied or the winning run’s on second and I’m the one up to bat.” — Mariah Gearhart
The Chula Vista, Calif., native has had to work for what she has. She misses her high school coach and her dad. She loves OSU. She doesn’t understand why people in Stillwater, Okla., leave their cars parked with the windows rolled down. And she loves softball. “Honestly, what keeps me playing every single day is the bottom of the seventh, two outs, bases loaded, game’s tied or the winning run’s on second and I’m the one up to bat,” says Gearhart, the Cowgirls’ leading hitter this year. “Being the leadoff batter even from the very fi rst pitch — I’m thinking I have to get on to set the tone … And, I love how quick the game is. So many people think, oh, well, in baseball, they throw it so much harder. But, honestly, our game is so much faster … If you boot a ball, you’d better be able to get that ball again
quick. It's not like baseball, where you might be able to pick it up and still throw ’em out.” She covers that in about 30 seconds. However, she needs only 2.6 seconds to run from home to fi rst. That’s a little more than 30 feet per second. So, it’s no wonder the sophomore has become her team’s spokesperson on the field and in the weight room, says her head coach, Rich Wieligman. Wieligman says she is part of his 2007 class of recruits, including infielder Alysia Hamilton, that forces others around them to work harder. Many of Gearhart’s stats are up over 2008, when she fi nished second on the team in batting and started at short stop. After conference play began at the end of March, she was second on the team in slugging, fi rst in runs scored and stolen bases. The team advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional but lost in a 2-1 heartbreaker to 14th-ranked California, closing out the season with a 36-22 record. Gearhart fi nished the season leading the team in batting, stolen bases, runs, at-bats and hits. She started 2009 in a hitting slump, hitting largely below .300 until she exploded
Photography by Phil Shockley
37
“I have no regrets to this day. I tell my coach that every single day. I would never be anywhere else.�
against Drake. She smacked two hits, scored two runs, homered and drove one runner home during the 10-0 win. Her success has continued throughout the season, and she credits it to Wieligman’s work on her batting stance, getting her to back off the plate. The coach credits her for doing the work. “She’s doing everything it takes to keep getting better at this level,” says Wieligman. “In the weight room, she’s one of our leaders, getting stronger, becoming more agile. Everything we do is to develop them into a better athlete. You can throw it to them, but they still have to be able to catch it and work at it, and she’s done that.” If work is all it takes, then count her in. Gearhart has worked at her game ever since she was nine years old, when in 1999 she started playing for her future high school coach, John Carlson. In 2002, they won the B Recreation League Western National Championship. Gearhart laughs when she thinks of herself back then. She was awful, even for a kid, she says. “I couldn't hit the ball,” she laughs. “My mom said she used to just pray that they were going to walk me because I was so bad.” But her speed made her a valued member of the team, and Carlson’s coaching rubbed off on her. Her dad, Troy Hensley, ended up as an assistant coach under Carlson, and those coaching sessions often continued at all hours of the night. And Gearhart wouldn’t have had it any other way. Carlson says, “It was never like you were pulling teeth to get her to go work out. It was more the opposite. Sometimes her dad was like, OK, come on, let's take a break.” She focused on improving her speed — what she knew would give her a scholarship. She had her sights set on college early, Carlson says. An excitable player back then, he says she became one of his most vocal protégés, and by high school, could be
seen on the dugout’s fence during games, shouting encouragement to her teammates. At Bonita Vista High School, she was the team captain her junior and senior years, batting .550 and fi nishing slugging at 88 percent. During her stay, the team won three league championships. Meanwhile, she became fast friends with Carlson’s daughter, and he watched the two grow up. She became like family to him, he says. She also landed a spot on a tough Amateur Softball Association of America team, the San Diego Breakers, and went to the playoffs in Oklahoma City in 2006. That’s how Coach Wieligman, starting his fi rst season at OSU, saw her play for the fi rst time, before the team returned in 2007 and 2008. “I was looking for a short stop and I needed some speed.” A player of her caliber had offers that could’ve taken her wherever she wanted to go, including powerhouses Long Beach State, St. John’s, and San Diego State. Staying in San Diego would’ve kept her closer to her family. But a visit to OSU wowed her. She watched the team work out during her visit and was struck by its dedication. Her future teammates seemed to work harder than the others she visited. In other OSU sports she saw the same thing. Also, she knew Krystle Sanchez, also from Chula Vista, enjoyed her time playing softball at OSU. “I didn’t meet anyone here who was miserable … And then I went to some of the other schools, and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re good, you know. This is cool,’” she says, adding a listless tone to her voice.
Her friends didn’t understand why she’d pass up California for Oklahoma. “I have no regrets to this day. I tell my coach that every single day. I would never be anywhere else.” She chose a rebuilding softball program that in the 1990s fi nished in the top five of the Women’s College World Series five times, before enduring a slump. But Wieligman and his staff have paid dividends since their arrival. The team fi nished 2008 at 26-25, but was 4-4 against ranked teams, including a 6-5 stunner over then-No. 4 Texas A&M at Cowgirl Stadium. By year’s end, Gearhart had started 50 games, stolen the third most bases ever during a single season at OSU, tied the team lead with Hamilton in hits and batted .331. In Stillwater, she admits there’s not much to do. But she loves the college town vibe that she wouldn’t have experienced if she had stayed in San Diego. So she spends time with her teammates and they watch movies together. She misses the activities of home, but she doesn’t miss the chances those provide for distraction. She majors in sports media, hoping to later become a sportscaster. Until then, she says she plans on having fun in Stillwater.
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OSU’s Julie Rader excels at boxing and fashion design
By Clay Billman
Julie Rader has a flair for fashion, a stunning smile and a heart for helping others ... not to mention a vicious right cross. A multifaceted student-athlete with a style all her own, Rader has been a popular presence on the Oklahoma State Women’s Track and Field team. She competes in the discus and weight throws for the Cowgirls, demanding disciplines that require considerable strength and explosiveness. (Weighing 20 pounds, the weight is an indoor version of the hammer throw.) Her physical presence is contrasted by a softer, more artistic side. As an Apparel Design and Production major, the Broken Arrow native has earned national acclaim for her apparel and jewelry designs. But it’s her studies in the Sweet Science that garner much of the attention. “I love to box,” she says, flashing a smile unlike those most often adorned with a mouthpiece. 42
Her unusual hobby has floored friends and coaches, and more than a few opponents in the ring. Rader began boxing as a means of dealing with aggression issues when she was younger. “I was always kind of an aggressive kid,” she says. “I would punch people. You can ask my brother and sister, they’ll attest to that. It just kept building up in me. I definitely think it was a problem. When you’re a kid and you have a problem like that, you have to do something about it, because it’s not okay. I think it’s cool how you can take something that was so bad and turn it around and make it something positive.” Rader says her father (a former college football player), would box to keep in shape, but initially discouraged his daughter from taking up the sport. “I went with my dad to the gym and remember him saying I couldn’t box because I’m a girl. I was like, ‘Oh yeah? I’ll show you.’” Her parents, Derek and Pam Rader, acquiesced. From the outset, her mother insisted on protective headgear. “That’s the only way my mom would let me box.”
Rader started lacing up the gloves at age 12. Within two years, she faced her fi rst true opponent in the ring. “It was kind of a natural thing. Boxing was just in me,” she says. “The fi rst time I really got in the ring to spar with another person I didn’t realize I had such a God-given ability and strength.” Her natural talent quickly became apparent. “I was probably 14, sparring against an adult. After one round, I remember getting out of the ring and looking at the lady’s swollen face, which was already starting to bruise. I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to be careful not to hurt anyone.’” Because of her pugilistic prowess, she has found female opponents hard to come by. “I remember one time I was supposed to fight this girl, but she took one look at me and left,” she says. “I knocked another girl out in about a minute and a half. After that, girls stopped showing up to fight. “I would rather spar guys because girls tend to windmill punches,” she adds. “It’s just different. I’ve fought countless guys,
Photography by Phil Shockley
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“She’s a very energetic person … always has a smile on her face and is eager to learn. She’s been able to juggle her athletic schedule with the very demanding apparel design degree, and is one that will do what it takes to meet deadlines.” — Coach John Baumann
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but when you spar somebody in the gym it doesn’t really count.” Officially, Rader remains undefeated in her amateur career. In the process, she’s proven she can take a punch, as well as deliver one. The first blow came as a shock, however. “You can punch the bag all you want, but it doesn’t hit you back. It’s a different world. I remember the fi rst time I got punched square in the nose. I wanted to go home and cry. I was like, ‘I’m a girl, I promise! This is awful!’” The Union High School graduate says it’s important to have the right people in her corner. “I box at a place called Team Lethal Boxing in Tulsa. Cecil Pettigrew, who owns and runs the gym, boxed professionally for a long time. He was a phenomenal boxer and has a lot of insight,” she says. “You have to be ready and willing to learn, because there’s always going to be something you can learn. That’s the key. I’m still a kid. I’m 21 – there’s no way I know it all, so it’s great to have all those people there to help you when you need it.” Rader took a break from the ring after her freshman year at OSU to focus on her throwing events, which require more strength than stamina. “I needed so much endurance to box, but throwing is a limited endurance sport,
so when I was training really hard for both I started to have problems. It’s just taken time to change my muscles over from all the endurance to have more strength. Now I feel I have an advantage because I have a good mix of both.” Although she’s not presently punching other people, Cowgirl Assistant Coach John Baumann has allowed Rader to keep boxing gear in a storage area near the track and field complex. “I think it’s awesome,” Baumann says. “It gives her a great outlet to get rid of stress or frustration. It’s also great physical fitness for her. It’s fun.” “I have a speed bag and a heavy bag and then a cross rope so you can bob and weave. There’s all kinds of fun stuff in the shed that you can do,” Rader says. “I do boxing workouts twice a week, and Coach incorporates it with my other workouts. “It helps me mentally a lot,” she adds. “There’s nothing like getting to punch something.” Rader has even coaxed teammates into giving it a try. “Every once in a while they’ll come and hit the speed bag,” she says. “We’ve taken some of the other girls out there, and she tries to teach them, but it may be a little too tough for them,” Baumann says. “That shows you her work ethic. She’s
a tough, hard-nosed kid.” It was her tenacious training that earned the former walk-on a partial athletic scholarship, along with the respect of her coaches and teammates. “In track and field, especially as throwers, we have to work so hard,” her coach says. “I tell the kids, if it’s so easy, how come there aren’t more people out here doing it? We’ve got so many technical things to do. As a coach, we may start out with 10 or 12 girls, but at the end we’re lucky if we’ve got four or five. So you take Julie’s situation – not real great out of high school, but loved to throw. Her technique got better, she put the time in, and her marks show it. So you reward her. Same as in the business world – if you’re doing your job, your boss rewards you. She’s a good worker.” Rader says earning a scholarship made her want to work even harder. “It definitely made a difference,” she says. “I think it’s easier to work harder when you know that you’re valued there versus when nobody cares,” she says. The scholarship is something she doesn’t take for granted. “I grew up around Division I athletics … Both my dad and my uncle (Dave) played football at TU, and my uncle coached at TU most of my life … so I know a little bit of what it’s like. You don’t just get a handout.”
Rader earned her degree in Apparel Design and Production this spring. With one year of eligibility left to compete, she is considering graduate school before going toe-to-toe with the real world. “I’ve thought a lot about designing athletic apparel, because I love sports and clothes, so that would be a perfect marriage between the two. In the Master’s program here you learn a lot about functional design, which relates well to athletics, so that’s definitely an option.” Rader has thrown personal bests in the discus of 136’5” and 54’1/2” in the indoor weight. Given another year of training, her coach thinks her best season is ahead of her. “You only get to do this once,” Baumann says. “When you’re done with college and you walk away, you want to say you gave it everything you had and not look back in 10 years with regrets. I hope she comes back, because I think she’s got a lot more in her.” Baumann says her progress in the throwing events has been noteworthy. “She’s taken leaps and bounds from where she was. We all have different limitations, and we have to work within those, but I think Julie’s progressed pretty fast.” “I would love to be able to come back and take my fourth year of eligibility because the athlete in me says you know you
never know what could happen,” she says. “It’s been really cool where being a studentathlete has taken me. You don’t really know what God has in store for you, but as time goes on the picture opens up and you’re like, ‘Okay, I can see where you’re going now.’ It’s been an adventure.” Rader often visits with young people at the local middle school during lunchtime and is active in OSU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She says she tries to make the most of her time on campus. “Being a student-athlete is incredible. It’s definitely a blessing,” she says. “I think a lot of times student-athletes don’t take advantage of all the opportunities they are given. We are in a position where we could have more influence than we could ever dream of. You never know what kind of difference that can make to a young person. If you think back in your own life, there are always one or two people who stand out who’ve made a difference.” Fashion design has always been on Rader’s radar. “Ever since I was little I’d sit in church and draw dresses on my bulletin. It’s gotten to the point where my mom will just hand me the bulletin, because I get a lot of creative input while I’m sitting there.” Her parents helped cultivate her creativity, particularly her jewelry making. 45
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“My mom and dad always made sure I had stuff for my creative outlet. There was always something for me to glue … I always wanted to get my hands in whatever my mom was making because my mom would often be sewing or doing something crafty.” “I make tons of jewelry. It’s been a hobby of mine ever since I was little. You start out with the pony beads and shoelaces or Fruit Loops and it just sort of grows from there. Sometimes people will see my mom or me wearing jewelry I’ve made and they’ll ask where we got it, or if they could buy it. That’s always kind of cool. It’s definitely a hobby of mine.” Rader says she doesn’t follow industry trends for her design ideas, instead finding creative inspiration when it strikes. “It’s always something different,” she says. “I don’t really follow fashion. I think that when designers follow fashion all the time they tend to copy other people’s ideas. I’m more into whatever pops in my head.” Last year, her inspired creations caught the attention of the NCAA, which was seeking to showcase exceptional art by student-athletes at its annual meeting. Nominated by academic adviser Sally Randolph, Rader’s work was selected among hundreds of submissions to be exhibited at the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. “It’s a huge honor to have my designs on display at the NCAA convention,” she says, “because every coach is there, every athletic director is there … I got to go up for the show. It was really neat.” The silk chiffon cocktail dress and hand-
made necklace (featuring glass pearls, Czech glass, Swarovski crystal and seed beads) are currently on display at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis, Ind., along with various works of art from 19 other studentathletes from across the country. Rader’s class creations run the gamut, from evening wear to sportswear. “Last semester I used a fabric called Tech Mesh, it’s a poly-cotton blend, but it has the same wicking capabilities of a dry-fit shirt, so it’s kind of a unique material. I designed a couple warm-up suits out of that, so I really have done a little bit of everything. It just depends on what your class assignment is, because when you tell your teacher you want to make a jog suit, they don’t always get it.” Rader’s most recent project was an elaborate dress created for a senior showcase in Dallas. The silk evening gown, complete with a train of polyester chiffon flowers, graced the runway at a collegiate fashion show for apparel design students from around the region. Diane Morton, a professor in the OSU Department of Department of Design, Housing and Merchandising, is not only a mentor, but a fan of Rader’s work. “I think she’s very creative and has an eye for interesting designs,” Morton says. “Julie shows her creative talent not only in the classroom but also with her own jewelry company. I’ve had her design several pieces, and I always get compliments when I wear the jewelry she has created for me.” Morton, who taught Rader in beginning and intermediate apparel construction
classes, points to Rader’s positive personality and ability to meet the demands of being a student-athlete. “She’s a very energetic person … always has a smile on her face and is eager to learn. She’s been able to juggle her athletic schedule with the very demanding apparel design degree, and is one that will do what it takes to meet deadlines.” Coach Baumann is not surprised that she brings the same work ethic to her studies as she does sports. “I’ve known her to stay up all night sewing a dress for a project,” he says. “She’s a great student with a strong GPA, and then she’s able to do the other stuff. She’s able to balance her life, so she’s a great example to others. “Jules is a good kid. She’s got that carefree personality and knows her values and her morals,” he says. “You wouldn’t think that this nice girl could knock your block off in the boxing ring.” Rader says she appreciates the attention boxing brings, but she isn’t defined by her hobbies. “It’s just something else in my book of stuff that I do. I think God gives people numerous talents, and you just have to remember and keep in perspective that a boxer is not who I am; a track and field athlete is not who I am; a designer is not who I am. They are things that I do. “Sometimes people will try to tell you who you are, but at the end of the day you define yourself. You can’t put a limit on it.”
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photography by Phil Shockley
By Matt Elliott
Keiton Page’s height listed in Oklahoma State’s men’s basketball roster may be one of the biggest tall tales in the history of team roster exaggerations.
“Every time he walks out
of the house he gets autograph requests. The good thing about Keiton is he
always takes time to talk or give autographs. He’ll
never turn anybody down.” — David Page
There’s no way he’s 5-feet-10. Not even with his light brown helmet of hair. Coach Travis Ford says he’s 5-9. “I might be 5-11,” laughs the freshman guard, seated after practice one afternoon before the NCAA tournament, red faced, breathless, just behind the scorer’s table. He admits 5-10 might be a stretch. “I don’t know if I’m 5-10 or not, but I like looking in the program and seeing that,” he says. “I’ll defi nitely take it.” But his stature, cherubic face and wholesome countenance belie this simple fact: the kid from Pawnee, Okla., can ball. That was shown despite an on-again, off-again season for Page during what Ford calls a typical year for a freshman guard. Despite starting only 12 games for OSU, he was second on the team in three-pointers. During conference play, he nabbed 15 steals and shot more than 40 percent from the field and the three-point line. Other nights he’d be turnover prone, at times getting surprised by taller trapping players. Other nights he’d end up scoreless, such as during the Big 12 Championship loss to Missouri and against Pittsburgh during the secondround game of the NCAA Tournament. “Keiton did not come back the way I hoped,” says Ford, who says Page needs to work on his three-point shooting, movement
while on offense, lateral quickness and conditioning. “He’s got to go back to the guy that got him to this point.” Page’s background reads like that of a throwback player to the days of Oklahoma A&M’s Henry Iba. The Iron Duke often filled his rosters with players plucked from the farms, small towns and oilfields of central Oklahoma. That’s a stark contrast to today, when home-state players rarely crack Division I starting lineups. And Page was nothing short of a rock star during high school in Pawnee, playing point guard each night in front of hundreds in that northern Oklahoma town of about 2,000 people. For the Black Bears, Page posted a career scoring average of 33.4 points per game, the highest by a state high school player in a generation. He was a juggernaut during his senior season, leading the state in points scored, assists and steals while averaging a state record 44.4 points per game. He could nearly outscore opponents by himself, such as during one game against the unfortunate Frontier Mustangs when he scored 61 points in a 93-62 victory. That sort of success is the stuff of legend. “He’s pretty well-liked,” says his dad and high school coach, David Page. “Every time he walks out of the house he gets autograph requests. The good thing about Keiton is he always takes time to talk or give autographs. He’ll never turn anybody down.” A straight-A student as well, his shot and quickness were honed in years 53
“...‘Dad, Coach Sutton called and … offered me a scholarship.’ I said, ‘Really? What did you think?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. I think I verbally committed.” — Keiton Page of work with his father inside their high school gym. Meanwhile, his energy and size make him a pesky defender who can steal the ball from ham-handed big men lumbering in the post. He comes from a long line of basketball players. His dad says Keiton’s grandfather, Howard Ray, was one of the winningest coaches in state history at Collinsville, a small town about 20 miles north of Tulsa in northeastern Oklahoma. His mom played there. His dad played at Cleveland, a similar town about 25 miles northwest of Tulsa, and for Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. His older brother, Brady, played for dad at Yale High School, winning two state championships before attending Oklahoma Christian University from 2002 to 2006 where he made the NAIA’s All-American team. So it’s no surprise Page has been playing basketball since he was three. Growing up, his dad took him to basketball camps at Oklahoma Christian. “When they would play games, the other kids didn’t know which way was offense, which way was defense,” he says. “Keiton could already dribble and none of them could.” Back then, he was better on a baseball diamond than on a court, his dad says. But he decided to focus on basketball after he visited one of his brother’s Oklahoma AAU practices in Oklahoma City. On that team were state products Shelden Williams, now with the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as future Golden State Warrior Kelenna Azubuike and former Oklahoma Sooner standout Kevin Bookout. “At that time, it was considered the best high school graduating class in Oklahoma,” David Page says. “Keiton was a sixth grader. He sat down at the practice with every one of those kids and talked to them. And when we got in the car to come home, he said, ‘Dad, I want to be the best basketball player in Oklahoma my senior year.’ “I said, ‘Really? Well, you’ve got a lot of work to do.’” A few years later Keiton led Pawnee to the state championship in 2005 and 2008, his senior year. By then, he had already committed to Oklahoma State. An assistant coach under Eddie Sutton, James Dickey, saw 54
him play when he was a sophomore. That led to a workout with OSU coaches in attendance and, later, a phone call one day from then head-coach Sean Sutton. Keiton had been an OSU fan since he was a kid, so it was like a dream come true. “That day, Keiton called me and said, ‘Dad, Coach Sutton called and … offered me a scholarship.’ I said, ‘Really? What did you think?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. I think I verbally committed,” says his dad with a hearty laugh. That dream hit a rough patch in April 2008 when Sutton resigned. Like any recruit, Page was worried about his future. But his dad says Keiton chose OSU because of the program, not just its coaching staff. And Keiton recalls his relief when he found out the team hired Ford.
He and his brother immediately got on the Internet and looked him up. “I’m not going to lie,” Keiton says. “The whole fact that it was Coach Sean’s coaching staff that had recruited me and come to all my games and watched me throughout the summers, that was the coaching staff that I had committed to playing for. That was the only thing that worried me a little bit.” The new coach, also under six feet tall, played for Rick Pitino’s Kentucky Wildcats from 1990 to 1994. Ford was a quick, All-SEC point guard with a stellar jump shot and is still tied for second on the school’s single-season record with 193 assists his senior year. But that knowledge wouldn’t prepare him for what was ahead. Keiton thought his
“I’ve always told them that if they ever get to the next level, they’ll realize that I’m an angel.” — Coach David Page
dad’s coaching would’ve been a taste of what he would later get from any Division I basketball coach. He always thought his dad was rougher on him than his teammates. In his defense, Coach Page says he tried to get as much as he could out of his son on the court, but let him be a kid at home. “It was like I had it during practice,” Keiton says, laughing. “When practice was over, I had to get it back home. If I didn’t have a good night, a good shooting night or something like that, we were definitely back home in the gym that night or the next morning. It’s those times that have prepared me to play somewhere like this. A lot of people don’t 56
think it’d be good playing for your dad or not, but I think I was pretty fortunate.” “Fortunate” may have been far from his mind last summer. Workouts at OSU kicked in with a merciless vengeance. “The summer workouts Ford had us going through were just …” says Page, pausing and searching for the right word. He settles on “gruesome.” “Those running workouts he had us going through were, God, the toughest times in my life. I didn’t think I was going to get through them. I was calling back home every night … We'd work out three or four times a week. We had different workouts for each day. I don’t know which one was worse.”
Some days, the team would hit the track and run anything from 100- to 400-meter dashes. Other days he ran on treadmills in nearly nonstop sprints. He threw up after each. “We ended up working on the court, doing twenty ‘suicides’ in twenty minutes,” says Page, describing a particularly brutal exercise during which players race back and forth across the court, touching different way points and then running back repeatedly. Also, there were no games, no screaming crowds, no winning and no fun to be had. He’s mum on further details. Things got so rough he got on to his dad for not running him more during high school. Coach Page admits one of his weaknesses is not working his players as hard during practices. That keeps them from getting worn down at the end of a season. “I’ve always told them that if they ever get to the next level, they’ll realize that I’m an angel,” he laughs. “There was probably three weekends in a row, early that first summer, that we basically … I’m not going to say we made Keiton go back, but we really, really had to encourage and do things for him to help him go back to OSU.” He survived. By the time practices began in the fall, he knew what to expect. He often had to go up against senior point guard Byron Eaton during those times, which gave him a crash course in the physical, bruising and disciplined play smaller players must show in the Big 12. His size caused people to underestimate him, said former OSU teammate Terrel Harris in a Tulsa World interview. As a result of the schooling Harris and others have received, he coined many nicknames for Page, not the least of which, the Tulsa World reported, is “Little Microwave,” after Page scored 11 points during the first half of a win over Mercer in December. He’s resigned to the nicknames. His teammates had a new one for him almost every day he stepped in the locker room. He ignores them. He knows they’re part of the territory. He scored the first 10 points of his OSU career during a 112-75 exhibition blowout of Rogers State. Later, he scored 21 points against Siena in November, and during an overtime loss to Baylor, had four steals and 11 points. He scored 15 against No. 5 OU in January during an eight-point
loss in Stillwater, tearing off nine points that cut the lead to three, sparking a strong comeback attempt during the second half. “It's about being in my right spots on defense,” Page says. “When you’re a little guy, Coach Ford tells me you’ve got to be scrappy. When the balls are on the floor, those are the ones the little guys have got to get. When the guy drives by, you’ve got to be the guy that swipes it out. Working hard is mainly what he’s been teaching me.” The team, which finished the year at 23-12, struggled to find a groove much of the season until a 25-point loss to Texas in February. Ford closed practices and threatened to bench underperforming starters regardless of whom he’d have to play in their stead. So Page started his first game against Iowa State on Valentine’s Day, the next game after the Texas loss. The team turned it around, winning six straight before an end-of-the-year loss to Oklahoma. During Big 12 Championship
play, the Cowboys upset Oklahoma by one. Page scored 15 during that nail-biter while leading the team in minutes. Nine of those points came in the second half off threepointers that kept OSU in the game until its 71-70 finish. Now that the season’s dust has settled, Ford says Page is no longer in the starting lineup. “I think he had a typical freshman year. He had great games, and he had bad games,” Ford says. Overall, he says he wants Page to be “more than a guy who’s just happy to be here” and has much work to do this summer. It’s a far cry from his days playing for the Black Bears. These days, his dad tries to stay out of coaching his son because he knows he already has enough pressure on his shoulders. Ford has explained to him several times that he’s extremely hard on his son. “I think they’ve had a lot of rough practices,” he says. “I’ll leave that with a
laugh. I know Coach Ford himself has visited with me twice. And, he’s very, very positive and upbeat when he talks to me. “But he was trying to get the point over that he was extremely hard on Keiton. I already knew that. I just told Coach Ford that every good coach does what he thinks is best for his program and his kids, and I was behind him one hundred percent,” he says. “Maybe he sees himself a little bit in Keiton. Maybe he thinks Keiton could be a special player at that level for him. Maybe he was doing the same thing I did to Keiton, trying to get the most and the best out of Keiton. That’s what I take it as.” Ford says time will tell as to Page’s role on the team next year. At this point, Page is out to prove he belongs in the starting lineup. “This is going to be a big summer for him,” Ford says.
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photo by Phil Shockley
Each year, the POSSE Benefit Auction combines fun and fundraising for a good cause – student-athlete scholarships. It also provides some interesting discussion between husbands and wives during the ride home. “You get caught up in the moment,” says POSSE member Chip Beaver. “My wife had said we weren’t going to buy anything big, and then we ended up with two bigger items this year.” Jeff Miller of McAlester shares similar sentiments. “It’s a lot of fun to see who you’re bidding against and who’s going to get beat up by their wife first,” he jokes. Family fireworks aside, the live auction offers Oklahoma State fans
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photos courtesy of Genessee Photo
the chance to bid on a bevy of unique items. “I like the auction items where you’re actually getting an experience, not just something you could normally buy,” Beaver says. “That makes for an exciting event.” As OSU alumni now living in Texas, Beaver and his wife, Cindy, have been coming to the auction for several years. “We’ve been doing the Cowboy Caravan and other events in Houston,” he explains. “Several years ago we were invited to come up there for the auction. We’ve been coming ever since.” Beaver says the chance to mix and mingle with friends is the high point of the evening. “Probably the most fun is seeing our friends from Edmond (Bill and
Betsy Schraad; Randy and Tonya Dilks) and Tulsa (Grant and Jamie Webb). The Millers have also been familiar faces at recent auctions, with wife Janai and children Rex, Heath and Kayla joining in the festivities for the past five years. “It’s an annual event for our family,” he adds. “It’s during the offseason, so it’s a great chance to visit with the coaches and the POSSE staff and see people you haven’t talked to in a while. It’s just a good time to help out the university and visit with friends.” Miller says he’s proud to be a part of the team behind the teams through endeavors like the annual auction.
“It really makes it worthwhile to share in their successes,” he says. “I’m pretty tickled.” By all accounts, the 2009 POSSE Benefit Auction and Dinner was a grand slam success. Nearly 700 attendees helped OSU top the $400,000 mark in gross revenue, including $68,500 from a special “Dutch” auction benefiting the Joe and Connie Mitchell Academic Center. The live auction raised more than $140,000, while silent auction bid boards accounted for more than $97,000. Additional revenue was earned from table and ticket reservations. Honorary Chairman Robin Ventura added a Big League presence to the event.
“The auction was great,” Ventura says. “It was fun. I thought they did a great job of dressing up Gallagher-Iba Arena. It was beautiful. There were some great auction items, as well.” Retired from professional baseball, the Cowboy great says he felt it was a good time to reconnect with his alma mater. “It was a pretty easy decision,” he says of the invitation to serve as the auction’s honorary chair. “Now that I’m retired I have a little more free time. I haven’t been back in a while, but I had recently seen the football team in Colorado and ran into Coach Holder there. I think there was probably something there that told me I needed to get back and get involved. Obviously it’s important to do some things to help out.”
Like many other POSSE members, Ventura says he was able to reunite with old friends at the auction. “I got to sit with my old roommate, Marv Rockman, so that was a surprise. I didn’t know that they were coming until I got in there, so it was nice to catch up with him and Lori, along with their daughter, Morgan. It was very enjoyable to sit there and just kind of laugh about the old times.” Though he and family reside in California, Ventura says he’ll likely be seen in Stillwater more often. “I plan on coming out for a football game or two, so I’ll be around,” he says. “I’ll be a little more visible than I’ve been in the past.”
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“It’s an annual event for our family ... It’s during the off-season, so it’s a great chance to visit with the coaches and the POSSE staff and see people you haven’t talked to in a while. It’s just a good time to help out the university and visit with friends.” — Jeff Miller 62
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YOU'RE NOT AS ORANGE AS HIM Matt Fletcher, a senior PR major from Tulsa, is more orange than you. That would be because he paints his body orange, but the fact remains.
For the past couple of years, Fletcher has donned the paint and worn what looks like a hula skirt to all the OSU Men’s home basketball games. Oh, and he writes “Go Pokes!” across his chest. Fletcher’s spirit and enthusiasm earned him a trip to the Final Four courtesy of Coke Zero. It began with a call from Mary Means in the athletic marketing department. Means asked Fletcher if he would represent OSU in the contest. The winner would earn a trip to the Final Four. “I’m a skeptic,” says Fletcher. “No one ever wins these kinds of things.”
The contest basically required entrants to entice their schools to post more content than other schools on the Coke Zero contest site.
“After it started, I decided that I was going to win, and started putting forth a little more effort.” Finalists were selected, then judges picked four winners.
Fletcher flew to Detroit and met up with the other winners, and then was put to work by Coke Zero. Fletcher and the others painted up (or dressed up), then walked around with a can of Coke Zero and took pictures of college basketball fans. He also participated on a morning show on the local Fox affiliate.
“The whole time, other than when we were actually at the Final Four games, I was painted up,” he says. “I think I painted up five or six times while I was there. I was just stained orange.” While in Detroit, Fletcher met Dick Vitale and Eddie Sutton and one rather infamous player from the Sooner basketball team. “I met Blake Griffin and told him congratulations, but I also rubbed orange all over his hand,” says Fletcher.
Unfortunately, Fletcher is retiring the skirt and paint for his last year of school, at least for basketball games. “I couldn’t end on a better year than this year was,” he says. “I feel like if I keep doing it, it’d just go to shame. I’ll wear it for football season, but this was the last basketball season.”
It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll actually retire the costume. After all, he’s worn the same white – well, it used to be white – OSU ballcap for six years. He’s the consummate fan. During his time at OSU, he once camped outside Gallagher-Iba for 48 days. “To get that front row seat, you have to earn it. Before the OU game this year, it got down into the teens and was sleeting and snowing. I was out there in a sleeping bag.” Fletcher inherited his love of OSU sports from his older sister.
“She was here two years before me, and she always had a passion for sports,” he says. “She dragged me along and kind of pushed it, and I fell in love with it. Some of those moments in Gallagher-Iba, they get you. “Gallagher-Iba used to be the place to be, though that’s been slowly declining. I’m trying to keep it up. I feel like the team needs that atmosphere. They play better when they have more fans.�
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XCEL ENERGY CENTER
HOME OF THE MINNESOTA WILD
AT&T CENTER
HOME OF THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS
PEPSI CENTER
HOME OF THE DENVER NUGGETS & COLORADO AVALANCHE
DALLAS COWBOYS STADIUM
FORD CENTER
FUTURE HOME OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY NBA FRANCHISE
FEDEX FORUM
FUTURE HOME OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS
HOME OF THE MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
HOME OF THE ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
RAZORBACK STADIUM
BOONE PICKENS STADIUM EXPANSIONS HOME OF THE OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS
││ │
Golf like a } Look like a
COWBOY Buy Authentic!
Cowboy Bob’s Discount Golf 710 South Main in Downtown Stillwater (405) 624-7130
PROMOTION
LIVE SPORTS RADIO
For the past several years, our fans asked
incorporating information that makes the game
members of The Cowboy Radio Network Broad-
more interesting. The fans who listen to Live
cast Crew about how to listen to our football
Sports Radio in the stands are key members of
broadcasts on the road. The answer was, there
our audience as we strive to provide the insight
was not any way to do it within FCC guidelines. It
and information that can’t be obtained by just
was a frustrating situation for all of us because we
watching the game.
knew it was something our fans would enjoy. Then along came Live Sports Radio and our
the only way you can hear the Cowboy Network
our fans the chance to listen live to our football
broadcast when the Pokes are on the road. Our
broadcasts both on the road and at home! They
broadcast team considers it a privilege to broad-
have all of the FCC clearances to make it happen
cast the great plays and memorable moments
and last year’s debut season was a success.
to our LSR listeners in the stands as well to the
Our job is to provide our fans with an accu-
Hunziker Dave Hunziker – Cowboy Radio Network Play by Play Announcer
A: No. Once you purchase the radio, it is yours to enjoy. It will continue to be useful as an FM scan radio.
Q: Who will I hear on game days when I turn in to listen to The Cowboys?
A: Of course you will hear your hometown
radio crew: John Holcomb, Dave Hunziker and Robert Allen.
Q: Does the radio need to be re-charged?
A: The radio operates on a 3-Volt CR2450 Q: What is a “Live Sports Radio”?
A: The Live Sports Radio is a specially
designed and patented radio receiver that
receives re-broadcasts at certain sporting
events with NO DELAY. Live Sports Radio (LSR) has been created with one very important objective in mind; that is: “Enriching Fans’ Experience”.
Q: Does the radio only work for one (1) game? A: The radio will work at will work at the home
AND at the away Cowboy Football games.
Each season a new radio will be available as the FCC-licensed frequencies used for the
broad cast will change depending upon the Cowboys’ schedule.
Q: Do I need to turn the radio in at the end of the season?
game experience, buy a Live Sports Radio. It is
problem was solved. Live Sports Radio gives
rate, entertaining description of the game while
Qwith &A
If you want to enhance your OSU football
Orange Nation across Oklahoma. We hope you’ll join our Live Sports Radio legion this year. bright green shirts and big black backpacks
with a banner above them. Additionally, there may be tents set up selling the radios.
Q: How do I order online?
A: You can order directly from this link
https://www.livesportsradio.com/store/.
Live Sports Radio accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover and
Diners Club. In addition, we now accept Electronic Check Payments
Lithium Battery; additional batteries can be
Q: Is Live Sports Radio going to charge
The batteries generally last 20-30 hours.
A: No, Live Sports Radio will not charge your
purchased at the stadium or on our website. Q: What happens when the stadium gets
my credit card again next year?
credit card next season, there are no
really loud - will I be able to hear the
subscription fees. If you wish to purchase
A: The sound quality of the LSR is exceptional
purchase from our online store or at the
broadcast?
a radio for next season, you will be able to
– the speaker sits right outside of the ear
stadium. Your credit card details are
canal, which generally makes it easy to
hear, even inside Boone Pickens Stadium when the crowd is going wild!
removed from the computer system immediately after we confirm the transaction.
Q: Is the price for the entire season?
Q: Where can I purchase a “Live Sports
A: The radio will last you the entire season,
A: The Live Sports Radio sellers will be
be necessary for you to buy another
Radio” at the game?
stationed around the Home Team sta-
diums. The sellers are very distinctive as they wear neon green or safety green or
one purchase and you are done. It may battery (see above).
Q: Do I need to subscribe to a service to listen to the broadcast?
A: A subscription is not necessary. You only
need to purchase the radio and you are on
your way to hearing the Cowboy broadcast. There are no further charges for the entire season.
Q: When will my order be shipped?
A: Live Sports Radio will ship all orders received on Monday thru Friday, by 1:00 pm EST, on
the same day. Customers may choose from shipping options for delivery times
Use Coupon Code 3695874 to apply the "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" by August 31, 2009 Go online to LiveSportsRadio.com to sign up to win two tickets to the bowl game of your choice.
photo by Phil Shockley
SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION
If you’re on campus during the week in the spring or fall, you might notice some of OSU’s student-athletes wearing special t-shirts to promote their game that day. What better way to promote your sport to your classmates than by wearing a walking invitation? The idea was, well, borrowed from Texas A&M. After playing them a couple of years ago, Niccole Grimaldi saw the A&M team’s game-day shirts and though it was such a good idea, she wanted to implement it immediately. Karen Hancock couldn’t justify the expense with just two games left in the season. “She really wanted to do it,” says Hankcock. “I told her we could do it next season. I thought she’d forget about it. But she didn’t.” Hancock says Grimaldi spearheaded the operation, coming up with the slogan and the t-shirt design. “When we dropped it off at the printer, they didn’t have to do anything to it except run it,” says Hancock. The second year, then goalie Erin Stigler took over the game-day shirt committee, coming up with a design that was “better than a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the head.” That shirt caught the attention of the other sports. Now at least five others – softball, wrestling, baseball and men’s and women’s basketball – all wear gameday tees on campus. In soccer, at least, next year’s shirt has been passed to Bridgette Miller. “Like with the team every year, you have to keep passing the torch,” says Hancock.
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photo by Phil Shockley
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MEN'STRACK
Fernandez OSU’s Latest National Champion Oklahoma State standout German Fernandez can now add the title of NCAA Champion to his resume after he capped his remarkable freshman season with an individual title in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 13th in Fayetteville, Ark. with a personal-best time of 3:39.00. Fernandez sprinted out to the lead from the start and led the race wire-to-wire. After maintaining his lead for the first 1,000 meters, Fernandez picked up the pace when Arkansas’ Dorian Ulrey, New Mexico’s Lee Emanuel and Stanford’s Garrett Heath began to challenge entering the final lap. The group ran together for the first half of the final lap until Fernandez overpowered his competitors and pulled away in the final 200 meters to win by more than half a second. “I knew I wanted to keep the pressure on and I knew I needed to save for the last 100 meters,” Fernandez said. “I kept thinking, ‘I’m almost there.’ At one point I thought I might get caught, but I knew that I had that extra gear for the last hundred.” Fernandez is the first Oklahoma State track and field athlete to win an individual NCAA championship since Cowboy Paul Larkins won the mile at the 1986 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also earns All-America honors with his firstplace finish, joining Ryan Vail, who earned the honor after finishing the 5,000 meters in ninth. “It’s a relief for me to get an
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NCAA Championship,” Fernandez said. “I knew that there were a lot of people watching me and I wanted to give the fans a good show.” Fernandez’s national title comes at his first NCAA Track and Field Championships. The freshman elected not to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in preparation for the Junior World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan. “This is huge for him and huge for our program,” coach Dave Smith said. “It’s hard to get surprised by him anymore with all the great things that he’s done. He ran a phenom-
enal race today and showed a lot of confidence in leading from the start. He basically told the field, ‘Come and get me if you can,’ and they couldn’t.” Fernandez, who was named the Big 12 and Midwest Region Performer of the Year, moves to the No. 2 spot on OSU’s all-time 1,500meter list with his performance. “We’re very proud of German,” Smith said. “As good of an athlete as he is, he’s even a better person.” photo by James Schammerhorn
Two Stillwater Locations Now Open!
( L to R) Chris Batchelder, OSU Alumni (‘95) and Vice President of Commercial Lending, Arvest Bank - Stillwater; and Don Gable, OSU Alumni (‘78) and President, Arvest Bank - Stillwater
Arvest Bank already has more banking offices in Oklahoma than anyone else, so just about anywhere you live in the state, we’re ready to serve you. We’ve expanded into Stillwater, home of the Cowboys. And who better to lead our Stillwater expansion than two OSU alumni, Don Gable and Chris Batchelder? Don, Chris and the entire team of Arvest bankers are ready to serve you at either of our new branches — located at 5215 W. 6th and 524 N. Main. Our ATM at 139 S. Knoblock is conveniently located close to the OSU campus. If you’re ready to switch to Oklahoma’s most convenient bank, stop by your local Arvest Bank today. And if you’re in Stillwater, give Don or Chris a call at 405-385-5801.
ATM - 139 S. Knoblock St.
now open - 5215 W. 6th Ave.
OPEN 8 TO 8
now open - 524 N. Main St.
Dr. Barry & Roxanne Pollard
Extraordinary ACHIEVERS
There are terms commonly used to describe people who have achieved great things, words like “outstanding” and “extraordinary.”
Either of those would fit for Enid residents Roxanne and Barry Pollard. How many individuals do you know who are a practicing neurosurgeon, own nine John Deere Dealerships (P&K Equipment, Inc.) and also operate a farm and ranching operation? Dr. Barry Pollard may be your first. Fortunately for OSU, he and Roxanne are dyed-in-the-wool supporters. “During my time at Oklahoma State, not only did I receive an excellent education that allowed me to pursue a career in medicine, but I also developed numerous lifelong friendships,” says Barry. “These friendships and associations have been extremely important to me throughout the rest of my life. “The education provided at Oklahoma State University enabled many of my friends to have outstanding careers in many occupations. They have become successful people in business, the law, medicine, agriculture and many other areas.” Because of the education Barry received at OSU, he and Roxanne feel compelled to give back, and they have done so in a number of ways. For instance, Barry was actively involved in
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the creation of the endowment fund called the “OSU Medical Cowboys.” “With the help of the OSU Foundation we established (this group) in an effort to help identify all graduates of OSU who went on to pursue a career in medicine,” he says. “I assembled a board consisting of medical doctors, osteopathic doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, optometrists and others who are interested in organizing these graduates for the purpose of helping to provide scholarship opportunities for high school seniors who want to come to Oklahoma State University to pursue a career in the medical field. We were able to offer eight students scholarships the first year, and our goal is to grow the program to the point of having 20 students in each year on scholarship. They have an opportunity to qualify for this scholarship for the full four years at OSU.” The Pollards also give to a number of OSU colleges, as well as the athletic department. “We have endowed a Professorship in Agribusiness through the Colleges of Agriculture and Business,” Barry says. “With my $250,000 contribution matched by the (Boone) Pickens donation and then by the State of Oklahoma, this combines for a $1 million professorship. We also fund two P&K Equipment scholarships annually.” The Pollards are also giving of their time. Roxanne gathered more than 15
percent of the items presented in the POSSE Benefit Auction during the last two years. Consider that the auction typically features 700 items each year, and that number becomes even more impressive. The auction is the athletic department’s largest fundraising event and directly impacts the student-athlete scholarship fund. Without a wide variety of items, the event would not be as successful a fundraising event as it has been. “I enjoy helping with the OSU POSSE Benefit Auction,” Roxanne says. “I truly enjoy the opportunity to be involved and to make a difference in a student’s life. Through our volunteerism to Oklahoma State I feel like we have made a great impact on the success of athletics.” In the last few years, Barry has been more involved with the OSU Foundation. He was asked to serve as a Governor of the Foundation, then later to serve on the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee. He will be the incoming OSU Foundation president in October. “(The OSU Foundation) has allowed me to help give back to Oklahoma State University in a meaningful fashion,” Barry says. “The function of the Foundation fits my desire to help give back and help to raise funds for univer-
photo by Phil Shockley
sity activities and help raise scholarship money for students wishing to pursue educational opportunities.” Barry sees a strong correlation between the success of athletics and the university. He also knows how beneficial athletics can be for the exposure of the institution. “To truly be successful as a university we must not only have great academic standing and provide a great educational experience, but we also need to field and support great athletic teams,” he says. “Athletics helps promote a sense of pride and loyalty in our university. “The university is not only a place to get an academic education; it is also a place to help develop a well-rounded citizen. Athletics play a key role in the development of students in a campus setting. The athletic teams we field in all sports are an important aspect of the student life and a source of pride and unity for all of us. I have heard it said athletics is ‘the front door of the university.’ I certainly agree that a lot of attention is paid by the general public the athletic success of the university.” He believes athletics are not only
important for the exposure of the institution, but important for connecting with students, our future alumni. Because of the role that athletics has on overall institution success, the Pollards are happy to help the program in many ways, including their gifts to the POSSE. “(Athletics) is a very competitive environment,” says Barry. “We need to offer scholarship opportunities and first-rate athletic facilities to be able to recruit elite students and coaches to Oklahoma State University. The coaches need the facilities, the players, and the financial commitment to to achieve their goals. Investment through the POSSE helps to provide these opportunities.” In addition to their private investments in the future of OSU Athletics, the Pollards also support the program by being a co-title sponsor of the ever popular Orange Rewards loyalty marketing program. Funded by P&K Equipment, Inc. and Stillwater National Bank, the program has assisted in setting season attendance records for three sports since its implementation. OSU Athletics has long been a passion of the Pollards. They have shared many great
memories, including the men’s basketball run to the Final Four in 2004, but these days, the Pollards are most excited about the future of OSU athletics. “I think the future is brighter than I have ever seen it,” says Barry. “The university has assembled an excellent group of dedicated and committed coaches and improved facilities. The contributions by Mr. Pickens have elevated our facilities to an outstanding level and this has helped us to recruit players and coaches who realize that there is a sincere commitment at Oklahoma State University to excellence in athletics. I am really looking forward to the future.” Because they are so giving of their time, it is amazing that Roxanne and Barry have any time to do their own thing. When they do, Barry likes to golf with their sons, while Roxanne enjoys fishing, reading and traveling. If you know them well, though, they’d rather spend their time helping others. Fortunately for OSU, most of the time, it’s helping the university in an extraordinary fashion.
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photo by Phil Shockley
wray.vings KYLE WRAY
Earl took me to my first OSU football game when I was a kid. He was one of those salt of the earth, fabric of America kind of guys. We climbed into his truck and headed west toward Stillwater on Highway 51. Me, Earl and a pack of Union Standard chewing tobacco. As we drove down the highway, I watched Earl. I thought he was cool. He had a big orange cup he would spit into every few minutes. “Hey, Earl, let me try some.” “Your mom probably wouldn’t appreciate that,” he said. “I insist,” I responded, and before you could say Pistol Pete, my 12 year-old jaw was loaded up.
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02.04
Earl and me, going to watch the Cowboys. Earl chewed, I chewed. Earl spit, I spit. There was just one thing Earl didn’t do that I seemed very proficient at: vomiting. Boy did I throw up. In fact, if a person could make an A+ at vomiting, I would have been at the top of the class. I redecorated the inside of Earl’s truck with the pancakes and peanut butter from earlier in the morning. Not a pretty sight. Between the heaving and developing a mental top ten list for why I would never chew tobacco again, I noticed something. Each time we passed another car or truck, Earl would wave. Not a grand, high five type of wave, just a simple nod or fl ick of a couple of fi ngers above the steering wheel. And people waved back. I miss that kind of friendly, personal communication. Today we have such different forms of communicating with each other: MySpace and books for your face, blogs, Twitter, texting … I wonder what’s next? I have a good friend who says, “Never hit send on an email unless you are prepared to see it on CNN tonight.” How true!
POSSE 09
Before long they will need to teach classes in grade school called: Texting as a Foreign Language. It’s not for the students, it’s for the parents. Ttyl, rofl, lol, etc. If you have to ask what any of those abbreviations mean, stop the next 12-year-old you see and ask. It’s hard to misinterpret a wave, a nod or a fl ick of a few fi ngers (just make sure you use the proper set of fi ngers). By the time Earl and I arrived at the game that cool, crisp autumn day, I was feeling much better, although I was uncharacteristically uninterested in the hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, candy and other various concession items. As the crowd parted and I got my fi rst view of that field of sunlit emerald, I quickly forgot about the chewing tobacco incident. So this fall when you are headed to the Cowboys' football game, put down your grande caramel macchiato with whip and notice the people around you. Interact with them, just like the good ol' days. More waving. Less throwing up. Go Pokes.
“Give yourself a break: take five.”
You’ll be amazed how much you’ll save when you take these five powerful steps to use energy wisely: 1. Replace lights with compact fluorescent light bulbs. They give just as much light, but last much longer and use 75 percent less electricity. 2. Replace your old heating and cooling system with a new, high-efficiency system. Consider a geothermal system — they’re about 200 percent more energy efficient, and may qualify for lowinterest financing.
3. Insulate, caulk and weatherstrip your home. Most people don’t realize that a third of their energy bill can come from air leakage alone. 4. Set your water heater thermostat at 120ºF. Adding a water heater blanket can cut water heating costs another 10 percent. 5. Shade your house. Plant trees that shed leaves to give shade in the summer and admit sunlight in the winter.
Saving energy and money is in our power See more energy-saving tips at www.oge.com. ©2007 OGE Energy Corp.