A Path PAVED by Family

BIG

12 CONFERENCE CHAMPION.

MINNESOTA WOMEN’S STATE OPEN CHAMPION.

MINNESOTA WOMEN’S STATE AMATEUR CHAMPION.

MINNESOTA WOMEN’S STATE MATCH PLAY CHAMPION.

MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPION.

Oklahoma State’s Kenzie Neisen is all of the above and more. However, those accomplishments do not define the talented golfer. Cross paths with her and you are instantly greeted by a friendly smile and pleasant demeanor, lending some insight into the type of person you have encountered.

“KENZIE HAS AN ENERGY, AN EXCITEMENT AND ENTHUSIASM ABOUT HER THAT IS CONTAGIOUS. When you pair that with her work ethic and her drive, you have a really neat kid. We are very fortunate to have Kenzie here at Oklahoma State,” Cowgirl head coach COURTNEY JONES said.

“WORDS CAN’T DESCRIBE HOW IMPRESSED I AM.”

To comprehend how the sophomore became a champion away from the sport at such an early age, look no further than the manner in which she responded when saddled with adversity.

Last spring while traveling to Hawaii for an event, Neisen received word her younger brother, TOM , had been hospitalized due to complications from Hunter Syndrome, a rare genetic disease resulting in a life expectancy of approximately 15 years.

“It was tough when everything started to happen and getting phone calls and knowing that it was going to happen fairly soon,” Neisen said.

With her brother’s condition declining and the inevitable looming, who could blame Neisen if her performance dipped or she opted to step away from the game. To the contrary, she demonstrated great resolve and performed at a high level on her way to a second-place finish — despite her mind swirling.

“I have had moments on the golf course where emotions just come out of nowhere and you just start crying and you don’t really know what to do with yourself,” Neisen said. “MY COACHES HAVE BEEN SO SUPPORTIVE, HELPED REDIRECT MY FOCUS AND STAY SUPER POSITIVE. That has been great, and I have been so lucky to have that.”

After her runner-up showing, which propelled the Cowgirls to the team title , Neisen proceeded on to San Diego for the squad’s next outing. In the midst of the event, the New Prague, Minn., native received word that Tom had taken a turn for the worse.

After capping the match play tournament with a win over the No. 2-ranked player in the country, Neisen returned to Stillwater and quickly rerouted north to say goodbye to her 15-year-old brother. Two days later, Tom passed away.

Unfortunately, the Neisens were all too familiar with these unthinkable circumstances , having lost their first son, SAM , at age 16 to the same ailment in 2009.

“I was in seventh grade when that happened. That was really hard because that was the first time we had been through it,” Neisen said.

Nearly a month to the day of losing a brother for the second time, Neisen produced her first victory as a Cowgirl in dramatic fashion, winning the 2012 Big 12 title in a playoff.

When the final putt dropped and the program’s newest conference champion was crowned, Neisen once again ran the emotional gamut.

“After I made my birdie putt, I didn’t really know what to do with myself. It was just kind of a rush of emotions from being so proud of myself and excited to thinking about my brothers. And having my family there was pretty surreal,” Neisen explained.

“It was so cool to have my parents there when I won it. I know I made them so proud and they were so excited, but I knew, too, that I MADE MYSELF PROUD FOR WHAT I DID AND THAT MY HARD WORK PAID OFF. Just a fun combination of everybody being so happy and being together to enjoy the moment.”

The layers to Neisen’s story do not end there. Her Big 12 title marked the second time she had countered tragedy with triumph on the course. During her junior year of high school, Neisen’s high school coach, MATT SHETKA , suffered a fatal heart attack while shoveling snow. A few months later, she delivered the first two individual state titles captured during an accomplished prep career.

Through it all, Neisen says her hometown, a community of nearly 7,500 residents located southwest of the Twin Cities, helped her move forward.

“I am so lucky to be where I am from. The community I have grown up with and my friends that I have for support have been amazing for both of my brothers. HAVING THAT SUPPORT HAS HELPED OUR FAMILY STAY POSITIVE AND KNOW THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY.”

As fate would have it, Tom and Sam would bring a pair of important men into Neisen’s life. As the boys’ doctor, STEVE BAISCH , got to know the family, it was revealed that golf was common ground. His son, CHRIS , worked as an instructor.

“My sister went to (Baisch), and I saw her and I decided I wanted to try it too, so I started going. I have been with him ever since,” Neisen said.

“Both Steve and Chris have been amazing. They are great people. It is fun to call a swing coach and not always talk about golf but check in and see how I am doing and talk about his kids. It has been a good combination of a lot of things.”

Neisen’s older sister, STEFFI , credits the infusion of positive reinforcement from the Baisch family as a driving force behind the girls’ ability to make the best of trying circumstances.

“Every time we were at the hospital, Dr. Baisch was so positive. He really stressed that it was a blessing and a gift that we received with these boys. He really made us think this way and so did our parents,” Steffi said. “BECAUSE OF THE BOYS, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MEET SO MANY INCREDIBLE PEOPLE AND POSITIVE PEOPLE THAT HAVE INFLUENCED US AND WE WOULD HAVE NEVER MET IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE BOYS.”

From unthinkable circumstances, Neisen has focused on the silver linings and counts her parents, CHRIS AND ANGIE , as unsung heroes in her life

“I am so lucky to have the family that I have and the parents that I have grown up with and how amazing they are. I DON’T THINK THEY GET ENOUGH CREDIT FOR HOW MUCH THEY HAVE DONE. I think our family is so close and so supportive of each other and so positive all the time that we have been able to handle the situation really well and enjoy every moment that we have,” Neisen said.

“My parents have always been really good role models for us to stay positive and not complain about the negative things because it is so easy to do that.”

During her time as a Cowgirl, Neisen’s support system has grown to include Stillwater and the OSU golf family.

“KENZIE HAS AN AMAZING SUPPORT SYSTEM AT SCHOOL. She constantly talks about how awesome everybody is and how they treat everybody,” Steffi said. “It doesn’t matter if you are on the men’s team or the women’s team. Everybody is very supportive, and she says that on a weekly basis. That is pretty cool that she found a place that is that supportive of her.

“It is almost hard for her to come home because she doesn’t even know how to describe Oklahoma State to people because it is that amazing to her. She talks about it all the time, and that is when you know you made the right choice.”

As the recruiting process played out and Jones was trying to persuade Neisen to make that choice, she realized she was pursuing someone gifted beyond golf.

“When Coach (ALAN) BRATTON and I started the recruiting process several years ago, we thought we saw some special things out of her on the golf course, but more importantly, the more we investigated, the more we learned about her as a person. Those qualities are part of why she has seen this success,” Jones said.

“It is the parenting and the way she was raised, and it is a credit to her and what a quality person she is. She had a very early exposure to dealing with adversity and viewing things that aren’t necessarily very rosy, but taking the best outlook. That is a testament to Chris and Angie and the way they raised their daughters and their sons.”

Through tragedy, Neisen also had the good fortune of having an older sister to lean on and reinforce the importance of maintaining a positive outlook.

“I think she looked to me a lot when we were younger, and I tried to have a positive attitude about things when she was pretty young and didn’t really know what was going on,” Steffi said.

“I tried to distract her from the negative so I do think that our relationship grew a lot stronger just because we had to rely on each other, and we knew that when we were positive we could make our parents feel happy as well.”

In return for creating a positive diversion, Steffi, who played golf at Nebraska, learned from her younger sister to put golf in its proper place.

“Kenzie has always had this ‘golf is not life’ attitude. Even when I was in college and she got older and into high school, I looked at her positive attitude towards the sport and that influenced me,” Steffi said.

“Even though I was older, I believe to this day that she had an even more mature per spective on life than I did. I got really beat up about golf and she didn’t so I learned a lot from her in that way. She would come home from tournaments and you would never know. Once golf was over, she was able to totally forget about it and focus on other things, and I respect that. I think I learned a lot from the atti tude she has.”

The simple joy the game brought to her close-knit family stands at the forefront of countless memories for Neisen.

“Our family would go out to the New Prague golf course, and we would bring Tom out in the golf cart. He was so excited to ride in the cart. My sister and my dad and I would just go play for fun growing up, and he would get so excited to come on the green and take out the flag for us and was so excited to put it back in when we were finished,” Neisen recalled.

Ironically, golf was not always viewed so fondly by Neisen. But lucky for the Cowgirl program, she changed her tune.

“I actually didn’t like golf the first time I went out when I was younger. My parents told me when I was little and would go out on the course I was doing sand angels in the bunkers while my sister was hitting the golf ball. I would go out and do that and pick up tees around the golf course,” Neisen explained.

Neisen credits her sister with eventually piquing her interest in the game.

“I really started taking an interest in golf when I saw my sister play. I think it was being the third child and wanting to keep up with an older sibling. Then I started playing it, and I had so much fun when I went out on the course and started hitting balls,” Neisen said.

As the girls grew older, Neisen’s desire to keep up with her older sister morphed into the urge to get the better of her on the course.

“She would laugh about this, but my short game was always better than hers. I would take her out to the golf course and she would play really good golf, then she would three-putt or chip two times and two-putt,” Steffi recalled.

“I took her out and I challenged her to all these things, and she would get kind of mad when I would beat her because she hit the ball so much farther than me. So by the time ninth and 10th grade rolled around for her, she spent hours and hours and hours practicing her short game because it made her so mad when I beat her.”

After spending countless hours honing her craft, Neisen started to see the fruits of her labor before she reached the high school level. After qualifying for the state tournament as an eighth grader, Steffi began to see the potential in her younger sister. However, it was not until a few years later when a certain program came calling she realized how great that potential was.

“To be honest, I didn’t even think about it until about her junior year when I heard she was being recruited by Oklahoma State. THAT IS THE DEFINING MOMENT THAT YOU HAVE REACHED GREATNESS AND YOU ARE REALLY GOOD AT THIS SPORT. Having been at Nebraska, I knew about Oklahoma State, and I knew they were a good team,” Steffi explained.

As she improved her game, Neisen maintained a glass-half-full outlook on life and to keep the frustrations golf can bring in a perspective usually reserved for someone much longer in the tooth.

“I use it more as motivation to go out there and have fun and whatever happens, happens, and to not get upset about hitting a bad shot or if I have a bad round. BECAUSE IF I TRY MY BEST TO HAVE FUN, THAT IS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS AT THE END OF THE DAY.” Neisen said.

“I think it is good to just focus on the moment and not results. Otherwise, I might press myself or put too much pressure on myself if I focus on the end result.”

That mentality continued to pay dividends this past summer in her home state. After rolling to a 12-shot victory at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship, she won the Minnesota Women’s State Open title to become the first player in Minnesota history to capture both titles in the same year. Her ability to stay in the moment kept her oblivious to her accomplishment until after the fact.

“I didn’t even know that was the case until both were over. It was special to do it, and I had no idea that no one had ever done that before. It was exciting to come home and let it sink in that I was the first,” Neisen said.

Said Steffi, “I couldn’t be more proud of her. MORE THAN ANYTHING, I AM JUST PROUD OF THE WAY SHE CARRIES HERSELF. For someone who succeeds so well at a sport, she really doesn’t like the limelight and doesn’t seek attention for things. I think a lot of people respect her for that. Accomplishments aside, it takes a pretty strong person to be able to handle, not only the people around you, but to not break under pressure and get emotional with all of the stuff going on.”

Neisen is quick to deflect attention toward her teammates and remains humble despite her ever-growing list of achievements, a common trait found within the OSU golf programs.

“Kenzie has said it is the culture at OSU for golf with how prominent and successful the teams are that you are expected to be humble about winning, and that is the nature of those teams. There have been so many successful players and they carry themselves very well and they don’t brag about their successes and they are humble, and she said that culture has helped her with that too,” Steffi said.

With the intangibles firmly in place, Neisen also possesses the desired physical attributes to be as successful as she wants to be in the sport.

“She is nearly 5-11 , and she bombs it. She carries it over 255 yards and has a great ability when it comes to striking the golf ball. She is a fast learner, and she is smart and she is athletic. When you combine all of those things and the desire to learn, someone is going to improve quickly and she has,” Jones said.

“Combine that with her work ethic, and that is why you have seen the success you have seen and will continue to see as she grows as a person and as a golfer.”

How far golf takes Neisen remains to be seen. But if the professional ranks do not work out, her potential career path offers you a glimpse into the type of person she is away from the course.

“I would like to do something in the medical field. I think growing up and being in the hospital with my brothers has inspired me to want to go help other people. We have met so many amazing nurses and doctors since we have been there, and it is cool to see how they have impacted us and how they have supported us. I THINK IT WOULD BE FUN TO GO DO THE SAME FOR OTHER FAMILES ,” Neisen said.

STORY BY WADE McWHORTER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE WATERFIELD

AND EVEN IF THEY HAVE, CHANCES ARE FORTE HAS THEM BEAT WHEN IT COMES TO THE NUMBER OF JUMP SHOTS HOISTED INSIDE THE HISTORIC HOOPS VENUE.

Forte’s shooting regimen is the stuff of legend around OSU hoops circles. Brad Lewis, one of a dozen or so managers for the program, arrived in Stillwater four years ago, same as Forte, and said it’s not far-fetched that the number of shots Forte has launched during his collegiate career has surpassed seven figures.

“It’s not just shooting, it’s making — and of course he’s not making them all,” Lewis said. “Every time, it’s anywhere from 300-500 makes and even more in the summer. He does that at least once a day so that’s a big number right there. We’re probably literally getting into the millions over the last four years. It’s pretty incredible.”

If one thing is certain regarding Cowboy basketball, it’s that no one outworks Phil Forte.

Because for OSU’s senior shooting guard, to borrow from a recent Nike ad campaign, “Basketball Never Stops.”

“There’s two things I can guarantee in this world — THE SUN IS GOING TO COME UP THE NEXT DAY, AND PHIL FORTE WILL BE IN THE GYM,” said OSU junior forward LEYTON HAMMONDS. “I’ve been around basketball my whole life and a lot of different players, a lot of great players. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO WORKING HARD, WORK ETHIC, STRICTLY TO BASKETBALL, PHIL FORTE HAS PEOPLE BEAT BY MILES. I don’t know anybody else that every single day is going to be in the gym.”

OSU head coach TRAVIS FORD echoes that sentiment.

“I’M IN MY 19TH YEAR AS A COLLEGE HEAD COACH, AND I’VE NEVER BEEN AROUND ANY PLAYER THAT EVEN COMES CLOSE TO WORKING AS HARD AS HE DOES . And the point that needs to be made is — I’ve had players work as hard as he does maybe in practice, but outside of what we require, I’ve never had a player close to putting in as much time and effort to get better.

“He lives in the gym. I’m a person who gets in really early and sometimes I don’t leave at night. It’s not uncommon for me to be walking downstairs through the halls and you hear the ball bouncing and you know who’s in there, you don’t even have to look.

“It gets to the point a lot of times where we’ve got to tell him he needs to go home and rest a little bit.”

Chances are good that suggestion will fall on deaf ears. Forte epitomizes the term “gym rat,” and the blood, sweat and tears from countless hours on the hardwood are simply what makes him tick.

“It’s something I take a lot of pride in — I TRY HARD TO MAKE SURE NO ONE EVER OUTWORKS ME,” Forte said. “That’s something I control. I can’t always control how many shots I’m gonna make or every win and loss or how high I can jump. But I can control how hard I work, I can control my hustle and whether I give it my all on the practice floor and in the games for my coaches and teammates.

“It’s just something I’ve been blessed with, and growing up I’ve kind of always been this way. For me, if I want to play at the level I want to play at, these are the things required of me. I don’t have the natural ability of some of the guys on our team, but fortunately I was blessed in another way.

“My work ethic has carried me, and it’s something I try to rely on. I really don’t know where it came from — it’s just how I was made. Some people can jump high, some people are fast. I just work hard, that’s kind of what I do.

“Going into every game, that’s mentally what helps me, knowing that I put in the work and when the lights come on I’m prepared and ready to go.”

So what exactly is entailed in that exhausting schedule that defines Forte as the hardest of workers?

During the Cowboys’ season, Forte’s day starts with the OSU training table before class. Done with lunch by 12:30 or 1:00, Forte is off to the gym where he strives to get at least an hour of shooting by himself before practice. Following practice, chances are there is even more solo shooting before it’s time for an ice bath and treatment in the training room. After dinner, Forte does homework and tries to catch other Big 12 Conference teams in action on TV before heading to bed around 10:30.

Forte’s shooting regimen varies depending on any number of factors — OSU’s upcoming opponent, do they play mostly man defense or zone, do they pressure a lot? He’ll work on floaters, shots off the dribble, step-backs, catch-and-shoot situations. While studying film, he’ll notice if his footwork is off or if he’s not following through properly on his shot — should that be the case, he adds correcting those details to his workout agenda.

And for Forte, it’s “more quality than quantity,” which is why he only counts shots made, never just attempts.

During the OSU season, Forte won’t leave the gym with anything less than 300 makes . During Big 12 play, that number dips slightly, but in the summer it’s likely to more than double.

Needless to say, Forte keeps the OSU managers at the ready. They know at any moment, Forte could summon them to the court.

“He’ll usually text us once or twice a day asking us if he can come get up some shots, and that’s on top of whatever (team) workout we have,” said OSU manager BRENDAN ROBERTS . “He’ll tell us he’s only going to shoot for 20 minutes, and it turns into 45 minutes or an hour.

“He puts in a ton of work in the gym, and even during workouts, he’s the guy that’s usually setting the tempo and the energy level in the gym. He’s going hard in every drill. And even when he’s shooting on his own, he turns it into a whole other workout with how hard he goes.”

Accompanying Forte to the gym isn’t necessarily a chore.

“It’s easy to rebound for him because you’re standing under the net most of the time just throwing the ball out — with other guys you’ve got to chase the ball,” Lewis said with a laugh.

However, Forte’s personal rebounders aren’t immune to Forte’s inner drive — which can sometimes cost them valuable shuteye.

Lewis remembers one such instance from Forte’s sophomore season. The Cowboy guard missed a free throw with five seconds left in a game at Iowa State that would have given OSU a 72-68 lead and all but sealed a win. Following the miss, the Cyclones hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime and eventually went on to win the game.

“After the game, Phil texted me and said, ‘Meet me at the airport, let’s go to the gym,’” Lewis said. “WE WENT TO THE GYM, AND HE MADE 100 FREE THROWS IN A ROW. He stopped when he missed one and started over. It had to be 100 in a row.

“They probably got back at midnight, and we probably got out of there at 1:30 or 2:00. But he wouldn’t leave until he did it — and that was after a Big 12 game, in the middle of the conference season with practice the next day.

“It drove him nuts, and it meant so much that he had to get back in the gym.

That’s just one story, but it’s every day that something like that could happen. It’s not just a one-time thing — he’s consistent.”

Hammonds recalls a similar tale.

“My freshman year we lost at Texas, and we got home really late, probably midnight or 1:00,” Hammonds said. “Phil didn’t shoot well that game, and that was the gym where he won two state championships in high school. As soon as we got back, he was in the gym shooting, basically shooting until his arm fell off.

“That opened my eyes. I was like ‘THIS KID IS A MACHINE.’”

But those types of stories are why Forte has evolved into one of the most productive players in OSU hoops history.

The 5-foot-11, 185 pounder from Flower Mound, Texas, entered his senior season with 1,267 career points , and an average of nearly 13 points per game over his first three years. He’s a virtual lock to finish in the top 10 on OSU’s career scoring list.

Chances are also high that Forte, who is nearly a 40 percent shooter from beyond the arc, will break KEITON PAGE’S school record for three-pointers made, which stands at 300.

He’s also virtually automatic when it comes to the charity stripe, having made over 300 free throws at an almost 87 percent clip, the second-highest success rate of any Cowboy ever. The all-time leader is JOHN LUCAS at 89.5 percent. However, it is worth noting that Forte is likely to end his career with more than twice as many free throw attempts as Lucas, who spent his first two seasons at Baylor before transferring to OSU.

One might think those impressive numbers and a résumé that includes All-Big 12 status validate Forte’s hard work.

But that’s not the way the Cowboy star sees it.

“I’m always like, ‘I still have to do this, I still have to do that,’” Forte said. “There’s a lot of things in my senior year that I still want to accomplish that I haven’t done yet. That’s just how I think, how I’m programmed. Especially in my last year, I want to look and say I don’t regret anything. You only get one shot at this, and it’s been such a blessing for me to be here. I WANT PEOPLE TO LOOK BACK AND SAY, ‘IT WAS WORTH TAKING A RISK ON THAT GUY.’

“OSU took a risk that other schools didn’t, so I feel like I owe them a favor. I owe this university something. So every time I put the jersey on, that’s what I’m trying to do, trying to give them every ounce of effort that I have because I appreciate the chance they gave me.”

For his head coach, that’s an attitude that validates the evolution of Phil Forte the basketball player.

“Phil is driven in so many different ways,” Ford said. “One of those things is that a lot of people didn’t think he could play at this level. That got him into the gym in high school. Then he signs here at Oklahoma State and now he becomes driven by ‘Can I be one of the better players in this league?’ And halfway through his junior year, HE LED THE BIG 12 IN SCORING. Who would have even thought that — I don’t know that I would even have thought that big for him.

“Now he’s driven by ‘CAN I BE ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE COUNTRY?’ And in today’s society, you see it all the time, so many players want to talk about it but their actions don’t back up their words. At this level, everybody is going hard in practice and going through individual workouts. But where you separate yourself is what you do extra outside of what the coach requires. You’ve got to live in the gym, you’ve got to want it bad enough. You’ve got to be willing to sacrifice going to parties and doing all that to reach your goals.

“PHIL FORTE IS THE EPITOME OF THAT, AND THERE’S NOT ANOTHER PLAYER IN THE COUNTRY THAT CAN MATCH THAT. HIS GOAL IS TO BE THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER HE CAN POSSIBLY BE, AND HE PUTS ACTION BEHIND HIS WORDS.”

Both player and coach admit that last season, the mental and physical grind Forte took on from practice, his extra shooting workouts and heavy minutes played (he averaged 33.7 minutes per game) began to wear him down and affect his play as the season went on.

Ford’s approach to remedying that is not what you might think.

“A lot of people were asking if I was going to tell him not to come in and do all the extra shooting and stuff? No. What I’ll do is cut him back in practice because the extra shooting and getting in the gym is where he gets his confidence — that is his time. I don’t ever want to take that away from him,” Ford said. “He knows he deserves success in the game because he’s doing that. He loves that time. And he sees the rewards of it. When you see the rewards of hard work, it’s not hard to continue to do it. And he’s seen it a lot.”

A lot of success from a lot of shots and a lot of time in the gym — it’s the only way Phil Forte knows.

“It’s something I love doing — it’s kind of my time, my space to get away and be by myself,” Forte said. “I do it before the game so I know ‘OKAY, I GOT MY SHOTS UP, I’M READY TO GO!’

“Of course there are days when I don’t want to shoot, don’t want to work out — I mean, I’m human. But even if I feel like that, I tell myself I’ve got to go, even if it’s only 30-45 minutes. Then when you get in there and get into it, it turns into an hour, an hour and a half.

“Now I just keep saying, ‘It’s my senior year, it’s my senior year.’ So any time that doubt creeps in or I don’t want to do anything, I’m sarcastically like, ‘Yeah, I’m sure Kansas isn’t doing anything right now or (Iowa State All-American Georges) Niang isn’t doing anything.’ THAT GETS IN MY HEAD AND KEEPS ME MOTIVATED.”

And that motivation only leads one place for Phil Forte, Cowboy of a million shots —

BACK TO THAT WHITE MAPLE HARDWOOD.

IT ALL MADE SENSE THEN, SURE. YET NOT WITHOUT RISK. YES, HE’D BEEN A LEGENDARY COWBOY AND INTERNATIONAL WRESTLER, AMONG THE MOST SUCCESSFUL AND DECORATED IN HISTORY. YES, HE WAS A HOMEGROWN TALENT, RAISED ON THE COWBOY WAY AND ENGAGED IN A FULLBLOWN LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE UNIVERSITY AND THE COMMUNITY.

YES, ALL HIS ASSETS AS A WORLD-CLASS ATHLETE — DRIVE, PASSION AND STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE — MIRRORED THE MAIN INGREDIENTS OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COACHES IN ANY SPORT. AND YES, HIS NAME AND PRESENCE ALONE WOULD ELEVATE OSU’S PROFILE DURING A DIFFICULT TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY WHILE DOUBLING AS A DRAWING CARD FOR THE NATION’S ELITE RECRUITS.

Still, John Smith offered unknowns, too, as a 26-year-old, first-time coach tasked with molding a complete team from varying personalities and motives; few, if any, willing to approach his own standards of excellence.

So tabbing Smith as just the seventh coach in school history, at a critical time for the program, while seemingly the obvious choice, nonetheless provided a bit of a wild card feel. He could be great, or … he might not yet be ready.

Of course, the rest is history, with the years that followed Smith’s hiring revealing that wild card as an ace.

HE’S RESTORED THE PROGRAM TO THE LOFTIEST OF STATURE. And now, with Smith entering his 25th season as head coach, he is no longer the new kid on the block. Instead he is OSU’s MOST TENURED COACH and the shine is as bright as ever, with the Cowboys once again adorned with a No. 1 ranking entering its 100th year of wrestling.

The John Smith story continues at OSU, to rave reviews. No longer a wild card, just wildly successful.

“It’s gone quickly,” said Smith, who has spent the bulk of his life at OSU, as both an athlete and a coach.

“IT’S BEEN A GREAT EXPERIENCE. I DON’T HAVE ANY REGRETS, WHICH IS WONDERFUL.

“It’s nice to be ranked No. 1 going into your 25th year. We’d like to end there, and that’s our plan. But it’s a good start to your season.”

Smith’s list of accomplishments — truly impressive accomplishments — are literally too long to list in a magazine story.

The CliffsNotes ® version

WRESTLER: Two-time OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST (1988 and 1992). Six-time WORLD CHAMPION . Two-time

NCAA CHAMPION . James E. Sullivan Award winner as the nation’s TOP AMATEUR ATHLETE (1990). U.S. Olympic Committee

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR (1990). FILA OUTSTANDING

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR (1991). USA Wrestling ATHLETE OF THE YEAR (1989). Amateur Wrestling News MAN OF THE YEAR (1988). Distinguished Member, NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME . Member, FILA HALL OF FAME . Member, OKLAHOMA SPORTS HALL OF FAME . NCAA COLLEGE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR (1987). Named one of the 100 GREATEST OLYMPIANS OF ALL-TIME . Smith’s competitive record, including high school, college, freestyle and international matches: 436-20-2

COACH: OSU’S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH , at 371-56-6 . Five-time NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP COACH

Two-time NWCA NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR . 17-time CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP COACH . 12-time BIG 12 COACH OF THE YEAR . Two-time BIG EIGHT COACH OF THE YEAR COACHED 29 NCAA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS, 111 ALL-AMERICANS and 95 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS . USA OLYMPIC WRESTLING COACH (2000, 2012). USA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM COACH (1998, 2009, 2010, 2011). USA WORLD CUP TEAM COACH (1997). Distinguished Member, NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME

AND YES, THERE’S MORE WITHIN THOSE SUPERLATIVES.

So, yeah, Smith is a winner. And if winning was everything to Vince Lombardi, the old football coach had nothing on John Smith, who once said:

“For me, a loss is something that takes a little piece of your heart and rips it out.”

It was that passion for winning — and to despise losing — that drove Smith’s dominance on the mat. And it’s what initially got in his way as a young coach. Fresh off winning a second Olympic gold medal, Smith inherited an OSU program in the throes of an NCAA investigation that would result in sanctions. His first team went 4-7 in duals. More startling than the record, SMITH HAD TO COME TO GRIPS WITH THE IDEA THAT HIS WRESTLERS MIGHT NOT SHARE THE SAME DRIVE THAT HE DID, EVEN IF FEW DID, IN STILLWATER OR AROUND THE WORLD.

As an athlete himself, Smith forbid himself of vices. He went to class and worked out — three times a day — often at odd hours, reveling in the thought that his competitors were sleeping while he was sweating and grinding. There was no time for dating or partying. Only minimal time for friendships or even family.

Smith operated with tunnel vision. And it was the only way he knew, even if it didn’t fit most of the world around him, including many in his rugged sport.

“That was very stressful,” Smith said. “To go to coaching 30 student-athletes who have problems, weight issues, grade issues, whatever, it was unbelievable. I was thinking there about midway through my first year, ‘What did I do? Three months ago I was being driven in a parade, to, we can’t even win a match.’”

The Cowboys got to winning. And fast. The very next year, OSU romped to a 13-1 dual record and won the 1994 national title, as Smith quickly adjusted on the fly.

“IT’S DEFINITELY SOMETHING I NEEDED, from the standpoint of living in that self-centered world for so long, where everything’s about being the best, to becoming a coach where there’s a lot of people who are counting on you,” Smith said. “And it has nothing to do with yourself. It has to do with others.

“THOSE WERE FRUSTRATING TIMES. It was a real struggle trying to figure out why people weren’t motivated or why an individual wouldn’t take care of his weight. And why wouldn’t you go to class? IT WAS TOUGH. IT WAS HARD WORK. NOTHING CAME EASY. IT WASN’T NATURAL FOR ME.

“I just kind of bit my tongue and stayed tough and realized I needed to build up some callus with all this. And if I’m going to continue to do this and be successful, I NEEDED TO LEARN IN A HURRY ON THE FLY OR THIS THING IS NOT GOING TO WORK.

“They were tough days. I wore everything on my sleeve. I took a lot of things personal. I definitely made some wrong steps with individuals. WITH TIME, I WAS RESILIENT WITH MY EFFORT AND DIDN’T LET A LOT TEAR ME DOWN. Now here we are 25 years later, and it all worked out okay.”

Oh, it worked out alright, with the Cowboys regularly ruling the conference, whether in the Big Eight or the Big 12, and tacking on six of OSU’s record of 34 NCAA championships, highlighted by a run of four straight from 2003-2006.

With Smith, it always works out. And not by accident

The will to win may have always existed inside him, but it was tested and fully formed in Del City, where the Smith family, a dozen strong including mom and dad, were bound by their Catholic faith and their constant competition.

JOHN MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHAMPION OF THE WORLD (SIX TIMES), BUT HE WAS NEVER CHAMPION OF HIS OWN LIVING ROOM IN DEL CITY. That’s where the Smiths, brothers and sisters, too, along with neighbors and friends, regularly worked on their moves and worked out their excess energy.

“IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS A WRESTLING TOURNAMENT IN THE LIVING ROOM EVERY NIGHT,” John said. “Sometimes it was more important to win that tournament than the real tournament on Saturday. “There were several tough matches, and it wasn’t always with your brother. There was a little hair pullin’ and scratchin’ and probably some biting going on. It was intense. A LOT OF FURNITURE GOT BROKE.”

In the name of wrestling, it was all good.

“I got good at gluing things,” John’s mother, Madeline said. “Something was constantly getting tipped over, some valuable memories that had to be glued back together. I was forever gluing things. But whatever happened, happened.

“THE HOME WAS ALWAYS A HOME. I never got caught up too much in things being perfect. I kept a clean house, but if things got broken, they got broken. Big deal.”

Wrestling became the big deal.

Four brothers took to the mats, starting with the oldest, Lee Roy, who won a national title at OSU. Six sisters, when not mixing it up with the boys on the living room floor, served as mat maids or cheerleaders or tournament workers.

MADELINE and LEE ROY SR. did all they could to offer support, after the younger Lee Roy was plucked from an elementary school playground and introduced to the sport, which he’d quickly master. Lee Roy was all-city champ, state champ and national champ. And when he wasn’t beating up foes, he was beating up John in the backyard or on the carpet where the sofa and chairs had been shoved aside.

Not that John would go down without a fight — literally.

“THE KID WAS INTENSE FROM DAY ONE,” Madeline said of John. “I remember him telling us when he was in junior high, ‘First, I want to win state. Then I’m going to win the Big Eight. Then, I’m going to win the Olympics.’

“We kind of laughed at him. But he always worked hard and was a person who set his goals. And when John made his mind up about something, he did it.”

And it was a mind all about winning.

“I don’t care what it is, John can’t stand to lose,” said Lee Roy Sr. “And he’s always been willing to pay the price, no matter what it took, to be a winner.”

Winning was a family thing, too, with OSU becoming a benefactor. After Lee Roy and John thrived as Cowboys, brothers Pat and Mark followed, adding to the Smith legacy in Stillwater.

“The kids just took off in the sport,” Madeline said. “Lee Roy was talented from the beginning. He’s the one who really started it in the family. Then when John came along, he just idolized Lee Roy. And Pat idolized John. And Mark idolized all of them.”

As a foursome, the Smith brothers are responsible for 10 state high school titles, seven NCAA titles, two Olympic gold medals, four world championships and 13 AllAmerican finishes. All remained connected to the sport, with Lee Roy serving as the executive director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame across the way from Gallagher-Iba Arena, where the Smiths paved their way as the first family of American wrestling.

Scary thought: what if Lee Roy had gone somewhere else to wrestle rather than OSU?

Scarier thought: it could have happened — at Bedlam rival Oklahoma.

Back in the mid-1970s, when Lee Roy was starring at Del City High, the Sooners certainly had the eye of the Smiths.

“With Lee Roy, I think it was a tough decision between OU and OSU at the time,” John said. “My family was more OU oriented than OSU, living in Del City. We actually went to a couple football bowl games as a family following OU.

SCARY THOUGHT: WHAT IF LEE ROY HAD GONE SOMEWHERE ELSE TO WRESTLE RATHER THAN OSU? SCARIER THOUGHT: IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED — AT BEDLAM RIVAL OKLAHOMA.

“I think if he made that choice, wherever he wanted me, was where I was going to go. I grew up with him. I trusted him. If OSU was where he thought I should be, or anywhere else, I probably would have gone with him.”

Of course, John did follow Lee Roy — to Stillwater.

“All I can say is, there’s no regrets,” John said. “I’m sure glad he made that decision to be a Cowboy.”

And John is just that, a Cowboy, revered in rare company in which few are included.

“Above and beyond being a great tactician and a great recruiter and motivator and all that, that’s all trumped by the kind of person he is,” said OSU athletic director Mike Holder. “I have a lot of respect for him, his values. He’s a great father. And you see somebody with five kids and the time he makes for them and the great job he and his wife Toni do as parents. I think he brings that to the wrestling room.

“We’re just lucky to have him as our wrestling coach. He’s a real leader in our department, a real leader nationally, and I think someone who really exemplifies what it means to be a Cowboy.

John’s latest season brings a new experience. And he’s experienced a lot, standing on the highest perch of the Olympic medal stand twice, winning more championships, coaching championships, coaching brothers and nephews.

But this season John’s coaching becomes even more personal. He’ll be coaching his son, Joseph .

“Yeah, it’s different, there’s no question,” John said. “My brothers, we grew up together, competing every day against each other. Threw a couple punches. Said a few words that were probably not proper. It’s different.

“Your son is somebody you’re raising, you look at differently. You do care when they’re hurt. I’m not sure I ever cared when one of my brothers was hurt. Yeah, you look at it differently. The challenge coaching a son …. I’M REAL CAREFUL ABOUT NOT BEING TOO SOFT.”

Joseph, for a freshman, sounds like he’s been raised on tough. At Stillwater High, he was a three-time Oklahoma state champion. Over the summer, he won a Junior Freestyle national championship and was named that event’s outstanding wrestler.

“We have a great relationship,” John said. “It’s been good that I haven’t had to coach him a whole lot, other than spending time with him on the mental side of the sport and the things you have to stay focused on outside the wrestling room and in the classroom.

“There’s definitely expectation there from me. ‘You do have issues when there’s 40 guys. And you do have problems. And things sometimes don’t go your way. I just don’t want you involved in that, as your father.’

“Those are the challenges. Sometimes, he doesn’t quite understand why I’m giving him lectures after practice that I may not be giving to everybody. NOT THAT I TREAT HIM DIFFERENTLY, IT’S JUST THAT THERE’S A LEVEL OF EXPECTATION THERE AS A FATHER. Hopefully, our relationship will grow. But it’s going to be harder. There’s no question.”

John has faced and conquered challenges before. At times, it’s required change, some that have carried him through these past 24 seasons.

He’s still driven to win . And the competition still revs his engine.

But, and this goes against the Vince Lombardi comparison, that’s not everything.

“IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT WINNING NOW. YOU’RE REALLY MAKING A DIFFERENCE HERE,” John said. “With Mike Holder being the athletic director, there’s a value he puts in wanting these student-athletes to have the five best years of their life. A coach is going to create an environment that allows for that.

“I maybe didn’t think of it that way when I started, but I think that way now. It’s real important that I recognize it. This is an important five years. Not everybody’s going to have success, but you do want people leaving and being proud of what they were a part of.

“The value of that five years, and that experience, don’t just write it off. There is the pressure to win, the pressure to succeed, but also we need to put pressure on ourselves that that five years is an experience they’ll remember.”

A RISKY HIRE AS COACH? CLEARLY NOT.

If possible, OSU has continued to grow on Smith. He covets his own experience, and not for all the obvious reasons, but the experiences, too, provided TONI and their children: JOSEPH , SAMUEL , LEVI , ISABELL and CECILIA .

“Oh, I love Oklahoma State,” he said. “The reason I’m really proud to be a part of it, I’ve had five children, and I’ve really raised them in Gallagher-Iba Arena. That experience, for young kids, being around dedicated student-athletes, not only on the mat or the field, but in the classroom, it’s really rubbed off on my kids.

“MY WIFE AND I ARE LUCKY TO BE AROUND NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONS WHO HAVE A GOOD BALANCE IN THEIR LIFE AND HAVE A GREAT MORAL COMPASS. I WOULD PAY TO DO IT. THAT EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN INVALUABLE. When you see that happening in your own family, you just can’t beat it, especially in today’s world. You just can’t beat that environment.

STORY BY JOHN HELSLEY