High-tops and Jump shots

Coach W.J. Wisdom and his Plowboys

What is common knowledge and a point of particular pride for Tarleton sports fans is the 86-game basketball winning streak, covering five seasons in the middle to late 1930s.

That streak came through the instruction of an accidental football coach, aided by a well-known shoe salesman.

Coach W.J. Wisdom, a football coach for the then-Plowboys, had never played basketball. He actually was hired by the school in 1920 as business manager and head cashier at the College Store.

He became head football coach when A.B. Hayes abdicated the position, and proceeded to guide Tarleton to a 71-35-15 career mark, including an undefeated season in 1925. His gridiron success made him the popular choice to take over the basketball team in 1930 as the Great Depression and hard financial times locally forced the fortuitous combination of duties.

Boasting a 111-2 record between 1930 and 1940, Wisdom and the Plowboys were aided in their record quest by Charles Taylor, a shoe company representative from Columbus, Indiana, better known as Chuck, the inspiration and designer of the iconic canvas and rubber high top basketball shoes that still bear his name.

Besides selling footwear, Taylor, a well-traveled semi-pro basketball player, freely shared his knowledge of the game, including innovations in strategy and execution.

Most basketball players of the time had been taught to shoot using both hands—a two-hand set shot that required the shooter to stop and face the goal, allowing defenders to more easily block shots.

During a team clinic, Taylor showed Wisdom a new scoring weapon, the one-handed shot. Using the new shot allowed players to shoot from virtually any spot on the floor, even while moving.

The change in technique, which became a major Tarleton offensive weapon, helped account for an almost 3:1 scoring advantage for the Plowboys during the latter stages of the streak.

Biographer Abraham Aamidor noted that Taylor began his professional career as a 17-year-old high school student, and during World War II became a physical fitness instructor for the Army and Navy pre-flight program at Marquette University.

Besides his contribution of footwear for the game, Taylor also is credited with developing the laceless basketball.

And he had a hand in a record-setting 86-game college basketball winning streak.

Texans’/TexAnns’ Home Memorializes Coach William Wisdom

The cornerstone of Tarleton’s athletics complex is Wisdom Gym, built in 1970 and renovated in 1977.

Constructed under the direction of President Dr. William O. Trogdon, it is named for highly successful coach and Athletic Director W.J. Wisdom, who was an unqualified success as a coach in two sports.

He became Tarleton’s football coach in 1920 and guided the Plowboys to a 71-35-15 career record, including an unblemished mark in 1925. Financial woes led Tarleton to add to Wisdom’s workload as he took over the school’s basketball fortunes in 1930, despite having little background in the sport.

Though he had attempted coaching basketball prior to coming to Stephenville, he had been knocked down three times during practice by a player and resigned. That player was the center of the girls’ team at Paducah High School.

The lack of experience didn’t hinder the novice coach at the collegiate level as he guided the Tarleton team he nicknamed the Plowboys to a then national record of 86 consecutive wins over a four-season span. Wisdom’s mark was broken in 1970 by UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden.

According to Tarleton State University—The Traditions Remain, Wisdom’s lack of knowledge of basketball made him a detail-oriented student of the game. He was one of the first coaches in the nation to teach the one-hand shot, creating about 80 percent of the Plowboys’ offense during the latter stages of the streak.

An all-around athlete, the future coach also played semiprofessionally in the Colorado State League. Wisdom, born in Pottsville, went to high school in Hamilton and received his teaching certificate from North Texas Normal College before taking classes at the National School of Recreation in Chicago. Outside of sports, he was a talented singer and violinist. No longer the Plowboys, Coach Lonn Reisman’s Texans continue to add to the legacy of excellence begun by Wisdom. Reisman, coach of the Texans since 1988, coached his milestone 600th win during the 2015-16 campaign. Overall, Reisman, has claimed 13 various Coach of the Year honors, while compiling a stellar 397-64 record as of the start of the 2016-17 season.