Golden Hurricane Announces Ken Hayes Day for Season Opener with Northeastern State
9/30/2024 11:16:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball program, in coordination with Northeastern State, will honor legendary coach Ken Hayes when the two teams meet for the season opener on Nov. 4 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
"I have had the real honor of knowing Coach Hayes during my time here," Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol said. "We are always looking to attach our history to the present. We want to be able to honor him and have a day for him – both for us at TU and also for his time at NSU. He is a Northeastern State graduate and a hall of fame coach there, just as he is here. What a legacy he has in this state. We wanted to make sure we could recognize that.
"It's also an opportunity to bring many people connected to his past to the game and get them to the Reynolds Center to enjoy a great basketball game in the state of Oklahoma."
One of the most successful coaches in the state, Hayes won 391 games in his years with Tulsa, Oral Roberts and Northeastern State and held a 460-329 record as a head coach. After a coaching career that spanned more than four decades, Hayes was inducted to the Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2008. Northeastern State welcomed him into its hall of fame in 1999.
Hayes spent seven seasons from 1968-75 as the head men's basketball coach at the University of Tulsa, recording a winning record in each campaign. He finished his Tulsa coaching career with a 117-68 record, which currently ranks fifth on the all-time wins list. Hayes' first Tulsa team began the year with an 18-2 record and ranked as high as seventh nationally with consecutive wins over No. 10 Cincinnati, No. 14 Louisville and No. 18 Drake, while ending the year third in league standings and in the NIT Championship Tournament.
He was twice named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year with the Hurricane in 1969 and 1973 and was also named the NABC District Coach of the Year in 1973. A win over the nation's third-ranked Louisville Cardinals, 84-77, in 1975 still rates as the highest-ranked opponent Tulsa has ever defeated. Hayes coached 10 all-conference selections, five All-Americans and had eight players drafted in professional basketball.
A 1956 and 1959 graduate of Northeastern State, Hayes returned to NSU to coach the men's basketball team from 1983 until his retirement in 1997. When he retired, Hayes had won 224 games as the head coach of the RiverHawks. His 1984-85 team ranked No. 1 in the country for much of the season, captured an Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference title and finished with a 26-3 record.
"I have had the real honor of knowing Coach Hayes during my time here," Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol said. "We are always looking to attach our history to the present. We want to be able to honor him and have a day for him – both for us at TU and also for his time at NSU. He is a Northeastern State graduate and a hall of fame coach there, just as he is here. What a legacy he has in this state. We wanted to make sure we could recognize that.
"It's also an opportunity to bring many people connected to his past to the game and get them to the Reynolds Center to enjoy a great basketball game in the state of Oklahoma."
One of the most successful coaches in the state, Hayes won 391 games in his years with Tulsa, Oral Roberts and Northeastern State and held a 460-329 record as a head coach. After a coaching career that spanned more than four decades, Hayes was inducted to the Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2008. Northeastern State welcomed him into its hall of fame in 1999.
Hayes spent seven seasons from 1968-75 as the head men's basketball coach at the University of Tulsa, recording a winning record in each campaign. He finished his Tulsa coaching career with a 117-68 record, which currently ranks fifth on the all-time wins list. Hayes' first Tulsa team began the year with an 18-2 record and ranked as high as seventh nationally with consecutive wins over No. 10 Cincinnati, No. 14 Louisville and No. 18 Drake, while ending the year third in league standings and in the NIT Championship Tournament.
He was twice named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year with the Hurricane in 1969 and 1973 and was also named the NABC District Coach of the Year in 1973. A win over the nation's third-ranked Louisville Cardinals, 84-77, in 1975 still rates as the highest-ranked opponent Tulsa has ever defeated. Hayes coached 10 all-conference selections, five All-Americans and had eight players drafted in professional basketball.
A 1956 and 1959 graduate of Northeastern State, Hayes returned to NSU to coach the men's basketball team from 1983 until his retirement in 1997. When he retired, Hayes had won 224 games as the head coach of the RiverHawks. His 1984-85 team ranked No. 1 in the country for much of the season, captured an Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference title and finished with a 26-3 record.
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