Black History Month
Shana Robinson Video
Shana Robinson was Tulsa’s first female All-American in track & field as she debuted in 2000. She set five school records that year, all marks that she would break multiple times in subsequent years.
Robinson set school indoor records for the 55, 60 and 200 meters and established new marks in the 100 and 200 meters for the outdoor season, all records that still hold today. She was a four-time all-conference performer, winning six WAC titles, was the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 2001 and named the WAC’s Most Outstanding Performer for indoor track in 2004.
Robinson ran the country’s third fastest 100-meter time in 11.23 as a senior and placed among the top-10 eighty-two times in her career with a whopping 37 first-place titles. She capped her collegiate career as a first-team Academic All-American and Top- 10 finalist for the NCAA’s Woman of The Year Award.
Bradley Bourgeois became one of the top defenders in school history, leading TU to 3 league titles and 3 NCAA appearances, while starting all 81 career games. He was a part of 25 career shutouts, earned all-conference honors all 4 years and was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2015.
Tyler Henderson Video
Tyler Henderson had the most decorated career in Tulsa volleyball history from 2009 to 2012, becoming a three-time second-team All-American. She burst onto the scene in 2009 with a sensational rookie season, earning Conference USA and Midwest Region Freshman of the Year honors and honorable mention All-America accolades.
From her sophomore season, the outside hitter garnered Conference USA Player of the Year merits three seasons. Henderson was a three-time all-league and all-Midwest Region selection and ended her career as the NCAA record-holder for career kills with 2,525 for a 5.22 average per set.
Henderson led Tulsa to three conference titles, three NCAA tournament appearances and a four-year record of 111-27.
Willie Biles was one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball. A two-time All-America and all-MVC selection, Biles scored more than 40 pts 8 times in his career and became the 1st player in 13 seasons (Oscar Robertson) to average over 30 pts a game in a season with a 30.3 average in 1972-73.
Jada Holmes, a Kentucky transfer, was a defensive standout for the Tulsa soccer team in her 3 seasons, earning player of the match 4 times. She started 25 of 40 games and helped the Hurricane to post eight shutouts throughout her career.
Ray Rhodes and Lovie Smith Video
A pair of former TU defensive stars continued their football careers in the coaching ranks. Ray Rhodes and Lovie Smith were among some of the first African-American head coaches in the NFL.
At Tulsa, Rhodes played two years as a receiver and cornerback in 1972 and ’73 after transferring from TCU. Smith was a two-time All-America defensive back in 1978 and ’79, and later coached linebackers at his alma mater.
During his NFL career, Rhodes was a part of five Super Bowl Championship teams, while spending seven years in the league as a player and 32 years coaching, including five seasons as a head coach. In 1995, Rhodes became the fourth Black head coach in NFL history when he began his four-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, followed by one year with the Green Bay Packers.
Smith has coached on all three levels, high school, college and NFL, including three years on the prep level, 18 years in college and 20 in the NFL. He was the Chicago Bears head coach for nine years, from 2004 to 2012, and later coached the Tampa Bay Bucs for the 2014 and ’15 seasons.
In 2006, Smith and Tony Dungy became the first black coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl, as Chicago Bears faced the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl 41.
Rhodes and Smith each earned Associated Press Coach of the Year merits once in their NFL head coaching careers.
As we celebrate Black History Month, we will recognize some of Tulsa’s most prolific African-American student-athletes and coaches. #BlackHistoryMonth l #LoyalAlwaysTrue
Jocelyn Sheffield became a force at the plate for the Tulsa softball team in her 4-year career, batting .277 with a .488 slugging %, and hitting over.350 in 2 of those seasons. She helped Tulsa reach 3 NCAA Tournaments and win the 2014 C-USA Championship in a school record 53-win season.
As the first African-American head coach in Tulsa sports history, Nolan Richardson made an immediate impact on the Golden Hurricane basketball program and the city of Tulsa upon his arrival as head coach in 1980.
It only took nine days into the season for Richardson’s team to ignite excitement in a town that was starved for success on the basketball court as Tulsa took down defending national champion and No.8-ranked Louisville and the Oklahoma Sooners.
That first season, Richardson led Tulsa to a 26-7 record including an 86-84 victory over Syracuse for the school’s first NIT Championship. Richardson went on to post a 119-37 career record, two conference titles, three NCAA Tournament and two NIT appearances. The 1981 and 1985 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Richardson laid the groundwork for future TU black head coaches Tubby Smith, Steve Robinson, Danny Manning and Frank Haith.
To this day, Richardson remains as the only head coach in college basketball to win a national junior college championship with Western Texas JC, Tulsa’s NIT title and an NCAA Championship with Arkansas.
Bryce Robinson earned eight All-America honors in his four seasons and was a 5-time conference champion. He still holds top-5 times in the indoor 60m & top-8 for 200m, and is the record-holder for outdoor 100m and 200m. Top 100m time was 9.99 and 20.30 for the 200m outdoors.
Jillian completed her career as Tulsa's all-time leader for points, rebounds, blocks, field goals made, free throws made and double-doubles. A four-time all-Conference USA selection, Robbins was also the league’s Defensive Player of the Year twice and C-USA’s MVP as as a senior.