Hauser Indcuted into Hall
June 5, 2009
SHAWNEE, Okla. - Former Southwestern Oklahoma State University men's basketball coach George Hauser is set to be inducted into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame tonight in a special ceremony on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University.
Hauser, along with four other coaches, will be a part of the eighth class to be inducted into the Association's Hall of Fame. The event will start at 7 p.m. at the Geiger Center and is part of the festivities leading up to the annual Faith 7 All-Star Basketball Game between Oklahoma and Texas high schoolers the following day.
In addition to Hauser, two other inductees - Gene Robbins and Richard Megli -- have SWOSU ties. Robbins served one year as SWOSU's coach during the 1975-76 season and later went on to coach at a number of NCAA Division I schools. Megli is a graduate of Southwestern and led Hammon High School to four state championships. He coached Ryan and Damon Minor who went on to All-American careers at the University of Oklahoma and later as professionals. The remaining two inductees are Truman Dixon, a long time coach at Checotah High School, and Don Sumner who coached more than 25 years at St. Gregory's University.
In his 43 years as a coach, Hauser had 792 wins, including 581 as a collegiate coach at Bacone Junior College, American Christian College and SWOSU. His teams did remarkably well considering how his rosters were filled with players from varying backgrounds, cultures and social class. He took them from all parts of the United States and somehow each year managed to blend a diverse group of individuals into a smooth, efficient, well-organized team.
Hauser's teams won and in spectacular fashion. His Bacone teams in the early 70's won junior college scoring titles in three consecutive years, topping out at 109 points per game in 1969-70. Those numbers were unheard in a game that was being played without a three-point line and a shot clock.
Bacone was ranked in the Top 20 four of those five years and combined for a 64-12 record his last two years. His 1972 squad finished as the National Junior College Runner-up. Hauser left Bacone in 1973 after five years where he compiled a 124-34 record.
His next stop was the now defunct-American Christian College in Tulsa where he led teams to a berth in the NCCAA National Tournament in 1974. That squad finished with a 29-9 mark in his first year and followed with a 25-15 mark in year number two. He left after three years at ACC in 1976 with a combined total of 69-37.
It was at his next stop, SWOSU, that Hauser would find his most success in his greatest longevity. He commanded the Bulldogs sideline for 27 years. In that time he won 388 games, seven conference titles, and made two trips to the NAIA National Tournament. His Bulldog teams were a direct reflection of the coach - gritty, determined, and played with relentless hustle.
It worked well. Six times the Bulldogs posted 20 or wins including a stretch in the late 1970's when SWOSU finished with win totals of 24, 21 and 23.
Hauser always garnered the respect of his fellow coaches who voted him either conference or district coach of the year eight different times during his career. Amazingly the awards were spread out through five different decades a feat that is almost unheard of today.
Hauser got his start as a high school coach were he won 278 games coaching both boys and girls basketball at Choctaw, Cherokee, Covington and Woodward in the 1960's. His overall won-loss total including high school and college is 792-554 (.588).