Celebrating 60 years of high school basketball championships at State Fair Arena
House Big e
The Lineup
SPORTS EDITOR
Jeff Patterson
DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR
Jacob Unruh
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Darla Smith
REPORTERS
Ryan Aber
Jenni Carlson
Jordan Davis
Joe Mussatto
Nick Sardis
Scott Wright
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Nathan J. Fish
Doug Hoke
Sarah Phipps
Bryan Terry
DESIGNERS
Lee Benson, Joey Schaffer
PROOFREADER
Heather Hewitt
About the book
“The Big House: Celebrating 60 years of high school basketball at State Fair Arena” chronicles the last dance for Jim
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.
Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. • www.pediment.com
Printed in Canada.
This book is an unofficial account of the State Fair Arena and Oklahoma high school basketball by The Oklahoman and is not endorsed by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.
A player shoots a free throw during a Class 2A boys basketball state quarterfinals game between Dale and
at
March 6, 2025.
in
Cashion
State Fair Arena
Oklahoma City,
BRYAN TERRY / THE OKLAHOMAN
The lights go out at State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City on March 14, 2025. NATHAN J. FISH / THE OKLAHOMAN
Foreword
BY JACOB UNRUH | THE OKLAHOMAN
IT’S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO forget the first time you entered Jim Norick Arena for a state tournament game.
The concrete-wrapped concourse was full of life. The smell of a barnyard — from horses to manure — could be overwhelming. The bustling crowd from all over the state filled the hardwood chairs.
And it all centered around the best high school basketball in the state.
I feel honored that I was able to have a huge hand in telling the final chapter of the famed arena known as The Big House by nearly everyone around the state.
Joining The Oklahoman in 2011 brought me to a place that I could cover the state basketball tournament every year. I had covered it in previous seasons elsewhere.
But not like this.
For decades, The Oklahoman has told the story of The Big House. From rodeos to concerts. From joy
to heartbreak. In the spotlight. Behind the scenes.
We were at every game.
There were buzzer beaters. A
Championship Saturday filled to the rafters. There was the 6-on-6 girls basketball era. Dogpile after dogpile.
Best of all, there were people from every background, every corner of the state.
Moms and dads watched their chil-
director David Glover once told me.
That’s what made The Big House special.
The people.
That’s what we at The Oklahoman strived to write about through the long history of the arena.
We were there when schools like Millwood and Douglass became powerhouses. We were there when Rotnei Clarke and Keiton Page wowed a ca-
“That barn is where everybody wants to play.”
FORMER OSSAA ASSISTANT DIRECTOR DAVID GLOVER
dren play on the hardwood. Those children often grew up to be coaches and parents, watching their children play in the same arena.
Generation after generation.
“That barn is where everybody wants to play,” the late Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association assistant
pacity crowd. We were there when Blake Griffin brought down the house.
We witnessed Angel Goodrich and Sequoyah Tahlequah’s rise. We watched in awe as Pocola miraculously rallied past Walters. We were there when the Gore twins made history.
We told the stories of the people who
brought the tournament to life.
There is no better snapshot of this state than the biggest two-week period of the entire athletic school year.
Sure, football is king in this state. But the gridiron has nothing on the hardwood of the state basketball tournament weekends.
Basketball is in every school, every community.
From Southeast Oklahoma to the panhandle, everybody strives to make it to state. They strived to be at The Big House.
We sought to be there, too.
Throughout this book, there will be stories showcasing the history of the arena. There will be chronicles of the final state tournaments before the new arena takes over in 2026.
And there will be tales of legends and dynasties explored.
It was an honor to be there each season and for that final chapter. The passion bleeds through these pages.
After all, it’s where everyone wanted to play.
OPPOSITE: The sunset is reflected in a car parked at State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, March 13, 2025. SARAH PHIPPS / THE OKLAHOMAN
60 years of State Fair Arena
LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE FACES AND MOMENTS WHICH HELPED MAKE SIX DECADES OF OKLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL
BASKETBALL SO SPECIAL AT THE VENUE KNOWN AS STATE FAIR ARENA, JIM NORICK ARENA AND THE BIG HOUSE.
Bless this house
Why we’ll miss State Fair Arena, an ‘amazing’ home for Oklahoma high school basketball
BY JENNI CARLSON | THE OKLAHOMAN
MONTY HALL HAS WATCHED
hundreds of high school state tournament basketball games from his seat inside State Fair Arena.
Oh, technically, it’s not his seat.
There are no assigned seats at state, after all.
But that seat in Section 230 might as well be his. He’s been going to the state basketball tournament since 1970. That’s 55 consecutive years — and a majority of the games he’s watched at State Fair Arena have been from his spot right behind where radio crews broadcast the games.
So Hall is wistful as this year’s state basketball tournaments begin Tuesday. These are the last ones at the arena as the tournaments move next door to the OG&E Coliseum next year.
“When it’s over,” Hall said of this year’s tournaments, “I don’t think I’m gonna want to leave.”
His daughter, who has her own
state tournament streak of 27 years, nodded.
“Not to say that we won’t continue the tradition,” Jenna Gates said, “but I think it will probably depend a lot on how it’s run and how it feels.”
How it feels.
Isn’t that what’s special about the state basketball tournaments at State Fair Arena? It’s a building, after all, that is 60 years old, and it has lots of gray hairs and wrinkles, creaky joints and warts. The roof has been known to leak. The concourses are drab, the seats are worn and the bathrooms, well, let’s not even go there.
The folks at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds and the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association have done their best to smooth the rough spots. New scoreboard. Different court. Replace some seats.
But the fact remains the arena is still an old dilapidated, rundown building.
Those are the words of Scott Munz, vice president of marketing and public relations at the fairgrounds. He points to some movie productions that recently used the arena to shoot scenes. “Reagan,” the Ronald Reagan biopic, turned the arena into the backdrop for the 1980 Republican National Convention.
“That was nice in one sense,” Munz said, “but it really just pointed out how bad we were if they’re thinking that they don’t have to come in and do anything.”
And yet, for all of the arena’s shortcomings, it might be the most beloved sports venue in the state.
Yes, there are lots of OU fans who love Owen Field and Love’s Field, but just as many Oklahoma State fans loathe them. The reverse could be said for Boone Pickens Stadium and Gallagher-Iba Arena.
But State Fair Arena? Generations of high school basketball players, coaches and fans from all across
Oklahoma have dreamed of playing there. It’s their end goal. It’s their Emerald City.
Even though there’s no wizard behind a curtain, State Fair Arena does have something almost inexplicable.
‘The feeling you get at the fairgrounds’
Dan Hays is a New Mexican by birth, an Oklahoman by choice. The legendary small-college basketball coach who spent most of his career at Oklahoma Christian University has lived in the state for nearly five decades, so he understands the pecking order around here.
“Oklahoma is a football state,” Hays said.
But he believes magic happens at State Fair Arena every March.
Back in his home state, a basketball-crazy place — “They don’t even know what football is,” Hays quipped — the high school state basketball tournaments are held at The Pit, the
OPPOSITE: Monty Hall and daughter Jenna Gates sit in their usual seats in Section 230 at State Fair Arena. Hall has been to the state basketball tournament for 55 consecutive years while Gates has been 27 consecutive years. DOUG HOKE / THE OKLAHOMAN
“They don’t even know what football is.”
RIGHT: The exterior of OG&E Coliseum, left, and Jim Norick Arena is pictured on Jan. 31, 2025.
DOUG HOKE / THE OKLAHOMAN
Dan Hays on his home state of New Mexico
University of New Mexico’s hardwood haven. The 14,000-seat arena often sells out for the state finals.
It’s loud. It’s raucous. It’s awesome.
“And that’s the feeling you get at the fairgrounds,” Hays said.
There’s an electric-spark energy at State Fair Arena that belies the wornout building.
Perhaps it’s in the traditions. Fans waiting in the wings to make a mad dash into the floor seats. Old-timey music mixing with more modern tunes before games, a nod to the state tournaments’ original music man Charlie Heatly. “Oklahoma!” playing before every game with everyone in the arena standing and clapping along to the state song. Public address announcer Steve Daniels welcoming everyone before starting lineups with his customary, “You have made it to The Big House!”
Then again, traditions evolve and change.
Once upon a time, the banks of floodlights that illuminate the court would be left off until a few minutes before tipoff. When they came on, the arena pulsated with “oohs” and “aahs.”
That doesn’t happen anymore — LED technology means the lights can stay on all the time — and other things have changed over the years, too.
But the energy remains.
Those who have played there and coached there say it’s because of what the arena is for so many Oklahomans. An aspiration.
Making it to The Big House
That first walk onto the court is something Julius Price will never forget. He
was a freshman starter for an inexperienced Earlsboro team in 1993 when it made an unexpected run to state.
Price had been to State Fair Arena for state games before, but entering the arena for the first time as a player hit differently.
He looked up in the stands and realized the stands were full from the bottom all the way to the top. There had to be 6,000 or 7,000 people there.
“Coming from Earlsboro,” he said of the tiny town just 10 miles east of Shawnee, “we might have had maybe a couple hundred at our games.”
He chuckled.
“I think my heart sunk a little bit when we’re out there warming up. I just had to tell myself, ‘Do not look up at the crowd.’”
And he had to remind himself of that in the final seconds of the Class B state title game when Arapaho thought it would be a good idea to send a freshman to the free-throw line and fouled him not once but twice.
When Price averted his eyes to avoid thinking about the packed stands, he saw a TV camera posted directly under the basket.
“All I remember seeing was this red
ABOVE: Monty Hall first watched state basketball tournament games at State Fair Arena in 1970. His daughter, Jenna Gates, first attended games with him in1998. They plan to continue attending games at OG&E Coliseum.
DOUG HOKE / THE OKLAHOMAN
From Alvan Adams to Blake Griffin, State Fair Arena’s AllDecade boys basketball teams
BY RYAN ABER AND SCOTT WRIGHT | THE OKLAHOMAN
STATE FAIR ARENA HAS SEEN plenty of classic games and plenty of stars during its 60-year reign as the home of Oklahoma high school basketball state championships.
Here’s a look at the all-decade boys
basketball teams, from the first decade of the State Fair Arena from 1966-75 to the 2016-present final decade.
The Oklahoman weighed players’ overall careers with their state tournament performances, though players on the list must have played at least one state tournament game at State Fair Arena:
Winford Boynes, Capitol Hill (1975)
Robert Iverson, Tulsa Webster (1971)
Larry Hardeman, New Lima (1968)
1966-75 All-Decade boys basketball team at State Fair Arena
Alvan Adams, Putnam City (1972)
Adams, who starred at OU and played nearly 1,000 NBA games, averaged 25.8 points and 14.9 rebounds as a senior, leading the Pirates to a state championship.
Winford Boynes, Capitol Hill (1975)
As a sophomore in 1973, led Capitol Hill to a state championship in a season where he averaged 17.7 points per game. He had 48 rebounds in that season’s state tournament, one shy of the thenClass 4A record at the time, and won Oklahoman state player of the year honors in 1973 and 1975.
Virgil Franks, Sasakwa (1974)
Tied the then-state tournament record with 190 career points and set a then-Class B state tournament record with 122 career rebounds.
Larry Hardeman, New Lima (1968)
Hardeman led New Lima to back-to-back Class B state titles, breaking Class B scoring records in the process. He scored 1,946 points during his three-year high school career, helping his team to a combined 84-4 record.
Robert Iverson, Tulsa Webster (1971)
As a sophomore in 1969, Iverson carried Webster to the championship game, where he scored 33 points in a loss to Guthrie. Although Webster never again made it out of the first round, he ultimately averaged 25 points in five state tournament games.
Virgil Franks, Sasakwa (1974)
Alvan Adams, Putnam City (1972)
1996-2005 All-Decade girls basketball team at
State Fair Arena
Rose Hammond, Depew (2006)
Winning two titles and earning two selections to The Oklahoman’s Super 5, Hammond averaged 23.1 points per game over nine state tournament contests.
Stephanie McGhee, Pocola/Howe (2004)
In just six career state tournament games, McGhee averaged 31.3 points per game and led Howe to the 2004 Class A state title.
Jenna Plumley, Frontier (2006)
Plumley averaged 20.1 points over 11 state tournament games, leading Frontier to titles in 2003 and 2005 with a runner-up finish in between.
Jadrea Seeley, Bethel (1999)
Scoring 211 points in 10 games over her four state tournament trips, Seeley keyed back-toback Bethel titles in 1997-98 and reached the semifinals in her other two seasons.
Wendi Willits, Fort Cobb-Broxton (1997)
The Oklahoman’s Player of the Year in 1997, Willits scored 3,345 career points before her career took her to Arkansas and then the WNBA.
Jadrea Seeley, Bethel (1999)
Stephanie McGhee, Pocola/Howe (2004)
2006-15 All-Decade girls basketball team at State Fair Arena
Lakota Beatty, Anadarko (2013)
A dynamic athlete and heartbeat of a dominant program, Beatty played in seven state tournament games in four seasons and led the way to one title, averaging 16.1 points before she played at OSU and ORU.
Angel Goodrich, Sequoyah Tahlequah (2008)
The 5-foot-4 point guard who would star at Kansas and play in the WNBA led the way to three state championships and one runner-up finish, packing the Big House with her electric play while averaging 22.3 points per game in state.
Jaden Hobbs, Alva (2016)
The 5-on-5 career scoring leader in the state tournament with 299 points, Hobbs played in the title game all four seasons, winning the final three. She averaged 17.3 points and 5.8 assists as a senior before playing at OSU.
Kevi Luper, Adair (2009)
One of the most dynamic players of her era, Luper led Adair to two state championships — missing a third opportunity tearing her ACL in the area tournament — before becoming arguably the best player in ORU history.
LaNesia Williams, Northeast (2014)
Williams, who ultimately played at OU, led Northeast to three state tournament appearances, including an undefeated junior season. She averaged 25.2 points and 7.1 rebounds as a senior.
Angel Goodrich, Sequoyah Tahlequah (2008)
Three to know
Meet 3 key figures to influence Oklahoma high school basketball tournament over the years
BY JORDAN DAVIS | THE OKLAHOMAN
STATE FAIR ARENA HAS FULfilled its famed billing of The Big House for the last 60 years.
Lindsay football coach Joe Tunnell first coined the name for the building in 1968, just two years into its run hosting the high school basketball state tournaments, and legendary girls basketball coach Charlie Heatly made it stick.
Thousands of players and coaches have graced The Big House hardwood, symbolizing a final step toward basketball immortalization.
For many, attending the tournament has become an annual tradition — one that spans generations.
For others, State Fair Arena has played a pivotal role in shaping careers that have lasted for decades.
But the storied building will be demolished in the spring and replaced by the new OG&E Coliseum at the OKC Fairgrounds.
Here are three individuals who
greatly impacted the high school basketball state tournaments throughout 60 years at the famed arena:
the State Fair Arena hosted high school championships in 1966, he led Morris to the program’s first Class B state championship.
“He viewed State Fair Arena as part of the necessary fabric of what high school basketball was meant to be in the state of Oklahoma.”
BILL SELF JR. ON HIS FATHER
Bill Self Sr.
The history of the state tournament cannot be told without Bill Self Sr. He was one of the premier pioneers of Oklahoma high school basketball. His near 40-year coaching and administrative career helped shape the landscape as we see it today.
Self began his career as the head girls’ basketball coach at Morris High School. During the inaugural season,
It was his sole state title in four years as a coach before stepping down to become the school’s superintendent.
“I would say my father was a historian in that he certainly respected the history of Oklahoma high school sports,” Kansas basketball coach Bill Self Jr. told The Oklahoman.
“He viewed State Fair Arena as part of the necessary fabric of what high school basketball was meant to be in
the state of Oklahoma.”
Self Sr. shifted his focus to work for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association in 1972.
For 27 years, he played an instrumental role in state basketball pairings, eligibility issues and other responsibilities. He served as the OSSAA’s executive director from 1991 to 1996 before retiring in 1999. Self passed away in 2022.
For Self Sr., State Fair Arena was more than just a venue for championship games. It was the heart of the state’s basketball culture.
“My dad loved that building and all that it presented for the state tournament,” Self said. “I remember the trips we took to OKC to spend spring breaks and just watch basketball at The Big House. I’m sure it would be sentimental for him to know the tournament will no longer be played there, but he would also support it as an opportunity to create new memories in a new arena.”
OPPOSITE: Bill Self Sr. was a former Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association executive director and state championship basketball coach. Self Sr. won a Class B girls state championship at State Fair Arena, the first season the venue was used for high school championships, in 1966 leading the Morris girls. THE OKLAHOMAN
“Being girls from little ole’ Morris, Oklahoma, that State Fair Arena made us feel like we were at Madison Square Garden in New York City.”
Bond
Harold Fox
Harold Fox never envisioned that he’d become an important figure as a high school basketball official.
He began his 41-year officiating career in 1984 working as a middle school and high school referee in Henryetta. Five years later, Fox received his first opportunity to referee at State Fair Arena.
“For an official, getting chosen to referee at the Big House is like getting called up to the big leagues,” Fox said.
“My first time at the state tournament is still one of the most anxious moments of my career to date. People don’t understand that we have a lot of pressure put on us to go out there and do our best just like the kids.”
The now 67-year-old Fox has become a cornerstone of Oklahoma high school basketball officiating.
His influence on officiating extends far beyond the court.
Fox now serves as an area coordinator for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association. There, he organizes meetings with local officials, trains new referees and oversees those selected to officiate in the postseason, including at
State Fair Arena.
When the state tournament games tip off on Mar. 4, he plans to referee at State Fair Arena for the 31st and final time.
“I’m really grateful and blessed to have officiated as long as I have,” Fox said.
“Whenever I’ve been under the aura of the Big House, I try not to take it for granted because it’s a special venue. It’s an honor to know that I’ve been a part of this rich history all these years.”
Carol Bond
An awestruck Carol Bond stood in the shadows of State Fair Arena, taking in the atmosphere before the 1966 Class B girls’ state championship game.
The sound of basketballs echoing hundreds of feet in the air was something new to Bond.
As a junior guard at Morris High School, she had only ever played in state tournament games at the Municipal Auditorium, now Civic Center Music Hall.
“Being girls from little ole’ Morris, Oklahoma, that State Fair Arena made us feel like we were at Madison Square Garden in New York City,” Bond said.
Bond went on to win two Class B girls’
state championships with Morris, one of them under Bill Self Sr.
She graduated with an impressive 50game win streak over her final two seasons. Bond set a state tournament scoring record at the time, scoring 268 points over 11 games.
Bond spent time as an assistant coach at Stroud, Jenks and Davenport for 12 years. She returned to Morris as head coach in 1990 and later won a state title as the coach at Cashion in 2000.
Since retirement, Bond has traveled to State Fair Arena to watch each state championship game.
She has watched seven of her grandchildren follow in her footsteps and play in the state tournament.
For Bond, the deep connection to the arena is no coincidence.
“The Big House is a magical place,” Bond said. “It’s where the high school gladiators come together and crown a champion. It’s where young players become heroes. It’s changed lives for the better and has been a yearly event for my family. The new arena may have all the renovations, but it will never replicate the decades of memories The Big House made.”
OPPOSITE: Carol Bond and her daughters Jami and Jennifer are pictured in 1992 at Morris. Bond played and coached at State Fair Arena. THE OKLAHOMAN
Carol
