As the NAIA era at OBU draws to a close, so too does the career of one of its most heralded coaches, who passes the baton to an alumnus and former assistant, carrying the men’s basketball team into NCAA Division II competition.
Doug Tolin Retires as Men’s Basketball Coach
The Doug Tolin era ended at OBU when the longtime coach announced his retirement Thursday, March 12. Tolin entered the NAIA Hall of Fame earlier this spring and retired as the all-time leader in men’s basketball wins at OBU with 402. He was inducted into the OBU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013.
“Doug has represented the University incredibly well over his 15 seasons,” said OBU Director of Athletics Robert Davenport. “His players, colleagues in the profession and everyone in the OBU community has the highest respect for his integrity and for what he has achieved here.”
Tolin began at OBU in 2000 and led the Bison to 14 consecutive NAIA tournaments, including the national championship in 2010. His teams reached at least the quarterfinal round seven times and the NAIA championship game three times. He was voted Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2002, 2003 and 2012 and the NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2010.
He led the Bison to six regular season conference titles, and his teams won at least two games in the NAIA tournament in all but three seasons.
Tolin led six teams to 30 or more wins, with his lowest win total being a pair of 19-win seasons. He coached nine All-NAIA Tournament picks, nine first-team All-Americans, a third-team All-American and three NAIA Players of the Year, as well as nine All-America honorable mention selections and 11 NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes.
His 2014-15 Bison squad won 19 games for the second season in a row. The team was 5-2 against teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25.
A 1975 graduate of East Central University, Tolin holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in secondary education, also earned from ECU. He graduated from Bartlesville Sooner High School in 1971.
Tolin and his wife, Susan, have three grown children, Christy, Kyle and Keely.
Wooldridge Named Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Former OBU basketball player and 2012 Hall of Fame inductee, Quinn Wooldridge, was introduced as OBU’s 19th men’s basketball head coach during a press conference on the OBU campus March 25.
A 1999 OBU graduate, Wooldridge played all four years as a Bison, finishing his career as the all-time leader in games played and third all-time in career scoring with 1,886 points. He also owns OBU’s season and career records for made and attempted three-pointers.
“I was here as a player under coach (Bob) Hoffman and came back and worked under coach (Doug) Tolin. Right now I feel like I’m walking in the footsteps of giants,” Wooldridge said. “This is home to me.”
He will be the first coach for the Bison as an NCAA basketball team. OBU joins the Great American Conference and leaves behind the NAIA next season.
“We’re elated to get Quinn here and for this opportunity for him to come home,” said OBU Director of Athletics Robert Davenport. “I think he is a great choice to lead Bison basketball into this new stage.”
He comes to OBU from Southwestern Christian University, where he was the head coach for three seasons and coached five All-Conference selections, as well as 2014 NAIA Dunk Contest winner and current member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Tyler Inman.
Wooldridge also was the head coach at University of the Southwest and had assistant coach stints at OBU, Oklahoma City, Wayland Baptist, Missouri Baptist, Lyon and Eastern Oklahoma State. He coached in the NAIA Tournament in 2002, 2008 and 2010.
Wooldridge also served as head boy’s basketball coach at both Edmond North and McAlester High Schools.
A native of McAlester, Oklahoma, Wooldridge earned his Bachelor of Science in Education from OBU and his Master of Education from East Central University in 2003.
Quinn and his wife, OBU Hall of Famer Andy Holubova Wooldridge, have three children, Michal, Lukas and Gabi.