Iba, Wilkinson, Mantle Will Join Oklahoma Sports Shrine Jan. 21

TULSA, Okla. â€”  Coaches Hank Iba and Bud Wilkinson and baseball star Mickey Mantle will be inducted to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame next month.

They will be inducted to the Hall at a Jan. 21 banquet, joining Jim Thorpe, Carl Hubbell and Allie Reynolds in the charter class of the Hall, which was founded this year.

Thorpe, Hubbell and Reynolds were inducted into the Hall in Oklahoma City in June.

Iba, 82, was head basketball coach at Oklahoma State for 36 years (1935-70) and U.S. Olympic team coach three times. His coaching career began in 1927 at Oklahoma City’s Classen High School.

“I was lucky to come in when there was the finest group of high school athletes at Classen, Capitol Hill and Central that you’ll ever run into,� Iba said at a news conference Monday.

Iba coached Oklahoma State to consecutive NCAA championships in 1945 and 1946. His 1964 and 1968 Olympic teams won gold medals. Iba’s 1972 team lost to the Soviet team.

Wilkinson coached the University of Oklahoma football team from 1947 to 1963 and his teams won the UPI national championship three times (1950, 1955, 1956). Many consider Wilkinson the coach who guided the Sooners to superpower status.

Mantle, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, hit 536 home runs and drove in 1,509 runs while averaging .298 from 1951 through 1968 for the New York Yankees.

Hall officials said 63 names remain on the original list of nominees. The 1987 ballot, which goes to the Hall’s associate members, will include 25 names.

The six original honorees will be joined by three new members each year.