Robert E. “Bob” Bass from Tulsa Rogers High School won four letters in basketball and three in baseball at OBU. Captain of the Bison basketball squad for three seasons (1947-50), Bass helped lead his team to the 1949 Oklahoma AAU Tournament championship, the first statewide title in OBU’s basketball history. Bass was an All-AAU Tournament selection. He was also a member of the 1947-48 Bison baseball team which revived the sport on Bison Hill after a 20-year absence.
After coaching and teaching at Cromwell High School from 1950-52, Bass returned to Bison Hill to coach basketball and baseball. In 15 seasons, his basketball teams compiled a record of 275 wins and 146 losses, including a home court record of 139-35. His OBU teams won or shared six Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference championships; qualified for the NAIA District 9 playoffs 13 consecutive years; and won the district title six times (1958, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967), advancing to the NAIA National Tournament.
His 1966 team won the NAIA championship and his 1965 and 1967 teams finished as national runners-up. He was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1967. Bass’ OBU baseball teams won 192 games, losing 107.
In 1967, Bass became head coach of the Denver Rockets in the new American Basketball Association. In 1969-71, he coached Texas Tech University, and then returned to professional basketball to coach the Floridians, Memphis Tams, and San Antonio Spurs. In 1976 he moved to the Spurs’ front office and spent the remainder of his career as a vice president for basketball operations/general manager with the Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, and New Orleans Hornets. He retired in 2004.
Bass, whose lifetime basketball coaching record was 668-499, was named NBA Executive of the Year in 1990 and 1997. In addition to the OBU Athletic Hall of Fame, Bass was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
Bob Bass passed away in 2018 at age 89.
