Gary King

Oklahoma's Bennie Owen Gary King

Before Bob and Barry, even before Bud, there was Bennie, and he might have been the best of them all. He was certainly the most innovative. Best remembered as the mentor of the University of Oklahoma's football team from 1905 through 1926, Bennie Owen also coached baseball and basketball and served as the director of athletics. He retired as intramural director at the age of seventy-five. A visionary and a builder, he exerted the driving force that created the university's Memorial Stadium, one field house, Memorial Union building, men's swimming pool, baseball field and bleachers, concrete tennis courts, nine-hole golf course and intramural playing fields. A true man of all seasons, he laid the foundation for a Sooner tradition of excellence--in football and beyond.