Men's Basketball and Women's Tennis (11:30 Class)

We think it is safe to say when choosing our teams (men’s basketball, women’s tennis) for our Sport Management’s Centennial Project, we didn’t know much about either. When we picked our teams, our five-member group wanted to make sure we at least picked one sport with relatively easy access to records. This is why we chose basketball. And we decided on tennis because the other class did not choose this sport, so we wanted to do something different. But after doing hours of research, compiling names of players and coaches and browsing through various archived material such as The BG News, Key Yearbooks and media guides, this project has really enhanced our views on how to appreciate these sports.

For basketball, we found that the team had 15 COACHES. Harold Anderson (below), was the University’s most prolific and successful men’s basketball coach. He had a career spanning 21 years in which he won 362 games, three Mid-American Conference championships, appeared in six NIT Tournaments and three NCAA Tournaments.

Crystal “Boo” Ellis (below), BGSU’s first African-American basketball player, said Anderson was more than a coach. He said Anderson wanted his players to get an education first, and then play basketball.

Coach Anderson aspired for all of his players, such as Don and Mel Otten, Nate Thurmond (below) and Charlie Share to be the best men possible.The 1940s through the 1960s were BGSU’s “glory days.”


With the two sports our group is doing, women’s tennis has experienced a little more success than men’s basketball in the recent past.

Janet Parks (below), head tennis coach from 1967-1976, was instrumental in not only sustaining the program on campus, but being able to give females an opportunity to play tennis. Parks coached during the era of Title IX, or the implementation of equal opportunity for men and women collegiate athletics on all college campuses. Because of Parks helping the program, superstars of today have the chance to play.

Christine Chiricosta (below) one of the most successful women’s tennis players in the University’s history, said one of her greatest moments was winning Division 1 Ohio State/doubles championship title in 2007 with her sister.

Katie Grubb (below) is a freshman and is the team’s No. 6 singles player and No. 3 doubles players. She could become the next great tennis player.

We think this project will be so valuable for years to come for future students doing research. Even though this assignment is collecting names, conducting an interview and writing a paper, no other collection has been brought together by this. We think it goes without saying, but we are making history and providing a worthwhile community service for future BGSU students to research and enjoy.

Members of this group are: Lance Eddy, Michael Fox, Amanda Meade, Andy Ouriel, and Iris Wright II.