Citation: “How Does One Succeed a Legend?” The Personnel File, Vol. 5, No. 8, April/May 1986, pp. 1 & 5-6, UA28.

Sitting behind his desk 15 years, Johnny Oldham reflects on his WKU career. He’s held all the most important positions in Diddle Arena: “Most Valuable Player,” “All American Player,” NCAA final-four coach, and University athletic director. Along with these positions have come more than a few honors. He was named to the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame; OVC “Coach of the Year” four times; and the National Association of Basketball Coaches “Coach of the Year” for District three, which encompasses the southeastern United States.

Oldham explains his summer retirement simply, “I’ve always done everything a little before I had to. My whole life I’ve removed myself a year early. I’d rather do that than stay a year too late.” But, Oldham is not retiring in the true sense of the word; he still plans on teaching some administration classes, fondly admitting that teaching is a favorite past-time.

Oldham has come a long way with Western. As a WKU freshman, he remembers the thrill of playing on the Hilltopper team that took the National Invitational Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York by storm, which they unfortunately lost. “Coming from a town of 1,000 people, I couldn’t imagine a building so large that it could hold 19 of my hometown,” he said.

After a three year stint in the Navy, where Oldham played on two of the nation’s finest service teams, Great Lakes and Memphis Navy, he returned to the Hill in 1946. During the four years that he played on the varsity, Western won 102 of 115 games, finished third in the National Invitational Tournament in 1948, went to the quarter-finals of that same tourney in ’43 and ’49, and won its first OVC crown in 1949.

Then team doctor, Dr. W.R. McCormack, said, “Johnny was one of the greatest guards that Western has ever had. Coach Diddle used to say that Johnny would drive through a brick wall for two points.” He continued, “We used to call him ‘the big train.’ He is a great man, kind and considerate, and a real team player. He has done a lot for WKU.” McCormack remembers Oldham’s strength and determination when he played in the NIT tournament at Madison Square Garden. “Johnny had strep throat and a temperature of 102, but he played hard,” he said.

After playing two seasons of professional basketball with the Fort Wayne Pistons of the NBA, Oldham “came home” to coach Western’s College High team to the State Tournament; he recalls this as one of his most exciting coaching accomplishments. He left College High in 1955 to accept the head coaching post at Tennessee Tech, where he led the Golden Eagles to 118 wins, 83 losses. His Tech teams won the OVC title in 1958 and tied for the championship in 1956 and 1963.

Oldham is proud that some of his former players have attuned themselves to a profession and become successful. “I recently went back to Tech and what used to be my team members had become a doctor, a dentist, a farmer, two college deans, a high school principal, and a Brigadier General. They have done very well,” he said.

In 1964 Oldham was faced with the dilemma, “How does one succeed a legend?” He had been chosen to take over where the imcomparable Coach Ed Diddle would leave off when he retired at the mandatory age of 70 after 42 years of coaching, and a win-loss record of 759 to 302. History says that Oldham was successful. Under his seven year Topper tutelage, he coached the team to four regular season OVC championships; five trips to national post-season tournaments; and an overall record of 146 wins against 41 losses. Predictably, Oldham’s most exciting season was that of ’70-71 when his team won the OVC title, made the nation’s top-ten list, and capped it off with a third place finish in the NCAA competition.

In answer to the stock question, “Which coach influenced your style the most?” Oldham said: “Every coach I’ve ever had or coached with has made an impact on my style. I took a little bit of the best from all of them, put it with the information I had, and became a little bit of everybody,” he said.

Since assuming the position of athletic director in 1971, the move to the Sun Belt Conference has been WKU’s biggest triumph. But, Oldham doesn’t take credit for the move. “The decision to move from the OVC to the Sun Belt was larger than an athletic director could make. It had to come from higher up. It had to be made by the Board of Regents.” He continued, “An athletic director just doesn’t have that much clout.”

For Oldham the OVC served a purpose. As a player, a coach and an administrator, he has made life-long friends in the conference, but he thinks the move was good for Western. “We needed to get more exposure,” he said. He explained that the ESPN television package for the Sun Belt will put Western into 90-100 million homes, and will call attention to the University, which should help with recruiting.

Oldham’s only complaint about the Sun Belt is that Western’s budget is not closer to the top of the conference. “The competition is greater in the Sun Belt because the budgets are larger, and those with the greatest amount of scholarships will be the strongest,” he said.
Pam Herriford, coordinator of women’s athletics, said, “Oldham has brought a great deal of respect to the athletic program. Everybody knows Johnny Oldham, and he is very well respected in the Sun Belt, especially in the commissioner’s office.” As she explained, one of the reasons could be because he is a “straight shooter.” “You just know (when you talk to him) that you will get a truthful and honest answer. You may not like it, but that’s what you’ll get. He’s consistent,” she said.

One of the things that has impressed Herriford most is that Oldham is “very supportive of a total athletic program, which is hard for an ex-coach. He tries to be fair to all, and doesn’t play favorites,” she said.

Oldham is proud of his coaches, five of whom were recently named Sun Belt “Coach of the Year.” “This hasn’t been publicized enough,” he said. Coaches Joel Murrie (baseball), Clem Haskins (men’s basketball), Paul Sanderford (women’s basketball), David Holmes (soccer), and Curtiss Long (men’s track) were all named “Coach of the Year” for their last seasons,” he said. This is just one indication that Western is doing well in the Sun Belt, but Oldham claims that WKU needs help in its “spring sports” scholarships.

Herriford expects some changes in the University’s athletic program because of the complete turnover in personnel “all the way down from Dr. Minton to the coaching level.” “Things will go on,” she said “but, how smoothly will depend on who takes over the positions.” She continued that a little change keeps you on your toes.

Oldham will miss his close association with the coaches and players, as well as the Sun Belt Conference meetings, but he is looking forward to a closer association with students and teaching. “I’ve enjoyed teaching more than anything,” he said.

The general consensus among people who have worked with him is that Oldham will always be used as a sounding board. “He’s been around so long that you’re crazy if you don’t take advantage of his opinions,” Herriford said.

The way it sounds, Herriford will be lucky if she can catch him long enough to get an opinion. Oldham may not have a phone in his golf cart, fishing boat, car or classroom. If she’s lucky, she might catch him in between business opportunities or while making clocks.
So now the question has come full circle, “How does one succeed a legend?” It’s a question that the next athletic director will be asking himself or herself, whichever the case may be. But there is hope. Things turned out pretty well for Johnny Oldham.

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Additional information regarding John Oldham:

These and other sources are available in the Harrison-Baird Reading Room at the Kentucky Museum & Library.