ARNOLD SHORT

CLASS OF 2007
 

Arnold Short grew up in Weatherford, Oklahoma, where he lettered in football, baseball and basketball.  He entered his first tennis tournament the summer of his senior year in high school after being introduced to the sport by the band director at Southwestern State University.

Arnold attended Oklahoma City University on a basketball scholarship, where he played basketball, baseball, and tennis.  He was the first in a long line of sweet shooting, high scoring players who lifted OCU into national basketball prominence.  Short would become a cornerstone for a basketball heritage as rich in tradition and pride as any in the country.  In 1951 he was named MVP of the All College Basketball Tournament after scoring 70 points in three games.  He also set an NCAA record for free throws made.  In 1953 he became OCU's first All American, a feat he also achieved in 1954.  Arnold was the 13th overall pick in the 1954 NBA draft by the Fort Wayne Pistons, but chose to play for the Phillips 66er's in the National Industrial Basketball League. 

He continued to play tennis in the summers and was once ranked number one in the Missouri Valley in Men's 35 singles and fifth in doubles.  In 1970 he became OCU's head tennis coach and in 1975 he was hired as manager and head professional at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center.  He was named by The Oklahoman as one of the top 100 athletes in Oklahoma history.

Arnold Short was inducted into the the OCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Jim Thorpe Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.  He recently placed 5th in the Senior Olympics in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  Arnold passed away September 26, 2014.