1-31-08 - East Central University will induct three new members into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at halftime of the ECU-Southeastern Oklahoma State men’s basketball game, which tips off at 8 p.m.
Doug Tolin, Darlean Calip and Don Wilson will be the 109th through 111th members enshrined into the prestigious and storied athletic hall.
Tolin and Calip are being inducted as basketball coaches while Wilson enters by virtue of his football career with the Tigers in the 1980s.
Doug Tolin, a 1975 ECU graduate, has made an impact as a basketball coach on different levels.
Currently in his eighth season as the men’s head basketball coach at Oklahoma Baptist University, Tolin has guided the Bison to seven straight NAIA National Tournament appearances, reaching the quarterfinals five times, semifinals twice (2002 and 2006) and the championship game once in 2002.
Tolin’s OBU teams have won at least one game at the NAIA Tournament every season since he took over the program in 2000-01. All but one of his Bison teams have captured at least two victories at nationals.
Since taking over the OBU coaching duties, Tolin has led the Bison to four 30-plus win seasons, with the lowest win total being a 22-victory campaign in 2006-07.
He was named Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003 while guiding the Bison to three consecutive SAC regular season championships.
Tolin has coached five first team All-Americans, four All-NAIA Tournament picks, a second team All-American and one NAIA Player of the Year to go along with three All-America honorable mention selections and 10 NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes.
His success also extends to the high school level where he was chosen Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association, Oklahoma Coaches Association and All-City Coach of the Year in 1999.
Tolin, who served as boys basketball coach at Ada and Norman, owns at least 10 other conference, regional and district coach of the year awards. His Norman squads captured a state championship in 1999 and posted runner-up finishes in 1996 and 2000.
Tolin had 531 career victories in 29 years of coaching at all levels, heading into the 2007-08 season.
A graduate of Bartlesville Sooner High School, Tolin played basketball for coach Jerry Anderson at ECU from 1973-75.
Tolin not only earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from ECU, but also got a master’s degree in secondary education at ECU.
Darlean Calip has proven to be a coaching gem at the high school level.
Calip, a 1990 graduate, is fresh off leading Sapulpa High School to a 26-1 record and a 2007 Class 6A state championship in only her second season at the helm with the Chieftains.
The state tournament success doesn’t end there for Calip, who also guided Jenks High School to Class 6A state titles in 2001 and 2003 as well as a state runner-up finish in 2002.
Jenks was a sparkling 69-14 during those three years as Calip produced three NCAA Division I players.
After her coaching stint at Jenks, Calip was an assistant on the University of Tulsa coaching staff in 2004-05 as the Golden Hurricane women posted their best season in school history at that point with a 19-11 record and their first-ever postseason appearance in the WNIT.
Her list of coaching awards are many. She served as Oklahoma-Texas Oil Bowl Coach and Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State Coach. She has also gathered Northeast Region Coach of the Year honors, Tulsa World Metro and Frontier Conference Co-Coach of the Year awards.
Prior to her stint at Jenks, Calip coached girls basketball at Denton (Texas) High School after spending three seasons as coach at Moore High School. She led Moore to a state runner-up finish in 1998.
Calip began her high school coaching career in 1993 as an assistant at Westmoore and served in that capacity until 1995.
A native of Okemah, Calip earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education and sports medicine from ECU in 1990, and completed her master’s degree in secondary education from ECU in 1995. She was an assistant on the ECU coaching staff from 1990-93.
Calip, whose maiden name was Osborn, played for the Lady Tigers from 1983-87 and is currently eighth on ECU’s all-time scoring list with 1,008 points.
Calip joins her husband Brad, a former Tiger football star and College Football Hall of Famer, as the only husband-wife combination to be inducted into the ECU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Don Wilson, a 1985 ECU graduate, was part of one of the greatest offensive football teams in school history.
Wilson, a native of Mesquite, Texas, was a four-year starter at center for ECU, anchoring an offensive line for a Tiger squad that averaged 38.7 points per game and went 10-2 in 1984.
For his efforts, Wilson was named a 1984 NAIA Second Team All-American as well as being selected to the 1984 KODAK All-American Team.
His blocking helped the Tigers establish school records which still stand today – scoring in a season (465) and yards in a season (4,906).
Wilson earned back-to-back first team all-conference accolades and consecutive NAIA All-District 9 awards in 1983 and 1984. He also picked up an honorable mention All-American award as a junior in 1983.