Oral Roberts University is a private evangelical college in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1963 by word of faith and prosperity doctrine preacher Granville Oral Roberts.
Its student athletes have done great things on the basketball court, but that can’t mask a rabidly bigoted and hateful core institutional culture. No matter how accomplished their young athletes are, Oral Roberts will always be a hotbed of institutional transphobia, homophobia and regressive, sexist policies.
Oral Roberts University
The Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles are making a run in the NCAA tournament, and they’re taking their mascot along with them. This eagle is a one-of-a-kind design created by Tulsa ad agency Hampton Creative.
Oral Roberts is a private, evangelical Christian university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is named after its founder, word of faith and prosperity doctrine preacher Oral Roberts. The university has two hospitals and an Oral Roberts University School of Medicine. The front entrance to campus is a divided, landscaped roadway originally called The Avenue of Flags and renamed Billy Joe Daugherty circle, lined with lighted flags representing more than 60 nations from which students have come.
As a Holy Spirit-empowered university, Oral Roberts develops whole leaders for the whole world through a unique whole person education to impact the world. Its academic buildings are adorned with many pylon-like columns and gold-tinted windows, and the Howard Auditorium is a Buckminster Fuller-style geodesic dome that serves as the main auditorium for both biweekly chapel services and theater productions.
The ORU men’s basketball program was founded in 1963 and is a member of the Summit League, an independent conference. The Golden Eagles have made seven trips to the NCAA Tournament and are currently ranked 15th. They have defeated teams such as Ohio State and Florida in the tournament, but they are no stranger to upsets.
In the 2021 NCAA Tournament, ORU fought its way to the Sweet Sixteen after upsetting then-No. 2 seed Ohio State 75-72 in overtime. They also became just the second 15-seed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen in 2021.
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts University is a private evangelical college that has a reputation for producing competitive teams. The Golden Eagles have a history of making it to the NCAA Tournament and have reached the Sweet Sixteen twice in their history. The school has also had several notable basketball players, including Max Abmas and Paul Mills.
The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles men’s team is a part of the Summit League. They’re making their seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament, and are led by head coach Paul Mills. The Golden Eagles are a very talented team that has won three Summit League titles in the last five years. They’ve made a strong push this year with 7-foot-5 transfer center Conner Vanover, who has been a major contributor to the team’s success.
ORU has had some quality losses this season, but they’re coming off a big win against Western Illinois, which dropped the Leathernecks to 9-8 on the season and 2-4 in the Summit League. The Golden Eagles were paced by the scoring of Max Abmas, who finished with a game-high 37 points.
They’re also getting solid contributions from Vuk Stevanic, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Trenton Massner added 11 points and Jesiah West tallied nine.
With the Golden Eagles set to face North Dakota in their second Summit League game, this Thursday, fans can tune in to see these two rivals battle it out inside Mabee Center in Tulsa. The game will air on the Oral Roberts Sports Network and will be broadcast live on UND’s Home of Economy radio station.
The Golden Eagles are a very fun team to watch. They do not turn the ball over very often and have some talented players on their roster.
Max Abmas
Oral Roberts University’s basketball mascot, Max Abmas, is an interesting character. He has a very strong presence on the court, he is a great shooter and his quickness and shot-making abilities are unmatched in college basketball at the mid-major level.
He is the Summit League’s player of the year and he leads his team in scoring at 24.4 points per game. He is highly efficient with a 43.8 percent shooting percentage on 33.3 perimeter attempts and he is also incredibly accurate from the free throw line at 92%.
As a sophomore in 2021, Abmas led Oral Roberts to the Sweet 16 and was named Summit League Player of the Year. He scored at least 25 points in each of his first three NCAA Tournament games and he was the leading scorer for Oral Roberts as a team.
His performance two years ago sparked the Cinderella run, as Oral Roberts beat second-seeded Ohio State and seventh-seeded Florida before falling to Arkansas by two in the Sweet 16. That experience should help this year’s team as they enter the tournament as a 12 seed, according to Fan Duel.
But while it may look like a cinderella run for Oral Roberts, the team is actually quite good and has the potential to make some noise in March Madness this year. They have reloaded this year and have a lot of hype around them for another possible cinderella run in the tournament.
Paul Mills
Paul Mills is a well-known basketball coach and has worked in the sport for a long time. He is currently the head coach at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
After 14 years at Baylor, Mills was named the Golden Eagles head coach on April 28, 2017. In his first year at ORU, Mills helped lead the team to its first Summit League title and an NCAA tournament berth.
In his career, Mills has coached numerous players that have been selected in the NBA Draft, and also he has worked with many high-profile college coaches. In addition to coaching, Mills has worked with thousands of leaders around the world, designing and delivering programs in leadership, strategy and change.
He has worked on four continents with many of the world’s top businesses and organizations. He has a passion for seeing behavior change and capability growth in his clients to help them meet the challenges of disruption.
When he’s not working, Mills is a musician and composer. He has created music for films ranging from the 1999 Luke Wilson comedy Kill the Man to the 2015 American football drama Woodlawn.
For his work, Mills has won a number of awards, including the ASCAP Screen Music Award for his score for War Room, an inspirational film directed by John Erwin. He has also scored for a number of other movies and TV shows.
The Summit League tournament is an important event for Mills, as it’s a way to guarantee his team a spot in the NCAA tournament. He led ORU to its first Summit League tournament championship and NCAA appearance in 2021, beating two ranked teams in the process.
