Hearing from Jay Wilkinson
Jay Wilkinson called me back Tuesday night. Two days too late to help me with my OU-Notre Dame 1957 project, but not too late to share with me another priceless story about my dad.
Wilkinson, the son of OU legend Bud Wilkinson and a 1960 Norman High graduate, now is a Houston businessman. I met Jay probably a decade ago, when he wrote a book about his father. I had studied Jay’s high school career when I worked at the Norman Transcript and researched Norman High School football history.
Jay was a fabulous athlete, maybe the best in Norman history. Bud Wilkinson didn’t want his son to face the pressure of playing for his father. So Jay went to Duke and was an All-American halfback in 1963. My radio cohort, Al Eschbach, theorizes that OU would have won the national championship in 1963, had Jay been a Sooner. Bud’s final OU squad went 8-2, losing 28-7 to Texas in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, then losing 29-20 at Nebraska the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Eschbach might be right. Wilkinson played halfback at Duke but could have played quarterback at OU, which in 1963 was QB poor, thanks in part to injuries.
Many years ago, my dad told me about having coached Jay at Norman Junior High in the 1950s, when my dad was a teacher and coach. My dad said Bud never interfered; mostly just came to games whenever he could and watched. Dad also said Mary Wilkinson, Jay’s mother and Bud’s wife, was a wonderful woman who was very supportive of the schools and her sons’ activities.
When my dad died in August, I wrote about him and received so many wonderful emails that my heart leaped. One was from Jay Wilkinson. This is part of what he wrote:
“The article that you recently wrote about your dad … was heartfelt, moving, honest and emotional, and brought back vivid memories of earlier times. I always considered myself most fortunate to have been a member of his Norman junior high eighth grade basketball team (I was in seventh grade), when he instilled in his players a sense of pride, determination and excellence that created a championship team. The lessons and fundamentals learned from him at a young age undoubtedly contributed to a later state championship basketball team in 1959 under Coach Chet Bryan. As if it were yesterday, I still remember your dad scrimmaging with us, challenging us each day to be tougher and more consistent. He was the one who taught me to shoot left handed when driving to the basket. I remember his penetrating eyes; their focus, concentration and warmth. He was a great man whom I loved, admired and respected deeply. It was a privilege to have played for him. He made a profound impact on my life and on the lives of many of my teammates. Thanks for sharing your message with all of us.”
As you could probably guess, that kind of correspondence lifted my spirits in a great way. My dad never talked a lot about the days before I was born in 1961, so to hear any kind of stories from those times was priceless. I heard from several of my dad’s former players and students. It was very therapeutic and very much appreciated.
Anyway, the stories keep coming. Jay shared another with me Tuesday, telling me about a reenactment of “Blackboard Jungle,” with my dad playing the Glenn Ford character, as an inner-city school teacher. A long-ago, long-forgotten little event that someone somehow remembered, and someone else cherishes.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
MY AUNT BABYSAT FOR BUD AND MARY WILKINSON. THEY WOULD COME TO VISIT MY GRANDPARENTS AT MOORELAND, OKLAHOMA. MY GRANDAD WAS A DOCTOR THERE. I WOULD LIKE TO GET AN EMAIL OR PHONE NUMBER OF JAY WILKINSON. THANKS. LINDA MEYER WOODWARD-WAL MART TEACHER OF THE YEAR 2004. 1-23-11. REMIT PLEASE
Your dad sounds like mine.
Cherish the memories!