Sam Hindsman’s accomplishments during his coaching career at Arkansas Tech University made him one of the most significant figures in Wonder Boys’ lore.
The lessons that he provided as a teacher and mentor to countless Arkansas Tech students ensured something more important — that his innovative spirit, his ability to relate to others, his competitiveness and his passion would live on after he was gone.
On Saturday, Oct. 22, Arkansas Tech will remember Sam Hindsman during its 2011 Homecoming celebration with the dedication of Hindsman Tower on the lawn south of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.
The dedication will begin at 10:30 a.m. The public is invited to attend.
“It is a great testament to Coach Hindsman’s abilities as a teacher and coach that so many of his former students stepped forward and gave to this project,” said Jayne Jones, vice president for development at Arkansas Tech. “Coach Hindsman is integral in the history of Arkansas Tech, and Hindsman Tower is the result of generous support by the alumni and friends who agreed that his efforts deserved a permanent and visible recognition on our campus.”
Hindsman arrived at Arkansas Tech in 1947. Over the next 19 winters, the Mississippi native established a basketball dynasty the likes of which the state of Arkansas had never seen.
He won a school-record 355 games as basketball coach. He led the Wonder Boys to 11 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championships, nine NAIA National Tournament berths and two trips to the NAIA semifinals.
Seven of those 11 AIC titles came consecutively from 1949-55. During that span, Arkansas Tech amassed a cumulative conference record of 112-6.
Hindsman’s brilliance was not restricted to the basketball floor.
He also led the Wonder Boys football team to AIC championships in 1954 and 1958. He coached Arkansas Tech to a pair of AIC bowling titles. And he served as head of the Arkansas Tech Department of Physical Education.
“Coach Hindsman was a great basketball and football coach, as is well known,” said Robert Norman, who played football under Hindsman and provided leadership for the Hindsman Tower fundraising campaign. “However, at the same time he was a positive influence on those team members as well as many others on campus. Coach was always a teacher. He was a great mentor who helped an endless number of people successfully prepare for their life and careers in teaching, business, farming and other chosen areas. My life has been enhanced by his being a positive role model for me. He made us proud to have attended Arkansas Tech.”
Hindsman, who passed away in 1997, was inducted into the Arkansas Tech Hall of Distinction under the Distinguished Service category in 1980. He was enshrined in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.
He is also a member of the University of Memphis Athletic Hall of Fame, and he holds the distinction as the first recipient of the NAIA national basketball coach of the year award. He earned that honor in 1954.
“There had never been a coach in the state of Arkansas with the talent and administrative ability that Coach Hindsman had,” said Deward Dopson, a two-time all-conference basketball performer under Hindsman and the man who succeeded Hindsman as Tech head basketball coach. “He was an excellent instructor and an excellent teacher. I don’t think you’ll ever see anything like what happened there again. It was the right time, the right place and the right person.”
The Hindsman Tower dedication is the centerpiece of a busy Homecoming weekend at Arkansas Tech.
A full schedule of events is listed below. For more information or to register for Homecoming 2011 activities, call (479) 968-0242, send e-mail to alumni@atu.edu or visit http://www.techties.atu.edu.
Arkansas Tech University
Homecoming 2011
Wednesday, October 19
6 p.m.
Inaugural Krueger Lecture
(Featuring Dr. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto of the University of Notre Dame)
Doc Bryan Auditorium
Friday, October 21
7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tech Bookstore Open
W.O. Young Building
10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tech Museum Open
Techionery
10:30 a.m.
Homecoming Golf Classic (3-Person Scramble)
Russellville Country Club
10:30: Check-In 11:00: Lunch
11:45: Welcome Noon: Shotgun Start
Noon
Ladies “Champagne Bingo” Luncheon
Lake Point Conference Center Dining Room
6:30 p.m.
Hall of Distinction Reunion Dinner (Invitation Only)
Chambers Cafeteria East Dining Hall
8 p.m.-Midnight
Alumni and Friends Reception
Russellville Country Club
Saturday, October 22
9 a.m.
Hindsman Players Reunion Breakfast
Chambers Cafeteria West Dining Hall
10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tech Museum Open
Techionery
10:30 a.m.
Hindsman Tower Dedication
South Lawn of Pendergraft Library
11:30 a.m.
Alumni Gold Luncheon – Class of 1961
Chambers Cafeteria West Dining Hall
1-5 p.m.
Tech Bookstore Open
2 p.m.
Homecoming Parade
Downtown Russellville
3 p.m.
Alumni Band
Witherspoon Hall
3 p.m.
Class of 1959 and 1960 Reunion
Tomlinson Hall
3-5:30 p.m.
Homecoming Tailgate
Centennial Plaza (Outside Thone Stadium)
4 p.m.
Alumni “T” Club Meeting/1971 Football Team Reunion
Hull Building Lettermen’s Lounge
5:30 p.m.
Pre-Game Activities/Crowning of Homecoming Queen
Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field
6 p.m.
Arkansas Tech vs. Southeastern Oklahoma State
Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field
