The National High School Sports Hall of Fame was initiated in 1982 by the membership of the National Federation of State High School Associations to honor high school athletes, coaches, contest officials and other contributors for their extraordinary achievements and accomplishments in high school athletics.
Below are Oklahoma's 8 ALL-TIME Hall of Fame inductees
Joe Gilbert - 2019
Gilbert has been a coach at Barnsdall starting in 1954. He has coached Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, Fast Pitch, Slow Pitch, Baseball and Football accumulating 3951 career wins in all of those sports which is the most ever by any coach in the nation. The closest is Larry Niemeyer of Iowa who has 2960 career wins.
Joe Dial - 2017
Dial graduated from Marlow High School in 1981 where he was a 4-time state champion pole vaulter. He was also named the 1981 Track & Field News High School Boys Athlete of the Year. Dial won the 1989 World Championship and went on to coach at Oral Roberts University coaching over 50 All-Americans.
Kenny Monday - 2011
Monday graduated from Booker T Washington High School where he was a 4-time state champion and the 1977 Junior National Champion. From 7th grade through high school, he never lost a match finishing with a 140-0-1 record. He went on to become a 3-time All-American at Oklahoma State University and won the Olympic gold medal in Seoul in 1988 and silver in Barcelona in 1992.
John Smith - 2004
Smith was a 2-time State Champion at Del City (1982 & 1983). He went on to wrestle at Oklahoma State University where he was a 2-time national champion. Smith was a 5-time World Championship winner (1987, 1989, 1990, 1991) and a 2-time Olympic Champion (1988 & 1992). As of June 2019, he has won more world-level gold medals in wrestling than any other American.
J.C. Watts - 2002
Watts was a 1976 graduate from Eufaula High School where he was a quarterback and earned a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. At OU, Watts led the Sooners to two Orange Bowl victories and after graduation, went on to play in the Canadian Football League. After his career in the CFL, Watts returned to Oklahoma to the business world. He ran for political office and was a U.S. Representative from 1995 to 2003.
Bill Blackburn - 1990
Blackburn graduated from Byng High School then went on to play semi-pro baseball and basketball. In 1950, he picked up officiating calling 3 football games for $4.25. After 34 years of officiating, one of his greatest games to officiate was the 1978 Cotton Bowl game between Notre Dame and Texas which determined the National Championship that year. For that game he got paid $500.
Johnny Bench - 1986
Bench graduated from Binger Oklahoma leading their baseball team to the 1964 Class B Baseball State Championship and their basketball team to a 1965 Runner-Up finish. He was chosen 36th overall by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1965 amateur draft. He played his first two seasons in the minors before being called up by the Reds in August of 1967. Bench played 17 seasons, all for the Reds, hit 389 career home runs, leading the league in 1970 and 1972. He won 2 world championships (1975 & 1976) and was named the MVP in 1976. Bench also was the NL MVP in 1970 and 1972. Was a 14-time All-Star and inducted into the MLB HOF in 1989.
Bertha Teague - 1983
Ms Teague coached high school girls basketball at Byng from 1927 to 1969 accumulating a W/L record of 1157-115 which is the most wins in Oklahoma high school girls coaching history. Ms Teague won 8 State Championships (1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1951, 1952, 1965, 1969) and had 6 Runners-Up (1939, 1941, 1942, 1955, 1956, 1957).
