The University of Tulsa and Head Basketball Coach Frank Haith has signed a contract extension, it was confirmed by Director of Athletics Rick Dickson. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
In seven years as the Golden Hurricane coach, Haith has compiled a 126-88 record, won a conference championship and has taken two teams to postseason play. Haith led Tulsa to the school’s first American Athletic Conference Championship in 2020, and undoubtedly would have had the Hurricane back in the postseason if not for the NCAA’s shutdown due to COVID-19 precautions.
Tulsa won a share of the regular season title with a 13-5 league mark and an overall 21-10 record despite being picked 10th in the preseason poll for 2019-20. It was the sixth consecutive year that TU outpaced its preseason projections. For his team’s success, Haith was named the AAC and NABC District 24 Coach of the Year in 2020.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to build this program to the championship stature we reached a year ago,” said Haith. “We know the hard work and dedication it takes to win at a high level, not only on the court but in the classroom, and instilling that passion in our players is paramount.”
This past season, Tulsa defeated the nation’s 5th-ranked Houston Cougars for the school’s first top-5 victory since 1996. He has had six wins against top-25 teams in his tenure, marking the most for a Tulsa head coach since Bill Self’s teams also won six contests against top-25 teams during his time as the Tulsa coach.
“We believe Coach Haith can lead our program back to competing for a conference championship and postseason competition, while developing excellent scholar athletes and being a positive influence in our community,” said Dickson. “In light of all the disruptions from this season, our team didn’t achieve at a level we expected, but we have confidence that our basketball program will move in the right direction.”
Haith serves as an Advisory Board Member of The Commemoration Fund as part of The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation. The mission of the Commemoration fund supports bold and innovative efforts to correct social, political and economic injustices that impact Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and People of Color in the Tulsa community.
As a member of The American, Haith’s teams have posted 74 conference wins, which trails only Cincinnati and Houston for most wins in the history of the league. It also puts Haith third historically among American Athletic Conference coaches for career league victories.
On-court success is not the only area where Haith has led the TU to a resurgence. The program has established school records for single-year and multi-year APR records. The Hurricane has broken program records for semester and cumulative GPA. His program has graduated 20-of-22 seniors with two players –– Shaquille Harrison in 2016 and Martins Igbanu in 2020 –– earning American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
Currently, Tulsa boasts two active NBA players that played under Haith –– DaQuan Jeffries with the Sacramento Kings and Harrison with the Utah Jazz –– while he has also had numerous players sign professional contracts abroad.
In all, Haith’s Tulsa teams have compiled 20 wins three times and has advanced to the postseason in his first two seasons, while Hurricane players have collected nine all-conference honors.
Haith was named the program’s 30th head coach on April 18, 2014. He has coached 36 years on the collegiate level and has spent 17 years as a head coach, winning 332 games and advancing to postseason play 10 times.
Haith inks contract extension at Tulsa
Photo Courtesy Tulsa Athletics
