Coaching Giant

Long-time UCO wrestling coach David James reached a rare milestone last Saturday when the Bronchos downed Ouachita Baptist 25-12, which was acknowledged immediately after completion of the final match when many in the crowd stood and waved signs saying "350".

It was the 350th career win for the 30-year skipper, putting him in rare air indeed. He became just the 40th coach in college wrestling history to reach that number and only the fifth in NCAA Division II.

James, a four-time All-American and two-time national champion for the Bronchos during his days as a competitor, is now 350-125-5 at UCO. Among those 350 wins are 56 over Division I teams, including such heavyweights as Michigan, Michigan State and Boise State. And 76 of his losses -- nearly 61 percent -- are to Division I teams, including powerhouses Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Penn State.

D.J. has coached 12 national championship teams at UCO and been a seven-time national Coach of the Year honoree. He's had 45 individual national champions and 169 All-Americans. He's had more than 50 former wrestlers go on to become wrestling coaches themselves, many directing some of the best high school programs in Oklahoma and Texas.

In other words, Coach James is one of the coaching giants of his sport. Of any sport, really. And he deserves to be in the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

• Two other UCO coaches have had milestone wins this year, with soccer head man Mike Cook and men's basketball mentor Terry Evans both reaching the 200-win plateau.

Cook did it early last fall with a 4-0 home shutout of Southwest Baptist to kick-start a school-record 15-game winning streak that earned the Bronchos their eighth national tournament appearance since 2000. Mike came to Edmond from Southern Nazarene -- his alma mater -- to start the UCO program in 1998 and is now a tidy 214-72-16 with the Bronchos.

Evans got to 200 wins in his 10th year at UCO, reaching that mark in December with a 79-68 victory over Arkansas Tech. Terry has had the two winningest seasons in school history (28 in 2007-08, 30 in 2010-11) and taken the Bronchos to the national tournament seven times in compiling a nifty 205-89 record with three games remaining this year.