Northwestern Oklahoma State University

Bailey Vanzant earned nine varsity letters from 1945-49, including four letters each in basketball and baseball. He earned first-team all-Oklahoma Collegiate Conference honors in 1949 as a member of the famed team that finished 19-8 and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, losing to Brigham Young University.
           
His coaching and teaching career began at Pond Creek High school where he stayed for five years before moving on to Pryor High School. At Pryor, the basketball team was ranked in the top 10 in the state each of Vanzant’s first 10 years and reached the state tournament several times, including 1959 when Pryor lost to Stillwater in the finals. He also started a gold program at the high school and notched a 62-2 record in matches.
           
After 15 years, Vanzant left Pryor in 1969 to help establish a junior college at Seminole. In 1972, he became athletic director at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas, and after four years moved on to teach math at Lufkin High School. He retired from teaching in 1986.
           
Vanzant’s awards included being named Oklahoma Basketball Coach of the Year in 1963 and he was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame in 1968. He coached the Oklahoma High School All-State basketball team in 1958 and the West All-American High School basketball team in 1958 and 1960.
           
He now lives in Pryor with his wife, Helen. His son Pete is the superintendent at Jay Public Schools.