Prentice Gautt, a Sooner legend and a leading intercollegiate athletics administrator, died suddenly on March 17, 2005 of flu-like symptoms.
Gautt, 67, began his athletics career as a pioneer in breaking Oklahoma racial barriers, and his legacy will endure through his many accomplishments and several academic programs named in his honor.
“Prentice Gautt was truly a great person, and he will be remembered as one of the most outstanding graduates in the history of the University of Oklahoma,” OU President David Boren told the Associated Press. “His moral courage helped to bring racial justice, not only to our state and to intercollegiate athletics, but also to our entire nation.”
After playing football at Oklahoma City’s Douglass High School in 1955 and becoming the first black to play in the All-State game (where he earned MVP honors), he embarked on his dream of carrying the ball for College Football Hall of Fame coach Bud Wilkinson as Oklahoma’s first black athlete.
His entry to OU required the tenacity that Gautt would display throughout his entire life. Encouraged to attend but denied a scholarship, a group of black doctors offered their financial support. Gautt would go on to earn his athletic scholarship as well as Academic All-America honors.
Gautt played on OU’s 1956 freshman team and then as a starter from 1957-59, leading the Sooners to a 27-5 record during those three years. His individual on-field accomplishments included being named an All-Big Eight running back in 1958 and ’59 and most valuable player in OU’s 1959 Orange Bowl victory over Syracuse. Off the field, Gautt endured many of the same ordeals suffered by Jackie Robinson and the other racial pioneers of the day.
After one year with the Cleveland Browns and six with the St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL, Gautt coached while earning his Ph.D. in psychology at Missouri. He then started on his career in athletics administration, first as an assistant commissioner for the Big Eight Conference and most recently as a special assistant to the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference.
“He was one of the nicest and gentlest men many of us have ever met,” said Big 12 Conference Commissioner Kevin Weiberg in a statement. “He was someone who never bragged about his accomplishments. He was a true pioneer in college sports. His compassion and genuine caring spirit will always be remembered.”
His lifelong interest in student-athletes led him to sit on several NCAA committees while directing the Big 12 life skills program, and he was named the NCAA Secretary/Treasurer in 1995. The OU academic center for student-athletes is named “The Prentice Gautt Academic Center”, and in 1996 the Big 12 began the Dr. Prentice Gautt Scholarship program, which provides post-graduate scholarships for student-athletes.
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