Tulsa Hires Shea Seals To Men's Basketball Staff

Former Tulsa All-American and Booker T. Head boys basketball coach Shea Seals has been named Director of Player Development/Team Manager for the Golden Hurricane basketball team.

"The opportunity to return to The University of Tulsa is a dream come true. I began this journey in Tulsa and always wanted to help the place where I've come from, so being able to continue to be a part of the Golden Hurricane basketball program means a great deal to me. I bleed blue and gold. It's an honor to be back and be a part of this team," said Seals.

First-year head coach Danny Manning made the announcement of Seals hiring on Wednesday.

"We're excited to have Shea and his family join our basketball family. Shea is a great fit for this position because of his ties to the community as well as his contributions to The University of Tulsa," said Manning. "We want to be able to make an impact in our community and Shea brings all of those things to the table and much more. He has touched a lot of people in our community and we're going to definitely lean on him to help us reach out to the city of Tulsa."

Seals, 36, has spent the last five season as the head coach at Booker T. Washington High School. He tallied a 102-22 record with the Hornets and won back-to-back state championships in 2010 and 2011 while they finished second in 2008. Last season, BTW went 21-0 en route to their second straight gold ball.

"I'm very grateful to Danny. His situation and my situation are kind of similar in terms of how he started coaching and how I'm getting the opportunity to begin on the college level," added Seals. "I had always hoped that if I could get the chance to get into college coaching that it would be up to me to make the most of it… Coming back to the place where it all started for me and being able to help the younger guys, not only with understanding the game of basketball, but helping them make the best of their college experience, is special to me."

Seals spent time on the court playing at McClain High School averaging 24.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while also being named the 1993 Oklahoma High School Player of the Year as a senior.

From there he went on to play at Tulsa where he made in immediate impact. In his first collegiate game, Seals tallied 33 points, six steals, five assists, five rebounds and set a school record with seven made three-pointers.

As a freshman, Seals was selected as the Missouri Valley Conference's Most Outstanding Freshman and Newcomer of the Year and also earned Freshman All-America accolades by Basketball Times and Basketball Weekly. He scored 16.8 points and grabbed 6.5 rebounds as a true freshman. From there, Seals went on to become the school's all-time scoring leader with 2,228 points, a mark that still stands today, and also completed his career ranked among the top-5 on the Tulsa charts for rebounds with 777, assists with 388 and steals with 222.

During his TU career, Seals was on Tulsa teams that compiled an overall 93-34 record, made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the "Sweet Sixteen", won two MVC regular season championships and one MVC Tournament title. In 1994, Seals led Tulsa to the school's first-ever "Sweet Sixteen" in 1994 with wins over UCLA and Oklahoma State and duplicated that feat a year later with victories against Illinois and Old Dominion.

Seals earned first-team all-conference honors in his final three seasons, twice in the MVC and as a senior in the Western Athletic Conference. He went on to receive third-team Associated Press All-America merits as a senior and had his No. 21 jersey retired in the final home game of the 1996-97 campaign.

Before entering the coaching profession, Seals spent seven years in professional basketball. He began his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1997-98 before suffering an ACL injury in the summer after his rookie season. He played six years in Europe and Asia and one season in the NBDL.

Before going to Booker T., Seals coached for three seasons at his alma mater, Tulsa McLain High School. He spent the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach and took over as head coach a year later. Seals' proceeded to lead McLain High School to a two-year mark of 28-23 and a state quarterfinals appearance in 2006.

"The director of player development/team manager is a position that is very important to our program. It will incorporate life-skills opportunities, reaching out to the community and being a mentor to our basketball student-athletes. In addition, this position gives Shea an opportunity to see the day-to-day operations and the ins-and-outs of what goes into running a college basketball program," added Manning.

"I'm grateful to Tulsa Public Schools and Coach (Luther) Pegues for the opportunity and the faith they placed in me to coach at my alma mater," said Seals. "Not all the time when you stop playing the game of basketball you can automatically jump into the coaching profession. My time at McLain High School and Booker T. Washington High School was immeasurable because it gave me an opportunity to grow as a coach. I appreciate the support of Superintendent (Keith) Ballard and the administrations at both Booker T. Washington and McLain High Schools."

Seals was inducted into The University of Tulsa's Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2011.