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 Greg Krause File
Age:
49 on Tuesday
Residence:
Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Accomplishments:
Led Northern Burlington to a 27-2 record and the Group 3 state finals in 1972-1973
season as a senior. Led the county in scoring as a junior (22ppg.).
He coached 22 seasons at Northern Oklahoma College, a two year school in Tonkawa,
Okla. The school has reached the junior college regional finals
several times, including this season when it finished 21-8.
Krause has been married 22 years to wife, Sigrid
Distractions are few in
Tonkawa Okla.,a college town of 5,000 people. The nearest city is Wichita,
Kan- an hour drive away. Oklahoma City is 90 miles to the south.
That's a good thing, Greg Krause will tell you.
The former Northern Burlington High School basketball standout has found big
success there, coaching the Northern Oklahoma College to several regional finals over 22
seasons.
The Lady Mavs junior college program finished as regional runner-up again this
season, finishing 21-9.
Players come to Tonkawa to go to class and to hone their basketball skills--not to
find mischief, Krause says. Many want to take their games and studies to a Division
1 university. His players have gone on to play at schools like Colorado State and
Oklahoma. "You come here because you want to work on things,"says Krause, who
turns 49 on Tuesday "The girls are very loyal and very committed. It's a lot of fun
to coach those kinds of teams. I can relate". At Northern Krause was a
hard working, unselfish 6-foot-5 standout who drove the Greyhounds to the
1973 state finals and a 27-2 record in his senior year. Krause scored 20.8 points
per game that year. As a junior, he scored a county-best 22.6 points per game.
He still holds the school single-game scoring record with 51 points. He
went on to St. Joseph's but was there only a season. While playing on the freshman
team, he tore a hamstring and was out much of the season. He was troubled by his
parents' separation. His grades slipped. He needed a change.
He moved to Oklahoma, Krause had family there. He enrolled in Oklahoma City
University, and averaged about 12 point and 10 rebounds a game over three seasons.
The independent school played some of the
nation's best, including the Sidney Moncrief-led Arkansas club and the national champion
Marquette club of 1977. they beat nationally ranked Wichita State on the road. After
graduating in 1978 he turned to coaching.
"That was the next best thing to playing,"he says.
He coached high school boys basketball, then caught on as an assistant at Oklahoma
State. First, he was an assistant coach for the men's club, then the women's team.
He took a position as a local high school boys basketball coach, for the 1982-1983
school year, but then Northern Oklahoma College invited him up for an interview. He
was offered the college coaching job the next day.
Krause didn't think he'd coach there for more than two decades. He didn't
think he'd be anywhere ore than a few years. His father was in the military, and the
family never stayed in one place for more than a few years.
The five years he spent in Burlington County was the longest time he had lived
anywhere.
But Tonkawa has a lot of what he wants. he doesn't want the pressure-packed
life of being a major college coach.
He's been married for 22 years to wife Sigrid, who he met while he was coaching and
earning his master's degree at Oklahoma State University.
"Wherever you coach is big time," Krause says. "And it's just
a good feeling to stay in one place for a while.".
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