OU Endows Gautt Scholarship

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department has created a new endowed scholarship in the name of the late Prentice Gautt. OU President David L. Boren and Athletics Director Joe Castiglione made the announcement Saturday.

Special recognition of Gautt, the first black football player at Oklahoma, his family and the 1956 squad occurred at halftime of the OU-Colorado football game here. The '56 team, the first at the university to include Gautt, won the school's third of seven national championships in football.

“Prentice Gautt, through his personal integrity and moral courage, has left a lasting impact on the University of Oklahoma. His example will continue to inspire the University family for years to come.”

Castiglione agreed that Gautt's contributions are undying.

“Prentice made it possible for us to celebrate diversity as a 'strength' of our program,” Castiglione said. “He is our Jackie Robinson, if you will. He had uncompromising character, dignity, faith, and a certain elegance that was only overshadowed by his humility. It is critically important that we remind ourselves and future generations about his contributions to a quality of life we now enjoy.”

Gautt's jersey No. 38 was not issued this year as part of the 50th anniversary since his first season with the Sooners. OU players are wearing a No. 38 decal on their helmets and for Saturday's game, the 38-yardline at each end of the field was striped in crimson.

Gautt's name adorns the athletics department's academic center at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, an honor bestowed in 1999. In 2003, he was honored with an honorary doctorate from OU.

Former Sooners' coaching great Bud Wilkinson awarded a football scholarship to Gautt. Gautt then became a two-time All-Big Eight player and the 1959 Orange Bowl MVP.

As a senior, he was named to the academic All-American team.

He played football professionally in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns (one year) and St. Louis Cardinals (six years). After the NFL, Gautt coached football at Missouri while earning his Ph.D. in psychology.

He then started a career in athletics administration, first as an assistant commissioner for the Big Eight Conference and as a special assistant to the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference.

Gautt played high school football at Douglass High School in Oklahoma City. His senior year, he became the first black to play in the All-State game and he earned MVP honors.

He died on March 17, 2005 from flu-like symptoms. He was posthumously given the 2005 Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award by The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) in May 2005.

Gautt is survived by his wife Sandra of Lawrence, Kansas, son, Roger, of Houston, Texas, and sister, Loretta Davis, and was preceded in death by son, Rory, and two brothers.

The scholarship in Gautt's name is part of the Foundation Player Scholarship program. Donors may contribute to a scholarship in the name of a former Oklahoma student-athlete and the scholarship is then awarded to a current student-athlete.

The scholarship in Gautt's name will be presented for the first time prior to the 2007 football season. The recipient is yet to be determined.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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