Shea Seals Inducted into T of C Hall of Fame
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS PRESENTATION: Terrell Lester, left, presents Shea Seals with the 2015 T of C Hall of Fame award. Seals starred in the 1992 tournament. Lester is also a member of the T of C Hall of Fame for his many years of service to the event.
Shea Seals was inducted into the Tournament of Champions Hall of Fame during the T of C Tournament, which was held at the Oral Roberts University Mabee Center in December.
In a half-century of basketball, Shea Seals stands alone as a player and coach in the Tournament of Champions.
He is the only player to win a Most Valuable Player Award and the tournament championship, then return to win the championship as a coach.
As a senior in 1992, Seals led the Class 4A Tulsa McLain Scots to three victories in the Mabee Center.
He scored 31 points in the opening-round victory over Class A Boynton and counted 23 in the semifinals against Class 5A Union.
In the finals, Seals led the balanced McLain team to a 63-51 victory over unbeaten Class 5A No. 2 Norman.
For the tournament, McLain shot 63 percent from the field, and Seals was selected the tournament after finishing with 71 points and 19 rebounds.
Seals went on to star at the University of Tulsa and played in the before returning home.
In 2010, he was the coach of the Booker T. Washington Hornets who won the Tournament of Champions in a battle of unbeatens with Muskogee.
Seals’ Hornets reached the championship game with wins over Class 2A powers Stratford and Talihina.
The Class 5A Hornets stopped Class 6A No. 1-ranked Muskogee, 56-53, for Seals’ team championship.
Eventually, Seals left Washington and returned to the University of Tulsa as an assistant coach, where he remains today.
Presenting the Hall of Fame plaque to Shea Seals was Terrell Lester, a member of the Hall of Fame who has been involved with the Tournament of Champions throughout its 51 years.
Updated 01-25-2016
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