Ouachita Athletics Hall of Fame
Bill Vining, Sr.'s legacy at Ouachita is unmatched.
Throughout his 34 seasons as the head coach of the Ouachita men's basketball team and one season leading the women's team, the Tigers won 555 games, six conference championships, and six district championships. During that time, Vining was named NAIA District 17 Coach of the Year five times and Area V Coach of the Year three times. He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1979, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. He finished his coaching career with a record of 555-382-1. The basketball arena at Ouachita was named after him in 1997.
Along with coaching at Ouachita, Vining also spent time coaching U.S. teams in international competition in Europe, Africa, Central America and South America. During the 1977 World University Games in Bulgaria, Vining served as an assistant coach for the gold-medal Team USA. He also was head coach for Team USA in the 1978 Yuri Gagarin Cup in the Soviet Union. Among U.S. basketball stars he coached in international competition were Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Sidney Moncrief.
Coach Vining passed away on August 15, 2025.
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