Bill Vining (1929–2025)

Bill Vining holds the record as the winningest basketball coach at Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) in Arkadelphia (Clark County). During his thirty-four seasons as head men’s basketball coach, the Tigers won 555 games, six Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championships, and six National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) District 17 championships. The 555 victories are the most by any coach in Arkansas history at a single Arkansas school.

The youngest of seven children in the farming family of Thomas Ebenezer Vining and Mary Maude Edmondson Vining, Billy Coleman Vining was born at Indian Switch (Chicot County) on October 22, 1929. He attended high school at Eudora (Chicot County). Vining began his long association with Ouachita in 1947 as a college freshman. He arrived at Ouachita after getting a ride from Eudora in the back of a friend’s pickup truck. When he arrived on campus, Vining realized he had not applied for admission and did not have a dorm room. In the middle of the night, Vining went to the home of the school’s president, Dr. J. R. Grant, and begged for a room. Grant secured one for him.

Vining was one of three freshmen to start on the football team and eventually earned a basketball scholarship that helped cover his tuition. Vining was actively involved in campus life, serving as senior class president, treasurer of the Sigma Alpha Sigma men’s social club (Ouachita does not have national fraternities or sororities), captain of the basketball team, and a member of the Student Senate. During his senior year, Vining was chosen for Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. He graduated in 1951 with degrees in math and physical education.

At Ouachita, Vining began dating Arkadelphia native Ann Strickland. In the fall of 1950, Strickland, Ouachita’s homecoming queen, was at the center of what was later described as a “friendly kidnapping” by friends attending what is now Henderson State University. The friends hid her out at a cabin on Lake Hamilton the week before the Battle of the Ravine football game between Ouachita and Henderson. Vining led an extensive search, armed with a shotgun.

The couple was married on Christmas Eve 1950 and remained married until Ann Vining’s death in 2009. The couple had six children. In 2012, he married Carolyn Davis.

After graduating from Ouachita in 1951, Vining served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War as an Army second lieutenant field communications chief for two years. Following military service, he completed a year of graduate school in Nashville, Tennessee, earning an MSE in physical education from Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University). He then returned to his alma mater to serve as head basketball coach at age twenty-four. There were no scholarships for players, and the team often did not come together until after football season. All of that changed under Vining, who came to be regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the country.

Vining also coached in international competitions in Europe, Asia, Central America, and South America. In 1977, he was assistant coach for Team USA, which won a gold medal during the World University Games in Bulgaria with players such as Larry Bird and Sidney Moncrief. A year later, Vining coached Team USA to a silver medal during the Yuri Gagarin Cup basketball tournament in the Soviet Union. Future NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a member of that team.

Vining was NAIA District 17 Coach of the Year five times and NAIA 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 Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. Vining Arena and Vining Legacy Wall in the Sturgis Physical Education Center on the Ouachita campus are named in his honor. He ended his Ouachita coaching career in 1989 with a 555–382-1 record.

Vining served as Ouachita’s athletic director from 1965 to 1996. He died on August 15, 2025, and is buried at Arkadelphia’s Rest Haven Memorial Gardens.

For additional information:
Bill Vining Papers. Archives and Special Collections, Riley-Hickingbotham Library. Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

“Five Selected for Induction into Sports Hall of Fame.” Arkansas Gazette, February 22, 1985, p. 3F.

Moser, Tony. “Modest Man.” Arkansas Democrat, March 16, 1979, p. 2D.

Nelson, Rex. “The Loss of a Hero.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 30, 2025, p. 7B. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/aug/30/the-loss-of-a-hero/ (accessed November 5, 2025).

Obituary of “Coach” Billy Coleman Vining Sr. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 20, 2025, p. 1B. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/obituaries/2025/aug/20/coach-billy-vining-sr-2025-08-20/ (accessed November 5, 2025).

“OBU Legend Bill Vining Recalls BOTR Mischief.” The Signal [Ouachita Baptist University], November 10, 2017, p. 6.

“OBU’s Break in ’54 Became Vintage Vining.” Arkansas Gazette, February 9, 1989, p. 1D.

“Ouachita’s ‘Deacon Bill’ Takes Aim at No. 500.” Advance Monticellonian, November 13, 1985, Section 1–7.

“Vining to Retire after 34 Years as Tiger Basketball Coach.” The Signal, February 10, 1989, p. 1.

“Vining’s Career Shines with Personal Highs and Team Achievements.” The Signal, February 10, 1989, p. 10.

Lisa Speer
Ouachita Baptist University