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STILLWATER, Okla. — With a blue 1988-style No. 1 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ jersey on his frame – and a drought of 40 years since he’s watched a Wildcat basketball game in person – James Tolley was on a mission before Tuesday’s UA-Oklahoma State game.

So before taking his upper-level orange seat at Gallagher-Iba Arena, Tolley tried to catch Caleb Love’s attention from two different vantage points.

“I just yelled at him and asked if he’d sign it,� Tolley said.

Love agreed, and signed with black ink down the white No. 1 on the front of Tolley's jersey, the number Love has been wearing this season for the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥. (ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ wore blues on Tuesday but went with the "1997" edition.)

Then Tolley, a Tucson native who now lives in Wichita, Kansas, sat down with his wife, Shelly, to watch the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ for the first time since he was a University of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ student in 1984-85. That was the season Lute Olson first took the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ to the NCAA Tournament, with much more to come, but Tolley could only watch from afar.

That changed when the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ moved to the Big 12 this season. James and Shelly made the easy two-hour drive south to reach Tuesday's game and also have plans to attend UA’s Feb. 11 game at Kansas State, another two-hour drive from Wichita.

So, for Tolley, conference realignment couldn’t have worked out better.

“I get to see ‘em finally in person,� Tolley said.

OKC Thunder connection

For ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ coach Tommy Lloyd, the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™ swing through Texas and Oklahoma was something of a friendship reunion tour.

After facing longtime friend and fellow USA Basketball Junior Team staffer Grant McCasland at Texas Tech on Saturday, he took the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ through the backyard of another friend: Thunder GM Sam Presti.

The ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ flew from Lubbock, Texas, and into Oklahoma City on Saturday night, after McCasland coached TTU to a 70-54 win over ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥. On Sunday, they practiced at the Oklahoma City Blue G League arena and later took in the Thunder-Nets game on Sunday night.

“I think it was a great night,� Lloyd said Monday. “We try to use everything as a learning opportunity, from our game (at Texas Tech), reviewing that, and even going to the NBA game and figuring out what we can learn from there, as well.�

Presti and Lloyd came across each other early in their basketball careers. Presti moved up quickly in the Spurs organization and was named the Thunder’s GM at age 27 in 2007, while Lloyd was a Gonzaga staffer from 2000 to April 2021, when ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ hired him to take over the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥.

“We’ve been really good friends for years,� Lloyd said. “We were young guys in the business, and we met when he was evaluating a guy that I had recruited. Then we were on the road together at some of the international tournaments. We just struck up a relationship.�

USA Basketball bond

Lloyd's ties to McCasland aren't the only ones on the UA staff: ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ trainer Justin Kokoskie and Rem Bakamus also came to know McCasland last summer.

While Lloyd was head coach and McCasland an assistant coach for the USA Basketball U18 team that won the FIBA U18 AmeriCup last summer in Argentina, Kokoskie served as the team’s trainer and Bakamus was a special assistant who handled scouting and other duties.

“Can’t say enough good things about Grant,� Kokoskie said.

Kokoskie and Bakamus are expected to join Lloyd and McCasland again this summer with what will be USA Basketball’s U19 World Cup team. It is expected to include some members of last summer’s U18 team but possibly other highly ranked players who played U17 ball last summer, including UA target Koa Peat.

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While the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ had never played in Gallagher-Iba Arena before Tuesday, player relations director Jason Gardner had coached there.

It wasn’t a great memory. Or much of one at all, really.

Gardner was making his first road trip as a Memphis assistant in 2013-14, working on staff of fellow former UA player Josh Pastner, when Oklahoma State beat the Tigers 101-80.

“All I remember is it was close,� Gardner said.

Un-extended stay

Normally lodging at full-service hotels that have large conference rooms for team meals, meetings and sometimes even walk-throughs, the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ settled into an extended-stay chain hotel in Stillwater, which proved a little odd for a couple of reasons.

They weren’t making an extended stay, but one of just 26 hours. And the hotel's meeting room wasn't much bigger than a free throw lane, forcing the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ to gather for meals and meetings in the lobby.

Fortunately for the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, the lobby was almost a private space anyway because almost nobody else was staying there.

‘Pete’ had work to do

Oklahoma State’s mascot, Pistol Pete, has more than just a colorful story behind him.

It’s about revenge.

The mustachioed gunslinger was inspired by Frank Eaton, who was born in 1860 and witnessed his father’s death at the hands of outlaws at age 8. A family friend challenged the boy, telling him “if you do not try to avenge your father … you must never stop until they are all accounted for.�

Eaton took it to heart. At age 15, he beat out some top calvary marksmen and was nicknamed “Pistol Pete.� According to a story of his life posted at OSU’s Heritage Hall, “Pete� then set out after his father’s killers and “tracked down the last one in New Mexico.�

At age 17, he became a U.S. deputy marshal who was said to “pack the fastest guns in the Indian Territory,� and later became the living symbol of the Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) “Cowboy.�

Princeton of the Plains

While OSU’s mascot came straight out of the plains, its school colors were borrowed from … New Jersey.

According to OSU history, a popular late 19th-century faculty member’s father was a Princeton-educated clergyman and the school was sometimes referred to as the “Princeton of the Plains.� A chemistry class adopted orange and black along with a tiger mascot and before long, the colors were adopted on the sports teams referred to as the "Tigers."

The big number

243: Direct air miles closer that Oklahoma State (840) is to Tucson than Oregon State (1,083), the other orange-and-black "OSU" team, which ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ used to play in the Pac-12.