Basketball (1939-42, 1946)
Otho “Sweetpea” Curtis was a star basketball player on the Southeastern team that narrowly lost the national championship in 1942.
Curtis was born in Wister, Oklahoma on June 21, 1920. He was the oldest of ten Curtis children, five of whom attended Southeastern. Two brothers, J.C. and Earl, were outstanding Savage basketball players during the 1950’s.
Following graduation from Wister High School in 1939, Otho enrolled at Southeastern and reported out for Coach Bloomer Sullivan’s basketball team. The 1940 Savages were conference champions and played in the national tournament in Kansas, City.
The 1941-42 Savages were one of the greatest basketball teams in the university’s history. No team has come so close to winning a national championship. Led by the sparkling play of Curtis and L.T. “Cotton” Patton , Southeastern reached the finals of the national tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, where they were defeated 33-31 by powerful Hamline University.
Curtis and Patton were named to the All-Tournament Team, which was paramount to being named All-Americans. They were the first two athletes in Southeastern’s history to be recognized as All-Americans.
Curtis served in the Army Air Force during World War II. He returned to college following the war and graduated in 1946. He was an All-Conference basketball selection in 1942 and again in 1946.
Following graduation, Otho coached at Nida High School for three years and served as principal- coach at Newcastle, Oklahoma from 1949 to 1971. He resigned in 1971 to accept a position with the U.S. Postal Service in Newcastle.
Sweetpea Curtis was a great basketball player at this university. He was inducted into the Southeastern Athletic Hall of Fame on February 24, 1979.
