Basketball, Tennis (1947-48)
Warren Womble was born March 15, 1920, in Durant, Oklahoma. He was an outstanding athlete at Southeastern in the 1940’s and was one of the nation’s most successful basketball coaches in the 1950’s.
Womble was a two-sport Savage athlete, earning letters in tennis and basketball. He was the conference tennis singles champion in 1947 and 1948 and won the tennis doubles crown in 1948. He was a guard on the basketball team which reached the quarterfinals of the National AAU Tournament in Denver, Colorado in 1948.
Womble’s greatest athletic achievements were in coaching AAU and Olympic basketball. He played for the Peoria Caterpillars of the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL) and after one year he became their coach. He coached five teams to the National AAU Championships.
His Peoria team won the World Games in Brazil in 1954 and he took an All-Star team of NIBL players on an all-victorious tour of Russia in 1958.
In 1952 he was the head coach of the United States Olympic Basketball Team that won the Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland. He was an assistant basketball coach on the 1960 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team.
Warren Womble’s coaching record in AAU competition, Olympic competition, and international competition was amazing. He was named to the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame. He was named to the Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977. He was inducted into the Southeastern Athletic Hall of Fame on February 18, 1978.
