Hall of Fame - Athletes

1985

HOUSTON NUTT

Arkansas

Basketball - Univ. of KY, Okla A&M, Little Rock, WGD

Being the only athlete to play for both famed basketball coaches, Adolph Rupp of University of Kentucky and Henry Iba of Oklahoma A&M, makes Houston Nutt a hot trivia item.

Houston Nutt Sr. was born on October 9, 1930 in Dallas County, AR (near Fordyce). Houston had three other brothers and two sisters, all of whom have some degree of hearing impairment or were completely deaf.

Houston was an outstanding quarterback for the Fordyce High School Redbugs football team, but it was as a high-scoring, six foot-two inch guard in basketball that he achieved the “All Everything” status. He was named to several All-American high school teams.

He accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of Kentucky at a time when its basketball program was rated tops in the nation. He played for the legendary coach Adolph Rupp. When the University of Kentucky was placed on probation, Houston transferred to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), where he played for Hank Iba.

Upon his graduation from Oklahoma State in 1956, Houston began his coaching career at the Arkansas School for the Deaf. He was a teacher, den of students, and in later years was named athletic director as well as coach.

During his 31-year coaching career, he had over 500 wins. In the early seventies, Houston coached a phenomenal player named Bennie Fuller who received national attention and helped put the Arkansas School for the Deaf on the map. Due to the Nutt/Fuller success and the national attention, state legislators appropriated funds for a new athletic complex at the school.

Houston and his brothers played basketball for the Little Rock Association for the Deaf in the American Athletic Association for the Deaf tournaments through the years. Most notable, his team went to Milan, Italy, in 1957 to play in the International Games for the Deaf. They won the basketball competition and brought home a gold medal.

(7 Oct 1930 - 20 Apr 2005)