James J. Oler

1934-1989

Physical Education (P.E.), B.S., Florida State University; M.A., Florida State University

This web site outlines the accomplishments of James J. Oler as a basketball player and a basketball coach. Coach Oler was not only a great athlete and coach; he excelled as a husband, father, educator, mentor and friend. Jim Oler epitomizes the Indiana success stories and legends of small town Indiana basketball. This site is dedicated to the sole purpose of expediting the induction process of Coach Oler into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Contributions of documentation, records, photographs, publications or contacts in behalf of Coach Oler are welcomed and can be made by contacting our    Coach Jim Oler application to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame was prepared and submitted by Thomas Gebert on August 15, 2003. Coach Oler will be in Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 61st Men's Induction Class to be honored on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.

Economy Indiana High School – 1949-1952

Economy Indiana Population - 150

Note from Mr. Vernon Redd of the Richmond Palladium-Item 1/28/2003:
 

Legendary Brevard Junior College Coach Jim Oler Inducted into Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.

Jim Oler scored 1251 points and averaged 18 points per game in his high school career and averaged 25.5 points per game his senior season.

Jim Oler was an outstanding baseball player in high school with a 4-year batting average of .508 as a second baseman. He averaged 12 strikeouts a game for six inning games as a senior pitcher.  He batted .500 in 3 seasons with local American Legion teams. He turned down an offer to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals.

FSU Athletics Hall of Fame

Source: http://seminoles.ocsn.com/genrel/081801aaa.html

JIMMY OLER

From 1952 through 1956, Jimmy Oler wrote basketball records at FSU that held into the 1990s. In his 91 games as a Seminole, Oler tallied 1820 points to become the school's all-time leader. In the 1955-56 campaign, Oler scored 743 points, still the best single-season in Seminole basketball annals. That same year Oler averaged 29.7 points a game, a mark no Seminole since has approached. He also captained the Tribe that season. Oler is holder of the FSU single-game record for free throws, made (22) and attempted (30). His 42 points vs. Morningside in 52-53 is FSU's fourth best single game performance.

After graduation, Jimmy Oler became a highly successful Florida junior college coach. Opponents who looked at the Indiana native in Garnet and Gold often said, "But he doesn't look like a basketball player." The next thing they knew he had driven by them to score two more for FSU.

FSU Roster and Statistics – 1952 – 1956                       

Source: http://www.geocities.com/nolefan_fsu/summary/b1956.html

Coach: J.K. Kennedy used to scour the country roads of Indiana searching for small town basketball talent. That’s where he discovered Jim Oler and many others. He coached Jim Oler for all 4 years at FSU 1952 thru 1956. Oler averaged 29.7 points per game in his final season. He scored between 32 points and 42 points 12 times. Note that all Jim Oler’s scoring achievements were made before the NCAA sanctioned the 3-point shot.

1952-53 Roster

From various Florida Times Union papers.

L

T                                       PY

R Name                Pos Hgt  Wgt Cl   Ltr Hometown/(HS-CC)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Richard Artmeier    F            Fr       Clarksburg, In

* Rick Benson         C   6-7      So   *   Winter Park

* 

  Tom Burst           G            So       Batesville, In

  Tom Dellahan        F            Fr       East Chicago, In

* Duane Gordon        G            Jr   *   Madison, Ws

  Kallish             G    

  HB Marcum           F      

  Dick Mott                                 Lynnbrook, NY

* Jim Oler            G   5-11 180 Fr       Economy, In

* Bob Pence           F            Sr-R *** Shelbysville, In

* Jimtom Richardson   F   6-3      Jr       Jacksonville

* Ham Wernke          G   6-0  170 So       Batesville, In

* Jerry Westhafer     F   6-4      Jr   *   Greensburg, In

  William Wisner                            Tarpon Springs

* Gary Wold           C   6-7      Fr       Madison, Wi

Lettermen from the Florida Times Union, Apri

l 6, 1953, page 11 and June 4, 1953, page 15.

From the Florida Times Union, December 11, 1953, page 15

Ham Wernke, Florida State University's candidate for All-American honors, appears headed for another fine season. Wernke, a Helms Foundation All-American last season (1952-53), bucketed 32 points in Florida State's opener against Mississippi State.

1952-53 Statistics

        Record   Home   Away   Neutral

        ------------------------------

Overall  11-11    6-2    4-9     1-0

Name                 GP FGM  FTM  PTS  AVG

==========================================

Paul "Ham" Wernke    21 155  131  441 21.0

Jerry Westhafer      21 119   45  283 13.5

Jim Oler             19  52   85  189  9.9

Duane Gordon         19  59   28  146  7.7

Rick Benson          20  48   32  128  6.4

Jimtom Richardson    18  46   21  113  6.3

Gary Wold            15  29   35   93  6.2

Tom Burst            17  17   16   50  2.9

Tom Dellahan         14  17    8   42  3.0

HB Marcum             9  13   13   39  4.3

Richard Artmeier     10   7    5   19  1.9

 Kallish              8   6    5   17  2.1

Bob Pence             8   1    5    7  0.9

                     =====================

FSU                  21 569  429 1567 74.6

Opp                  21 590  408 1588 75.6

1953-54 Roster

From the Florida Times Union, 2/18/1954, page 17.

L

T                                       PY

R Name                Pos Hgt  Wgt Cl   Ltr Hometown/(HS-CC)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Richard Artmeier    F            So       Clarksburg, In

* Rick Benson         C   6-7      Jr   **  Maitland

* Tom Burst           

F            Jr   *   Batesville, In

* Tom Dellahan        F/G          So       East Chicago, In

* Duane Gordon        F            Sr   **  Madison, Wi

  Tom Nissalki        G                     Madison, Wi

* Jim Oler            G   5-11 180 So   *   Economy, In

  Wayne Patton        G                     Saint Louis, Mo

  Reeves              C 

* Ham Wernke          G   6-0  170 Jr   *   Batesville, In

* Jerry Westhafer     F   6-4      Sr   **  Greensburg, In

  Gary Wold           C   6-7      So   *   Madison, Wi

  Ed Wursbach         F            So       Daytona Beach

Freshman numerals went to Don Alford, AJ Jarvis, Don Spier, Fred Twomey, Bobby Watts, Bobby Ward and Bob Williams.
Lettermen listed in the Florida Times Union, 4/16/1954, page 18.

From the Florida Times Union, March 4, 1955, page 26, just before the NAIA Tournament.
Mentions Ham Wernke is a two time Helms Foundation NAIA All-American (1952-53 & 1953-54).

1953-54 Statistics

        Record   Home   Away   Neutral

        ------------------------------

Overall  13-7     9-2    4-5     0-0

Scoring

Name                 GP FGM  FGA  PCT FTM FTA  PCT  PTS  AVG

============================================================

Paul "Ham" Wernke    20 128  354 .362 113           369 18.5

Jim Oler             20  96  280 .343 140 188 .745  332 16.6

Rick Benson          19  75  342 .219  45           195 10.3

Richard Artmeier     19  70            47           187  9.8

Jerry Westhafer      14  47            11           105  7.5

Tom Burst            19  40            13            93  4.9

Tom Dellahan         16  31            18            80  5.0

Duane Gordon         19  30            10            70  3.7

Gary Wold            13   5            17            27  2.1

 Reeves              11   4            13            21  1.9

Ed Wursbach           4   4             6            14  3.5

Tom Nissalki          7   4             4            12  1.7

Wayne Patton          1   0             0             0  0.0

                     =======================================

FSU                  20 534           437          1505 75.3

Opp                  20 520           408          1448 72.4

1954-55 Roster

From the Florida Times Union, various box scores and articles

L

T                                       PY

R Name                Pos Hgt  Wgt Cl   Ltr Hometown/(HS-CC)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Don Alford                       So   N   Napierville, Il

* Richard Artmeier    F            Jr   *   Clarksburg, In

* Rick Benson         C   6-7      Sr   *** Maitland

* Tom Burst           F            Sr   **  Batesville, In

  Tom Garcia          G            Fr       Fort Myers

* Jim Oler            G   5-11 180 Jr   **  Economy, In

  Wayne Patton        G                     Saint Louis, Mo

* Fred Twomey         F            So   N

* Bobby Waites        G            So   N

* Ham Wernke          G   6-0  170 Sr   **  Batesville, In

* Bob Williams        C   6-8      So   N

* Gary Wold           C   6-7      Jr   *   Madison, Wi

  Ed Wursbach         F            Jr

       Daytona Beach

1954-55 Statistics

        Record   Home   Away   Neutral

        ------------------------------

Overall  22-4    12-0    7-2     3-2

Fl Conf  11-0     6-0    4-0     1-0

Top 25    0-1     0-0    0-1     0-0

Florida Intercollegiate Conference Champion

From the 2000-01 FSU Men's Basketball Media Guide, Page 172

Name                 GP FGM  FGA  PCT  FTM FTA  PCT  PTS  AVG     REB  AVG

==========================================================================

Jim Oler             26 164  414 .396  221 289 .765  549 21.1      76  2.9

Paul "Ham" Wernke    26 190  461 .412  132 169 .781  512 19.7     130  5.0

Rick Benson          26 170  471 .361   92 147 .626  432 16.6     451 17.3

Richard Artmeier     26 121  397 .305   97 127 .764  339 13.0     276 10.6

Gary Wold            25  59  156 .378   90 124 .726  208  8.3     214  8.6

Bob Williams         26  49  112 .438   23  45 .511  121  4.7     194  7.5

Tom Burst            14  12   56 .214   17  24 .708   41  2.9      14  1.0

Fred Twomey          15  10   34 .294   17  30 .567   37  2.5      28  1.9

Bobby Waites         15   9   28 .321   10  11 .909   28  1.9      22  1.5

Ed Wursbach          11   7   18 .389    5   7 .714   19  1.7      12  1.1

Wayne Patton         13   2   13 .154    2   7 .286    6  0.5       1  0.1

Tom Garcia         

   2   1    4 .250    1   2 .500    3  1.5       2  1.0

Don Alford            2   0    0 .000    0   0 .000    0  0.0       0  0.0

                     =====================================================

FSU                  <

/span>26 794 2164 .367  707 982 .720 2295 88.3    1420 54.6

Opp                  26 756 2059 .367  539 826 .653 2051 78.9 

1955-56 Roster

From the Florida Times Union, November 22, 1955, page 42

L

T                                       PY

R Name                Pos Hgt  Wgt Cl   Ltr Hometown/(HS-CC)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Don Alford                       Jr   N   Napierville, Il

* Richard Artmeier    F            Sr   **  Clarksburg, In

  JW Corey                                  Jacksonville

  Lee Corso           G   5-10 165 Jr       Miami

  Gordon Dickson                            Camilla, Ga

* Tom Garcia          G            So       Fort Myers

* Stu Gregory         F   6-5               Jacksonville

  Bruce Jacobs                              Sarasota

  John Keiffer                              Springfield, Mo

* Darryll Mahoney     G                     Campbellsburg, Ky

* Jim Oler            G   5-11 180 Sr   *** Economy, In (Economy)

  Bill Paine                                Jacksonville

  Wayne Patton        G                     Saint Louis, Mo

* Fred Twomey         F            Jr   N*  Glouchester, Ma

* Bobby Waites        G            Jr   N*  Jacksonville

* Bob Ward            G                     Lynette, Al

* Bob Williams        C   6-8      Jr   N*  Covington, In

* Gary Wold           C   6-7      Sr   **  Madison, Wi

  John Wood           F                     Pompano Beach

  Bob Woodward                              Shenandoah, Va

  Ed Wursbach         F            Sr       Daytona Beach

Lettermen from the 2000-01 FSU Men's Basketball Media Guide, Page 206 and Florida Times Union, March 9, 1956 & November 4, 1956

1955-56 Statistics

        Record   Home   Away   Neutral

        ------------------------------

Overall  16-9     9-0    5-5     2-4

Fl Conf   9-1     5-0    4-1     0-0

Top 25    0-1     0-0    0-1     0-0

Florida Intercollegiate Conference Champion

From the Tallahassee Democrat

Name                 GP FGM  FGA  PCT  FTM FTA  PCT  PTS  AVG     REB  AVG  PF

==============================================================================

Jim Oler             25 216  470 .460  310 380 .816  742 29.7     136  5.4  61

Gary Wold            25 116  241 .481  129 181 .713  361 14.4     237  9.5  91

Richard Artmeier     25  98  261 .375   80 116 .690  276 11.0     167  6.7  90

Stu Gregory          25  66  163 .405   30  54 .556  162  6.5     121  4.8  67

Tom Garcia           22  44  145 .303   45  61 .738  133  6.0      49  2.2  40

Bob Ward             22  45  135 .333   29  43 .674  119  5.4      82  3.7  21

Bob Williams         20  33   97 .340   34  52 .654  100  5.0     176  8.8  51

Fred Twomey          20  16   46 .348    6  20 .300   38  1.9      39  2.0  24

Wayne Patton         13   9   28 .321   11  16 .688   29  2.2      17  1.3  19

Bobby Waites         16  10   34 .294    6  16 .375   26  1.6      24  1.5  14

Ed Wursbach          17   9   16 .563    5   8 .625   23  1.4      18  1.1  11

Darryll Mahoney       9   6   12 .500    2   3 .667   14  1.6       8  0.9   8

Lee Corso             1   0    0 .000    0   0 .000    0  0.0       0  0.0   0

John Wood             2   0    0 .000    0   0 .000    0  0.0       0  0.0   0

Team                                                               55

                     =========================================================

FSU                  25 668 1648 .405  687 950 .723 2023 80.9    1129 45.2 497

Opp                  25 710 1703 .431  493 799 .618 1913 76.5    1188 47.5 554

Note: FSU football great and ESPN College Football Commentator Lee Corso was a member of this team.

Jim Oler’s Coaching Record

·        Coach FSU Freshman team for two years while working on his master’s degree.

·        Coach fours years at McArthur High School in Hollywood Florida.

·        Coach and Athletic Director Brevard Junior College Florida – 334 wins – 88 losses

·        2 Florida Junior College Championships

·        No. 1 National Ranking 1970

·         11 Suncoast Conference Championships

·         FCCAA Coach of the Year 1967 & 1973

·        Coached seven junior college All-Americans.

·        Coach Gulf Coast Community College Florida – 85 wins – 42 losses

    Note: Floyd Hogen was an assistant coach to Coach Oler at BJC. Coach Oler was his mentor and the athletic director. Oler talked Hogen into staying at BJC to become the head golf coach after a 4-year school had turned down Hogen for a basketball job. Hogen led BJC to 6 National Championships and coached many future PGA players including Paul Azinger.

1967 Season 28-0 won Florida State Junior College Championship

Source: 1967 BJC Yearbook

FLORIDA COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME:

1990 -- James Oler – Coach from Gulf Coast Community College

1995 -- Pembrook Burrows – Player from Brevard Community College Coached by Jim Oler. Mr. Burrows 7-0 played for the University of Jacksonville where in 1970 he set the 7th best field goal percentage 11 for 12 for a NCAA Tournament game. Jacksonville was the NCAA Tournament runner-up to National Champion UCLA in 1970.

Source: http://www.flccaa.org/