Tom Hankins enters his 10th season overall as an ORU assistant and eighth as the top assistant under head coach Scott Sutton.

Hankins primarily works with ORU's big men as well as developing scouting reports, scheduling and recruiting.

"Tom's been at ORU for 10 years and he's been a huge part of our success," says head coach Scott Sutton. "Coach Hankins has a great understanding of what kind of players we need, and he's a tremendous evaluator. He's also a very good "X's and O's" coach. Tom has prepared himself well to be a head coach, and he'll be a good one when he gets the chance."

"I'm really happy to be a part of this coaching staff," Hankins said. "I'm a Tulsa guy. I'm from here and have quite a few connections in the high school coaching ranks, so that is definitely an asset. I believe in what this university was founded on and am happy to be a part of it."

Hankins has worked his way up the coaching ladder over the last 14 years. After coaching stints at Frank Phillips College, Northwest Missouri State and Tulsa East Central High School, he came to ORU as an assistant under former coach Barry Hinson in 1997.

Hankins, who earned a master's degree in Education from Northwest Missouri State, played as a guard for Northeastern State from 1987-89. There, he was ranked in the NAIA Top 10 for assists as a senior. Before that, he played at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College from 1984-86.

In 1984, Hankins graduated from Thomas Edison High School in Tulsa, where he was the career assist leader. Hankins was selected to the Tulsa World all-city basketball team in 1984.

Hankins married the former Annie Sisler on March 16, 1996. Together, the couple has three children: daughters, Kamryn Rae (8) and Elizabeth Ann (6), and son, Luke James (3).