B.O. Van Hook (1978) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

B.O. Van Hook

Induction:
1978

Benjamin Ormand Van Hook is recognized as one of the true early leaders of golf in the state of Mississippi and as golf coach at Southern Miss developed the program into one of the best in the state, consistently leading the team into contention for the state championship.
   He graduated from Seashore Campground School in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1915 and three years later received a bachelor's degree from Millsaps College.
   He earned a master's degree in mathematics from Vanderbilt University in 1922, and later did additional graduate study at Duke University.
   Van Hook's athletic career began at Millsaps College where from 1925 to 1945 he was a math teacher, athletic director, basketball and football coach. His Millsaps basketball teams had a record of 256-108, won five Dixie Conference championships and one Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship.
   He joined the staff at Southern Miss in 1950 and was a member of the mathematics department for 19 years. He served two stints as chairman of the department. During his final year of 1969 he was named the school's professor of the year.
   He was voluntary varsity golf coach at Southern Miss from 1950 to 1969, during which time his teams posted a 132-55 match record and won five Mississippi Intercollegiate championships.
   At one point his Southern Miss golf team won 44 consecutive dual matches and captured outright state titles in 1962, 1963 and 1964.
   Former Southern Miss athletic director Reed Green said of Van Hook," Van was just a volunteer coach. We couldn't pay him and we had no money for scholarships back in those days. He just had a love for kids."
   Van Hook also meant a lot to golf in Mississippi at both junior and senior levels. He learned the game on his own and in 1957 won the first Mississippi State Seniors championship.
   He helped form the Mississippi Senior Golf Association and also helped form the Mississippi Junior Golf Association and worked many years with the State Juniors championship.
   His sports awards were plentiful. His induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 was preceded by his selection for the Millsaps College Sports Hall of Fame.
   He was won of the very few to be presented a lifetime honorary membership in the Mississippi Sportswriters Association.
   "Most people knew me because of the athletics," Van Hook recalled late in his life. "Very few knew me because I taught school, Ordinarily, everybody called me coach, even in the math department. I was offered some coaching jobs, but I didn't take them because they didn't involve teaching. I knew I'd always be able to teach. Fortunately I always had a pretty good team."