Former OU Baseball Coach Enos Semore passes away at 93

Enos Semore, the winningest coach in the history of the University of Oklahoma baseball program, passed away Saturday at the age of 93, OU Athletics announced.

Semore led the Sooners from 1968 to 1989, amassing an impressive record of 851-370-1 (.697). Under his leadership, OU made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including five straight College World Series trips from 1972-76. His 1976 squad set a program record with 62 wins.

OU Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione praised Semore’s impact on the program and beyond.

“His accomplishments on the diamond are nothing short of remarkable, and we couldn't be prouder that he was our coach for 22 memorable years,” Castiglione said. “While his conference championships and College World Series trips will forever live in the history books, it was his hall-of-fame leadership and huge personality that members of his teams will remember most.”

A 2005 inductee into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a 2025 Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame honoree, Semore led OU to seven Big Eight Conference titles. Six of those championships came in a dominant seven-year stretch from 1972-78, during which the Sooners went 316-97 (.765). In 1989, his final season, he was named Big Eight Coach of the Year.

Semore also played a key role in the development of L. Dale Mitchell Park, spearheading its construction in 1981 as the Big Eight’s first true baseball stadium. In May 2024, OU honored his legacy by retiring his No. 24 jersey, now displayed on the left field wall at the stadium.

“Coach Semore was a larger-than-life man,” said current OU head coach Skip Johnson. “When you think about OU Baseball, you think about Enos Semore and the countless lives he changed. I try to instill the same values and standards he held in our players today. One of the best things I’ve been part of at OU was retiring his jersey last spring.”

Before his time at Oklahoma, Semore led Bacone Junior College to a national junior college championship in 1967, compiling a dominant 152-22 record over five seasons. A graduate of Northeastern State University, he was a four-year letterman in baseball and basketball before being inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame in 1989.

Born in Haskell County, Okla., Semore retired in Noble, Okla., with his late wife, Mary.

He is survived by his three children: Lee, Janie, and Scott.