Many coaches were players in their college days, but those achievements get forgotten as time goes by. Here's our list (this needs more info, please let me know of more details). For each coach, there is the sequence number (Tex was the 15th head coach), the years he was head coach and the school and year he graduated from college.
What about anyone earlier than Gardner?
10 & 14. Jack Gardner (1939-42, 1946-53) USC 1932.
Captain of USC basketball team, led PCC in scoring.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Gardner_(basketball)
15. Tex Winter (1954-68) USC 1947.
Pole vaulter, personal best 14'4" (bamboo pole). Possible olympian in 1944 but games were canceled. Also on basketball team.
Source: Trial by Basketball, Mark Bender; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex_Winter
16. Cotton Fitzsimmons (1968-70) Midwestern, 1955
Basketball, JC All-American, averaging 25.5 ppg at Hannibal-LaGrange College (Missouri) in 1952. His jersey is retired. Went to Midwestern State U (Texas) and averaged 13.3 ppg in a 1095 point career.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Fitzsimmons
17. Jack Hartman (1970-86) Oklahoma State, 1950
Basketball and football QB (All-league, Missouri Valley); One season pro football, 1950, with Saskatchewan Roughriders team (7-7 record), all league honors (played QB, number 10, completed 78 of 162 passes for 1217 yds and 7 TDs, intercepted 18 times. Caught 3 passes for 89 yards.
Source: basketball game programs of the 70s & https://www.profootballarchives.com/playerh/hart04150.html
18. Lon Kruger (1986-90) Kansas State, 1975
(Kruger's accomplishments at K-State, are, I hope, well known to all who visit here.)
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19. Dana Altman (1990-94) Eastern New Mexico, 1980
Played basketball at Fairbury Junior College (Nebraska)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Altman
20. Tom Asbury (1994-2000) Wyoming, 1968
Basketball, MVP of the 1966-67 Wyoming squad grabbing averaging 9.0 rebounds a game
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/wyoming.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/7/15/57892d39e4b0779afb3d5881.pdf
21. Jim Wooldridge (2000-06) Louisiana Tech, 1978
Basketball at Louisiana Tech, 1973-77. Dec. 1, 1975 Louisiana Tech lost to Chuckie Willians and K-State in Ahearn 86-49. Wooldridge scored 6 points and when asked what he remembers about K-State from that game said "they were fast."
https://latechsports.com/sports/2018/7/20/_m_baskbl_media_guides_html.aspx
22. Bob Huggins (2006-07) West Virginia, 1977
Basketball. Played for his father in High School. Played for West Virginia in college scoring 800 points and averaging 13.2 ppg as a senior. Had a 1977 tryout with the NBA Philadelphia 76ers.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Huggins
23. Frank Martin (2007-12) Florida International, 1993
- not known -
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24. Bruce Weber (2012 - present) Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1978
- not known -
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Last modified 1/5/22, posted 12/29/21; original content. © 2022, 2021 John P. Nordin
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