Cal Luther

Cal Luther
Sport(s) Basketball
Biographical details
Born (1930-10-23) October 23, 1930
Valdosta, Georgia
Playing career
1949–1951 Valparaiso
Position(s) Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1951–1954 Illinois (Freshmen)
1954–1958 DePauw
1958–1974 Murray State
1981–1990 Longwood
1990–1999 Tennessee–Martin
1999–2000 Bethel (Tenn.)
Head coaching record
Overall 500-398-1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1957 Indiana Collegiate Conference
1964 OVC Championship,
1969 OVC Championship
Awards
1964 OVC Coach of the Year
1969 OVC Coach of the Year
1996 OVC Coach of the Year

Cal Luther (born October 23, 1930 [1]) is a retired American basketball coach. He was head men's coach at DePauw, Murray State, Longwood, Tennessee-Martin, and Bethel College. He was also head coach of the Egyptian national basketball team.[2]

Early life

Born in Valdosta, Georgia,[3] Luther was an All-state football and basketball player at Bay View High School in Milwaukee.[4][5] He played college basketball at Valparaiso from 1949-1951. He spent two years as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and was a member of Fort Benning's basketball and championship-winning football teams.[6]

Luther's coaching career began at the University of Illinois, where he spent three seasons as the freshman basketball while obtaining his master's degree.[7]

DePauw

Luther became DePauw University's head coach in 1954. In his first season as head coach, he coached DePauw to a rare tie against Wabash. DePauw defeated Wabash 67-66, however the coaches of both teams decided the game should be recorded as a tie due to a scorers error.[8] In four seasons with the Tigers, Luther had a 45-40-1 record; including the 1956-57 ICC Championship and a berth in the inaugural NCAA College Division Tourney.[9] He coached two of DePauw's 1,000 point scorers (#6 Bob Schrier - 1,415 and #22 John Bunnell 1,004)

Murray State

In 1958, Luther became Murray State's seventh head basketball coach. In his sixteen seasons at MSU, Luther's Racers had a 241-134 record and made the NCAA tournament twice.[10] He was also Murray State's Athletic Director.[11] In 1971, the Minnesota Golden Gophers hired Luther to coach the men's basketball team, but he changed his mind and turned the team down after accepting the position.[12] Luther was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1964 and 1969.

Longwood

Luther spent nine seasons as the head coach of Division II Longwood University. One of his players, Jerome Kersey would be drafted in the second round of the 1984 NBA Draft. His overall record at Longwood was 136–105.

Egypt

Luther was the coach of the Egyptian national basketball team in 1990. Egypt finished 16th out of 16 teams in the 1990 FIBA World Championship.

Tennessee-Martin

Luther coached Tennessee-Martin from 1990-1999. There he compiled a 78-129 record. His 319 total victories while a coach in the OVC ranks first all-time in league history. Luther was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1996, making him the only coach to win Coach of the Year honors at two different OVC institutions.[13] After leaving UT Martin, Luther spent one season as the coach of Bethel College before retiring.

References

  1. ↑ "Men's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  2. ↑ "Small Colleges Lend The Stuff Of Dreams". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 3, 1990.
  3. ↑ "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  4. ↑ "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  5. ↑ Bill Letwin (December 16, 1945). "North Plays West for Lead Friday; South Milwaukee Faces Bay Squad". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  6. ↑ "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  7. ↑ "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  8. ↑ http://www.newspaperarchive.com/LandingPage.aspx?type=glpnews&search=wabash%20depauw%20tie&img=8675478
  9. ↑ http://www.depauw.edu/ath/mbasket/history/yrbyyr%20records.asp
  10. ↑ http://racerhistory.com/index.htm
  11. ↑ "Cal Luther Resigns As Murray State A.D". The Hartford Courant. November 30, 1977.
  12. ↑ Hartman, Sid; Joel Rippel (2006). Sid Hartman's Great Minnesota Sports Moments. Voyageur Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-7603-2656-8.
  13. ↑ http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/ovc/history.htm
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