Torchy Clark

Torchy Clark

Sport(s)	Basketball
Biographical details
Born	1929 Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Died	April 22, 2009 (aged 80) Orlando, Florida
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1969–1983	UCF
Head coaching record
Overall	274–89 (.755)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
5x Sunshine State regular season championships Sunshine State Tournament championship
Awards
4× Sunshine State Coach of the Years Sunshine State Coach of the Decade
Records
Most wins in UCF history (274)

Eugene "Torchy" Clark (1929–2009) was an American college basketball coach. He was the first head coach of the UCF Knights men's basketball team that represents the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. Then named Florida Technological University, Clark served as the university's head basketball coach from 1969 to 1983.^[1]

During his 14-year tenure at UCF, Clark never had a losing season, and built the Knights into a national power, leading the team to five Sunshine State Conference regular season championships, one conference tournament championship and six NCAA tournament appearances in eight years. In 1978, Clark led the Knights, which at the time were riding a 24–game winning streak, to the Final Four. During his tenure, the Knights were ranked in the top 10 nationally for seven consecutive years.^[2]

Coaching career

Clark served as UCF's, then FTU's, first head basketball coach.^[3] In 1969, Clark, who was a Wisconsin high school coach, was responsible for starting the university's basketball program from scratch. In their first year, as a club level team, the Knights went 11–3, including a 99–38 victory in their first game over Massey Tech.^[2] The first season would serve as an omen for UCF basketball, with Clark bringing the university unprecedented success as a Division II team.

As the Knights head coach, Clark earned Sunshine State Coach of the Year honors four times and won the conference's coach of the decade award. While at UCF, Clark coached both of his sons, Bo and Mike. All three men are members of the UCF Athletic Hall of Fame, and Clark is a member of the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame.^[4] Bo is the Knight's all-time leading scorer with Mike second on the list, and as a freshman in 1976 Bo was the nation's leading scorer.^[5] The father-son duo were featured in a 1979 Sports Illustrated issue.^[5]

Clark coached his last game as a Knight on February 26, 1983, with UCF falling to Florida Southern. During his tenure, Clark's squads went 274–89, winning 20 or more games in a season seven times. In the decade after Clark retired, the Knights had only one winning season, the year after he left.^[6]

Before coaching men's college basketball, Clark was the basketball coach at Xavier High School in Appleton, Wisconsin. Among the players he coached there was Bob "Rocky" Bleier, who later overcame debilitating war wounds suffered in the Viet Nam War to become running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and earn three Super Bowl rings. Under Clark, the Xavier varsity basketball team won three Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championships.

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
UCF (Independent) (1969–1975)
1969–70	UCF	11–3
1970–71	UCF	17–9
1971–72	UCF	20–6
1972–73	UCF	19–7
1973–74	UCF	16–8
1974–75	UCF	14–10
UCF (Sunshine State Conference) (1975–1983)
1975–76	UCF	20–5	10–0	1st	NCAA Southeast Regional
1976–77	UCF	24–4	8–2	1st	NCAA Southeast Regional
1977–78	UCF	26–4	10–0	1st	NCAA Final Four
1978–79	UCF	19–7	7–3	2nd
1979–80	UCF	25–4	8–2	2nd	NCAA South Regional
1980–81	UCF	23–5	9–1	1st	NCAA South Regional
1981–82	UCF	21–8	9–3	1st	NCAA South/Central Regional
1982–83	UCF	19–9	10–2	2nd
UCF:		274–89	71–13
Total:		274–89
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

References

1. 2010-11 UCF men's basketball media guide
2. "2007–2008 UCF Knights Men's Basketball History". UCF Athletics Association. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
3. In December 1978, Florida Technological University was renamed the University of Central Florida.
4. "UCF Mourns the Passing of Coach Torchy Clark". University of Central Florida. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
5. "He's A Tough Gun Of A Son". Sports Illustrated. 1979-12-17. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
6. "There'll Never Be Another Torchy Clark". Rivals. 2010-01-22. Retrieved 2013-01-07.