Wally Marks
Walter E. "Wally" Marks, PhD (February 16, 1905 – November 24, 1992) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, college athletics administrator, sports official, and university instructor. Marks played football, basketball, and baseball at the University of Chicago. Between 1927 and 1955 he served as the head football, basketball, baseball, and golf coach at Indiana State University, with hiatuses from 1930 to 1931, when he earned a master's degree at Indiana University, and from 1942 to 1945, when he served United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Marks was best known for his coaching of football and baseball, though his tenure as basketball coach was highlighted by the Sycamores' run to the semifinals of the 1936 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Marks also served as the Indiana State's athletic director. In total, Marks spent 44 years at Indiana State. rising from instructor to the Dean of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, now known as the College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services. He held two degrees from the University of Chicago, a BA and a PhD, and three from Indiana University, an MA, a doctorate in physical education, and a doctorate of education. At his retirement in 1971, Indiana State's home track and field venue was dedicated in his honor. Marks reached the rank of major in the United States Army Air Forces and spent 44 months in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.
Playing career
At the University of Chicago, Marks was an outstanding athlete. A three-sport performer, he earned a total of eight varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball, was an ROTC Cadet Major, and held membership in several honorary fraternities. He played varsity football for three years under the Maroons' coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg. As a sophormore, he played fullback for Chicago's last Big Ten Conference football championship team in 1924. He was a regular halfback on the 1925 and 1926 Maroon teams and captained the 1926 team. For two years, he was a regular starting guard on the Maroons' basketball team. As a pitcher and an outfielder, he played on Chicago's baseball team for thee years and had a .399 batting average as a sophomore.
Head coaching career
Football
Marked finished his career as the leader in wins (he currently stands at #2). His 1933 team finished at 7–1 record. This record still ranks as the second best in the school's history; trailing Coach Jerry Huntsman's 1968 team (9–1). His homecoming record was 8–5.
Basketball
He finished his career as the leader in wins (he currently stands at #6). Led the Sycamores to a Semi-final finish in the 1936 U.S. Olympic Trials. His 1929–30 team finished at 16–2; it still ranks among the finest season performances of any ISU team with its .888 winning percentage.
Baseball
He finished his career as the leader in wins (he currently stands at #4). He led the Sycamores to Indiana Collegiate Conference titles in 1930, 1946, 1947 and 1949.
Officiating and military athletics instruction
Marks was a Big Ten Conference official for twenty years with tenures of eight years in basketball and 16 years in football. He officiated the 1960 Rose Bowl and retired at the close of the 1964 football season. In 1954, and again in 1960, he was named by the Big Ten and the United States Department of Defense as a member of an instructional staff presenting football officiating clinics for United States military personnel in Germany.
Honors
- 1974 Indiana Football Hall of Fame[1]
- 1982 Indiana State University Hall of Fame[2]
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana State Sycamores (Independent) (1927–1930) | |||||||||
| 1927 | Indiana State | 4–2–1 | |||||||
| 1928 | Indiana State | 4–3 | |||||||
| 1929 | Indiana State | 5–2–1 | |||||||
| 1930 | Indiana State | 5–3–1 | |||||||
| Indiana State Sycamores (Independent) (1933) | |||||||||
| 1933 | Indiana State | 7–1 | |||||||
| Indiana State Sycamores (Indiana Intercollegiate Conference) (1934–1941) | |||||||||
| 1934 | Indiana State | 3–5 | |||||||
| 1935 | Indiana State | 5–3 | |||||||
| 1936 | Indiana State | 2–3–2 | |||||||
| 1937 | Indiana State | 1–7 | |||||||
| 1938 | Indiana State | 1–7 | |||||||
| 1939 | Indiana State | 2–6 | |||||||
| 1940 | Indiana State | 5–1–2 | |||||||
| 1941 | Indiana State | 5–2 | |||||||
| Indiana State Sycamores (Indiana Intercollegiate Conference) (1946–1947) | |||||||||
| 1946 | Indiana State | 4–4 | |||||||
| 1947 | Indiana State | 5–3 | |||||||
| Indiana State Sycamores (Independent) (1946–1948) | |||||||||
| 1948 | Indiana State | 4–4 | |||||||
| Indiana State: | 62–56–7 | ||||||||
| Total: | 62–56–7 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Basketball
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana State Sycamores (Indiana Collegiate Conference) (1927–1938) | |||||||||
| 1927–1928 | Indiana State | 10-9 | None | ||||||
| 1928–1929 | Indiana State | 15-3 | None | ||||||
| 1929–1930 | Indiana State | 11-8 | None | ||||||
| 1930-1931 | Indiana State | 17-4 | None | ||||||
| 1933-1934 | Indiana State | 13-4 | None | ||||||
| 1934–1935 | Indiana State | 17-4 | None | ||||||
| 1935-1936 | Indiana State | 18-6 | U.S. Olympic Trials | ||||||
| 1936-1937 | Indiana State | 21-7 | None | ||||||
| 1937-1938 | Indiana State | 21-7 | |||||||
| Total: | 90-58 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Baseball
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | W | L | T | Pct | W | L | T | Pct | Postseason |
| 1929 | Indiana State | 5 | 4 | 1 | .550 | |||||
| 1930 | Indiana State | 7 | 1 | 0 | .875 | Indiana Collegiate Conference Champions | ||||
| 1931 | Indiana State | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | |||||
| 1934 | Indiana State | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | |||||
| 1935 | Indiana State | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | |||||
| 1936 | Indiana State | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | |||||
| 1937 | Indiana State | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | |||||
| 1942 | Indiana State | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | |||||
| 1946 | Indiana State | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | Indiana Collegiate Conference Champions | ||||
| 1947 | Indiana State | 11 | 2 | 0 | .846 | Indiana Collegiate Conference Champions | ||||
| 1949 | Indiana State | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | Indiana Collegiate Conference Champions | ||||
| 1950 | Indiana State | 10 | 5 | 0 | .667 | |||||
| 1951 | Indiana State | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | |||||
| 1952 | Indiana State | 8 | 5 | 0 | .615 | |||||
| 1953 | Indiana State | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | |||||
| 1954 | Indiana State | 6 | 10 | 0 | .600 | |||||
| 1955 | Indiana State | 5 | 6 | 0 | .455 | |||||
| Overall Totals | 108 | 81 | 2 | .571 | ||||||
References
External links
- 1950 births
- 1992 deaths
- American basketball coaches
- American football fullbacks
- American football halfbacks
- American football officials
- Baseball pitchers
- Baseball outfielders
- Basketball referees
- Guards (basketball)
- Chicago Maroons baseball players
- Chicago Maroons football players
- Chicago Maroons men's basketball players
- Indiana State Sycamores football coaches
- Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball coaches
- College athletic directors in the United States
- College baseball coaches in the United States
- College golf coaches in the United States
- Indiana State University faculty
- American military personnel of World War II
- United States Army Air Forces officers
- People from Wapello County, Iowa