Gene Bartow

Gene Bartow

Biographical details
Born	(1930-08-30) August 30, 1930 Browning, Missouri
Died
Head coaching record
Overall	647-353
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Missouri State High School Activities Assoc. (1957) Missouri Valley Conference (1971-72), (1972-73) Pac-8 Conference (1975-76), (1976-77) Sun Belt Conference (1980-81), (1981-82), (1989-90)
Awards
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (1989) National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (2009)

Gene Bartow (born August 18, 1930 - January 3, 2012) is a former men's college basketball coach. The Browning, Missouri, native coached 36 years at six universities after coaching two high schools in Missouri for six years.

High school

Bartow began his coaching at the prep level in Missouri, coaching Shelbina and St. Charles High School basketball squads to a 145-39 win-loss mark in six seasons. His 1957 St. Charles team won the state championship, defeating North Kansas City in the Class L finals by a score of 60-54.

College

Bartow coached at Central Missouri State University from 1961–1964, Valparaiso University from 1964–1970 and Memphis State University from 1970 until 1974, and he led the Memphis State Tigers to the 1973 NCAA national championship game and consecutive Missouri Valley Conference titles in the 1971-72 and 1972-73 seasons. He coached the US national team in the 1974 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.

In 1974 Bartow accepted the head coaching position at the University of Illinois. Illinois finished 8-18 in his only season coaching the Fighting Illini, and Bartow left his position to succeed John Wooden as the head coach of UCLA. Bartow coached at UCLA from 1975 to 1977, guiding them to a 52-9 record, including a berth in the 1976 Final Four.He coached the 1977 College Player of the Year, Marques Johnson. As of 2008, he is the second winningest coach at UCLA by percentage of wins to losses at .852, putting him behind Gary Cunningham at .862 and above John Wooden at .808.

Bartow left UCLA after the 1977 season to take over the job of creating an athletic program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, more commonly known as UAB. He served as the school's first head basketball coach and athletic director for 18 years. Bartow led UAB to the NIT in the program's second year of existence, and followed that up with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the Sweet 16 in 1981 and the Elite Eight in 1982.

Bartow retired from coaching in 1996, and in 1997, UAB renamed its basketball venue, Bartow Arena, in his honor. His son Murry, a UAB assistant, became the coach upon Bartow's retirement; Bartow is now president of Hoops, LP, the company that runs the Memphis Grizzlies and the FedEx Forum.

On April 15, 2009, a UAB spokesman revealed that Bartow had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Honors

In 1989, Bartow was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, 10 years later, in 1999, Central Missouri State Hall of Fame also elected him to theirs. Bartow was also voted one of Valparaiso University 150 most influential people in October 2009. [1] Bartow was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City on November 22, 2009, along with fellow inductees Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wayman Tisdale, Jud Heathcote, Walter Byers, Travis Grant, and Bill Wall.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Central Missouri State (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) (1961–1964)
1961–1962	Central Missouri	16–6
1962–1963	Central Missouri	17–6
1963–1964	Central Missouri	14–9
Central Missouri:		47–21
Valparaiso Crusaders (Indiana Collegiate Conference) (1964–1970)
1964–1965	Valparaiso	13–12	5–7	3rd/7
1965–1966	Valparaiso	18–10	7–5	4th/7	NCAA 2nd Round
1966–1967	Valparaiso	21–8	7–5	2nd/7
1967–1968	Valparaiso	11–15	3–9	6th/7
1968–1969	Valparaiso	16–12	4–4	T–2nd/5	NCAA 2nd Round
1969–1970	Valparaiso	13–13	2–6	5th/5
Valparaiso:		92–70	28–30
Memphis State Tigers (Missouri Valley Conference) (1970–1974)
1970–1971	Memphis State	18–8	8–6	4th
1971–1972	Memphis State	21–7	12-2	T–1st	NIT 1st Round
1972–1973	Memphis State	24–6	12–2	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
1973–1974	Memphis State	19–11
Memphis State:		82–32	32–10
Illinois Fighting Illini (Big 10) (1974–1975)
1974–1975	Illinois	8–18	4–14	T–9th
Illinois:		8–18	4–14
UCLA Bruins (Pac 8) (1975–1977)
1975–1976	UCLA	28–4†	13–1	1st	NCAA 3rd Place
1976–1977	UCLA	24–5	11–3	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
UCLA:		52–9	24–4
UAB (Independent/Sun Belt Conference) (1978–1991)
1978–1979	UAB	15–11
1979–1980	UAB	18–12	10–4	T–2nd	NIT 1st Round
1980–1981	UAB	23–9	9–3	T–1st	NCAA Sweet 16
1981–1982	UAB	25–6	9–1	1st	NCAA Elite 8
1982–1983	UAB	19–14	9–5	3rd	NCAA 1st Round
1983–1984	UAB	23–11	8–6	5th	NCAA 1st Round
1984–1985	UAB	25–9	11–3	2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
1985–1986	UAB	25–11	9–5	T–3rd	NCAA 2nd Round
1986–1987	UAB	21–11	10–4	3rd	NCAA 1st Round
1987–1988	UAB	16–15	7–7	5th
1988–1989	UAB	22–12	8–6	4th	NIT Final Four
1989–1990	UAB	22–9	12–2	1st	NCAA 1st Round
1990–1991	UAB	18–13	9–5	2nd	NIT 1st Round
UAB:		247–143	111–51
UAB Blazers (Great Midwest Conference) (1991–1995)
1991–1992	UAB	20–9	4–6	5th	NIT 1st Round
1992–1993	UAB	21–14	5–5	4th	NIT Final Four
1993–1994	UAB	22–8	8–4	T–2nd	NCAA 1st Round
1994–1995	UAB	15–15	5–7	6th
UAB:		77–46	22–22
UAB Blazers (Conference USA) (1995–1996)
1995–1996	UAB	16–14	6–8	2nd(Red)
UAB:		16–14	6–8
UAB:		340–203	139–81
Total:		647–353
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

See also

• List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins