John Benington

John Benington
	Benington in 1964
Biographical details
Born	December 31, 1921; Findlay, Ohio, U.S.
Died	September 10, 1969 (aged 47); East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
Playing career
1945–1949	San Francisco
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1950–1956	Michigan State (assistant)
1956–1958	Drake
1958–1965	Saint Louis
1965–1969	Michigan State
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1964–1965	Saint Louis
Head coaching record
Overall	299–203
Tournaments	3–4 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	Big Ten regular season (1967)

John E. Benington (December 31, 1921 – September 10, 1969)^[1] was an American college basketball coach.

The Findlay, Ohio native played college basketball for two seasons at the University of San Francisco, where he captained the squad that won the 1949 National Invitation Tournament under Pete Newell. He then became assistant basketball coach at Michigan State University (1950–1956) under Newell and Forddy Anderson.

He served a combined 14 seasons as head men's basketball coach at Drake University (1956–1958), St. Louis University (1958–1965) and Michigan State (1965–1969). He led Saint Louis to four NIT appearances including the finals of the 1961 NIT where they lost to Providence.

Benington died of a massive heart attack at age 47 after jogging.^[2] He was found after hours in Jenison Fieldhouse by his wife and freshman coach.^[1]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Drake Bulldogs (Missouri Valley Conference) (1956–1958)
1956–57	Drake	8–16	4–10	8th
1957–58	Drake	13–12	4–10	8th
Drake:		21–28 (.429)	8–20 (.286)
Saint Louis Billikens (Missouri Valley Conference) (1958–1965)
1958–59	Saint Louis	20–6	10–4	3rd	NIT First Round
1959–60	Saint Louis	19–8	9–5	3rd	NIT First Round
1960–61	Saint Louis	21–9	7–5	T–3rd	NIT Runner-up
1961–62	Saint Louis	11–15	5–7	5th
1962–63	Saint Louis	16–12	6–6	T–3rd
1963–64	Saint Louis	13–12	6–6	T–4th
1964–65	Saint Louis	18–9	9–5	T–2nd	NIT First Round
Saint Louis:		118–71 (.624)	52–38 (.578)
Michigan State Spartans (Big Ten Conference) (1965–1969)
1965–66	Michigan State	15–7	10–4	2nd
1966–67	Michigan State	16–7	10–4	T–1st
1967–68	Michigan State	12–12	6–8	T–6th
1968–69	Michigan State	11–12	6–8	T–5th
John E. Benington:		54–38 (.631)	32–24 (.571)
Total:		299–203 (.596)
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

^ ^a ^b Seibold, Jack (October 1, 2003). The Spartan Sports Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-58261-219-5.
^ "2016-17 Michigan State Spartans Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2017-05-19.

This biographical article relating to a United States basketball player, coach, or other figure born in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[SpartanSE-1] Seibold, Jack (October 1, 2003). The Spartan Sports Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-58261-219-5.

[2] "2016-17 Michigan State Spartans Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2017-05-19.

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