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Adolph Rupp

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Adolph Frederick Rupp
File:Adolph rupp.jpg
Adolph Rupp
Biographical details
Born(1901-09-02)September 2, 1901
Halstead, Kansas, USA
DiedDecember 10, 1977(1977-12-10) (aged 76)
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Playing career
Position(s)Reserve
Head coaching record
Overall876–190, tied for 4th most wins all-time;
82.2% winning percentage, 2nd all-time
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA Championship
(1948, 1949, 1951, 1958)
Regional Championships - Final Four
(1942, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1966)
Awards
National Coach of the Year (4-time)
SEC Coach of the Year (7-time)
Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1969
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006

Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is tied with Jim Boeheim for 4th (behind Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight and Dean Smith) in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching. Rupp is also second among all coaches in all-time winning percentage (.822), trailing only Clair Bee. Adolph F. Rupp was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 13, 1969.

Early life

Rupp was born outside Halstead, Kansas, to Mennonite German immigrants, the fourth of six children. He grew up on a 173-acre (0.70 km2) farm which his father Heinrich homesteaded. After his father's death in 1910, Rupp's oldest brother Otto took over farming responsibilities. As a youngster, Rupp worked on the farm and attended a school in a one-room school house in the country. He first became interested in the sport of basketball at the age of six when Halstead won the first of two consecutive Kansas state high school titles. According to interviews, he and his brothers stuffed rags into a gunnysack which his mother sewed up to use as a basketball on the family farm. Later, after growing to a sturdy 6-foot-2, Rupp was a star on his Halstead High School team, averaging over 19 points a game in both his junior and senior years. Rupp also served as team captain and unofficial coach.

After high school, Rupp attended the University of Kansas from 1919–1923. He worked part-time at the student Jayhawk Cafe to help pay his college expenses. He was a reserve on the basketball team under legendary coach Forrest "Phog" Allen from 1919 to 1923. Assisting Allen during that time was his former coach and inventor of the game of basketball, James Naismith, who Rupp also got to know well during his time in Lawrence.

In Rupp's junior and senior college seasons (1921–22 and 1922–23), Kansas (KU) had outstanding basketball squads. Later, both of these standout Kansas teams would be awarded the Helms National Championship, recognizing the Jayhawks as the top team in the nation during those seasons.

High school coaching

Rupp began his career in coaching by accepting a teaching job at Burr Oak High School, Kansas. After a one year stay, Rupp moved on to Marshalltown, Iowa where he coached wrestling, a sport he knew nothing about at the time and learned from a book. He did lead the Marshalltown team to a state wrestling title in 1926.[1]

In 1926-30, Rupp accepted the basketball head coaching position at Freeport High School, (Freeport, Illinois) where he also taught history and economics. During his four years at Freeport, Rupp compiled a record of 66-21 and guided his team to a third-place finish in the 1929 state tournament.[2] While at Freeport High School Rupp started William "Mose" Mosely, the first African-American to play basketball at Freeport and the second to graduate from the school.[3]

University of Illinois head basketball coach Craig Ruby was invited to speak at the team banquet following the 1929-30 season. Ruby informed Rupp of the Kentucky head coaching job and followed up by recommending him for the job.[4]

During his time in Freeport, Rupp met his future wife, Esther Schmidt.

University of Kentucky

Rupp coached the University of Kentucky men's basketball team from 1930 to 1972. There, he gained the nicknames, "Baron of the Bluegrass, and "The Man in the Brown Suit". Rupp's Wildcat teams won four NCAA championships (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958), one National Invitation Tournament title in 1946, appeared in 20 NCAA tournaments, had six NCAA Final Four appearances, won five Sugar Bowl tournament championships, captured 27 Southeastern Conference regular season titles, and won 13 Southeastern Conference tournaments. Rupp's Kentucky teams also finished ranked #1 on six occasions in the final Associated Press college basketball poll and four times in the United Press International (Coaches) poll. In addition, Rupp's 1966 Kentucky squad (nicknamed "Rupp's Runts") finished runner-up in the NCAA tournament and Rupp's 1947 Wildcats finished runner-up in the National Invitation Tournament. Further, Rupp's 1933 and 1954 Kentucky squads were also awarded the Helms National Championship.

In his 41 seasons as UK coach, Rupp coached 32 All-Americans, chosen 50 times, 52 All-SEC players, chosen 91 times, 44 NBA Draft Picks, 2 National Players-of-the-Year, 7 Olympic Gold Medalists, and 4 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members. He was a 4-time National Coach-of-the-Year award winner, and a 7-time Conference Coach-of-the-Year award winner. Rupp was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, College Basketball Hall of Fame, Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, Kansas Athletic Hall of Fame, University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, and Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame. Further, since 1972, the Adolph Rupp Trophy, considered one of the nation's premier basketball awards, has been given by the Commonwealth Athletic Club to the top men's college basketball player. In addition, the University of Kentucky retired a jersey in his honor in the rafters of Rupp Arena, a 23,500-seat arena named after him, dedicated in 1976.[5]

Rupp was forced into retirement in March of 1972, at the age of 70. At the time, this was the mandatory retirement age for all University of Kentucky employees.

1951 point shaving scandal

Rupp was the head coach at Kentucky during the year of the point shaving scandal of 1951. On October 20, 1951, former Kentucky players Alex Groza, Ralph Beard, and Dale Barnstable were arrested for taking bribes from gamblers to shave points during the National Invitation Tournament game against the Loyola Ramblers in the 1948–49 season.[6] This game occurred during the same year that Kentucky won their second straight NCAA title under Rupp.[7] Rupp and the university were criticized by the presiding judge, Saul Streit, for creating an atmosphere for the violations to occur and for "failing in his duty to observe the amateur rules, to build character, and to protect the morals and health of his charges".[8] Rupp denied any knowledge of the point shaving and no evidence was ever brought against him to show he was connected to the incident in any way.[9]

At the conclusion of this scandal, a subsequent NCAA investigation found that Kentucky had committed several rule violations, including giving illegal spending money to players on several occasions, and also allowing some ineligible athletes to compete.[9]As a result, the Southeastern Conference voted to ban Kentucky from competing for a year and the NCAA requested all other basketball-playing members not to schedule Kentucky, with eventually none doing so.[10] In lieu of these actions, Kentucky was forced to cancel the entire 1952–53 basketball season. Years later, Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA, unofficially referred to this punishment as the first NCAA death penalty. [11][12]Echoing Mr. Byers' view, the NCAA's official stance is very much the same, as they also state in hindsight, "In effect, it was the Association’s first "death penalty," though its enforcement was binding only through constitutional language that required members to compete against only those schools that were compliant with NCAA rules. Despite fears that it would resist, Kentucky accepted the penalty and, in turn, gave the NCAA credibility to enforce its rules." [13]

Coaching style and philosophy

Rupp was an early innovator of the fast break and set offense. His offense consisted of 10-15 set plays (with variations for each), complete with extensive offensive movement and screening. Early basketball innovations such as the "guard around" play and inside screen were first developed by Rupp in the 1930's. Likewise, he was an early proponent of the fast break, which his Kentucky teams utilized at every opportunity. For most of his coaching career, Rupp's defensive philosophy was largely exclusive, as he preferred only a tight man-to-man defense. However, during the 1963-64 season, Rupp became one of the first coaches to begin experimenting with the 1-3-1 zone trap defense, and his Kentucky teams utilized this defense at times for the remainder of his career. Throughout his time at Kentucky, Rupp's recruiting focused largely on local and regional talent. In fact, over 80% of Rupp's Kentucky players came from the state of Kentucky.[14][15][16]

Rupp strongly emphasized the fundamentals of basketball, both on offense and defense, and overall discipline. Rupp believed that excellence was achieved only through repetition, and his practices stressed individual instruction, precision, and continuity. Rupp was very demanding of his players, constantly putting extreme pressure on them in practice, and mercilessly berating them for any mistakes. Rupp was extremely competitive, and he made it a point to ingrain this trait in all of his teams.[17][18][19]

Rupp had the reputation for being arrogant and gruff, a taskmaster, and detesting to lose. Rupp took the game of basketball very seriously, often making statements such as, "We want to win, we just have to win. Lord knows, no one wants to win more than we do." and, "If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then what in the hell is that scoreboard doing up there?" and finally, "We here at the University of Kentucky do not wish to merely participate in sports. Rather, we wish to be successful in sports. Basketball without victory has little meaning."[20][21]

Superstitions

Rupp, a very superstitious man, was known to carry a "lucky" buckeye in his pocket. His favorite sign of good luck was finding a pin, especially a bobby pin, particularly on a game day. The depth of his superstitious nature was revealed while he was coaching at Freeport, when he had bought a new blue suit to replace his old brown one. He wore his new suit to a game, and his team got beaten badly. Rupp never again wore anything but a brown suit to games.[22]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Kentucky Wildcats (Southern Conference) (1930–1932)
1930–1931 Kentucky 15–3 8–2 4th
1931–1932 Kentucky 15–2 9–1 T–1st
Kentucky: 30–5 17–3
Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (1932–1972)
1932–1933 Kentucky 21–5 8–0 1st Helms National Champion
1933–1934 Kentucky 16–1 11–0 1st
1934–1935 Kentucky 19–2 11–0 T–1st
1935–1936 Kentucky 15–6 6–2 1st
1936-1937 Kentucky 17–5 5–3 T–5th
1937–1938 Kentucky 13–5 6–0 1st
1938–1939 Kentucky 16–4 5–2 3rd
1939-1940 Kentucky 15–6 4–4 6th
1940–1941 Kentucky 17–8 8–1 1st
1941–1942 Kentucky 19–6 6–2 3rd NCAA Final Four
1942–1943 Kentucky 17–6 8–1 1st
1943–1944 Kentucky 19–2 N/A N/A NIT 3rd Place
1944–1945 Kentucky 22–4 4–1 2nd NCAA Elite 8
1945–1946 Kentucky 28–2 6–0 1st NIT Champions
1946–1947 Kentucky 34–3 11–0 1st NIT Runner-Up
1947–1948 Kentucky 36–3 9–0 1st NCAA Champion
1948–1949 Kentucky 32–2 13–0 1st NCAA Champion/NIT Quarterfinals
1949–1950 Kentucky 25–5 11–2 1st NIT Quarterfinals
1950–1951 Kentucky 32–2 14–0 1st NCAA Champion
1951–1952 Kentucky 29–3 14–0 1st NCAA Elite 8
1952–1953 Kentucky No Team* No Team* No Team* No Team*
1953–1954 Kentucky 25–0 15–0** T–1st Declined NCAA bid
1954–1955 Kentucky 23–3 12–2 1st NCAA Sweet 16
1955–1956 Kentucky 20–6 12–2 2nd NCAA Elite 8
1956–1957 Kentucky 23–5 12–2 1st NCAA Elite 8
1957–1958 Kentucky 23–6 12–2 1st NCAA Champion
1958–1959 Kentucky 24–3 12–2 T–2nd NCAA Sweet 16
1959–1960 Kentucky 18–7 10–4 3rd
1960–1961 Kentucky 19–9 11–4** T–2nd NCAA Elite 8
1961–1962 Kentucky 23–3 13–1 T–1st NCAA Elite 8
1962–1963 Kentucky 16–9 8–6 5th
1963–1964 Kentucky 21–6 11–3 1st NCAA Sweet 16
1964–1965 Kentucky 15–10 10–6 5th
1965–1966 Kentucky 27–2 15–1 1st NCAA Runner-Up
1966–1967 Kentucky 13–13 8–10 T–5th
1967–1968 Kentucky 22–5 15–3 1st NCAA Elite 8
1968–1969 Kentucky 23–5 16–2 1st NCAA Sweet 16
1969–1970 Kentucky 26–2 17–1 1st NCAA Elite 8
1970–1971 Kentucky 22–6 16–2 1st NCAA Sweet 16
1971-1972 Kentucky 21–7 14–4 T–1st NCAA Elite 8
Kentucky: 876–190 399–75
Total: 876–190

      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

    • Record includes SEC playoff tiebreaker games
  • The team did not play in the 1952-53 season because of involvement in a point shaving scandal.[23]

Career after Kentucky

In April 1972, Rupp was named Team President of the Memphis Pros, soon to become the Memphis Tams, of the American Basketball Association.[24][25]

In July 1973, Rupp was hired as Vice President of the Board of the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association.[26][27]

Death

Rupp died at age 76 in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 10, 1977, on a night that Kentucky defeated his alma mater, Kansas, at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. The game that night was promoted as "Adolph Rupp Night". He is buried in Lexington Cemetery.

See also

References

  1. ^ Adolph Rupp: Kentucky's Basketball Baron By Russell Rice ISBN 0-915611-98-8/
  2. ^ http://www.ihsa.org/school/records/sum0619.htm/
  3. ^ unpublished research from Stephenson County Historical Society, Freeport, Illinois/
  4. ^ "Interview with Adolph Rupp, May 1971". Kdl.kyvl.org. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
  5. ^ www.bigbluehistory.net
  6. ^ "O'Connor Asks Leniency, Praises 'Co-Operation'". The Lexington Herald. 1952-04-30. Retrieved 2012-01-08. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Goldstein, Joe (2003-11-19). "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  8. ^ Associated Press (1952-04-30). Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  9. ^ a b Breslin, Jimmy (March 1953). "Kentucky Apologizes for Nothing!". Sports Magazine. Retrieved 2012-01-08. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "UK Suspended from SEC Basketball For One Year". The Lexington Herald. 1952-08-12. Retrieved 2012-01-08. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Byers, Walter (1995). "Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletics". University of Michigan Press.
  12. ^ ESPN (2009). College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York: Random House Publishing Group. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  13. ^ "NCAA Chronology of Enforement". NCAA. Retrieved Jan 9, 2012.
  14. ^ "Kentucky's Big Blue Machine", by Russell Rice (1988)
  15. ^ "All the Moves- A History of College Basketball", by Neal Issacs (1975)
  16. ^ www.hoophall.com/hall-of- famers/tag/adolph-f-rupp
  17. ^ "Adolph Rupp: Kentucky's Basketball Baron", by Russell Rice (1994)
  18. ^ "The Kentucky Basketball Encyclopedia", by Tom Wallace (2002)
  19. ^ www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/tag/adolph-f-rupp
  20. ^ "Adolph Rupp As I Knew Him", by Harry Lancaster, as told to Cawood Ledford (1979)
  21. ^ "The Winning Tradition", by Bert and Steve Nelli (1998)
  22. ^ Adolph Rupp: Kentucky's Basketball Baron By Russell Rice p. 21
  23. ^ "Explosion: 1951 Scandals Threaten College Hoops".
  24. ^ Memphis Tams Year by Year Notes, RememberTheABA.com
  25. ^ Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN 978-1-4165-4061-8, p.240-241, 272
  26. ^ Kentucky Colonels Year by Year Notes, RememberTheABA.com
  27. ^ Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN 978-1-4165-4061-8, p.272

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