Henry Iba

Henry Iba

Henry Payne "Hank" Iba (August 6, 1904 - January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach.

Early life

Iba was born and raised in Easton, Missouri. He played college basketball at Westminster College, where he also became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

Oklahoma State University

After coaching stints at Maryville Teacher's College (now Northwest Missouri State University) and the University of Colorado, Iba came to Oklahoma A&M College in 1934. He stayed at Oklahoma A&M, renamed Oklahoma State University in 1957, for 36 years until his retirement after the 1969–70 season. For most of his tenure at A&M/OSU, he doubled as athletic director. Additionally, Iba coached OSU's baseball team from 1934 to 1941.

Iba's teams were methodical, ball-controlling units that featured weaving patterns and low scoring games. Iba's "swinging gate" defense (a man-to-man with team flow) was applauded by many, and is still effective in today's game. He was known as "the Iron Duke of Defense." Iba is thought to be one of the toughest coaches in NCAA history. He was a very methodical coach, and he always wanted things done perfectly.

Iba's Aggies became the first to win consecutive NCAA titles (1945 and 1946). His 1945-46 NCAA champions were led by Bob Kurland, the game's first seven-foot player. They beat NYU in the 1945 finals and North Carolina in the 1946 finals. He was voted coach of the year in both seasons. His 1945 champions also defeated National Invitation Tournament champion, DePaul, and 6-9 center George Mikan in a classic Red Cross Benefit game.

A&M/State teams won 14 Missouri Valley titles and one Big Eight title, and won 655 games in 36 seasons. All told, in 40 years of coaching, he won 767 games—the second-most in college basketball history at the time of his retirement, and still third best in NCAA Division I history. As OSU's athletic director, he built a program that won 19 national championships in 5 sports (basketball, wrestling, baseball, golf, cross country) over the years. After his retirement, "Mr. Iba" (as he is still called at OSU) frequently showed up at practices, often giving advice to young players.

In 1987, OSU's home arena, Gallagher Hall, was renamed Gallagher-Iba Arena in Iba's honor. A seat in the southeast concourse level of the arena is known as "Mr. Iba's Seat," and it is maintained without a fan having sat in it.

Iba died on January 15, 1993, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Olympic Coaching

Iba coached the USA Olympic basketball team in 1964, 1968 and 1972. He is the only coach in USA Olympic basketball history to win two gold medals (1964 in Tokyo; 1968 in Mexico City). The 1972 final resulted in a controversial loss to the Soviet Union breaking Team USA's 63-game win streak since basketball was introduced to the Olympics in 1936.

Honors and awards

He was elected to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Missouri Hall of Fame, the Helms Foundation All-Time Hall of Fame for basketball, National College Basketball Hall of Fame (in 2007), FIBA Hall of Fame (in 2007) and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Springfield, Mass.

Iba was indirectly responsible for a $165 million donation to the Oklahoma State University Athletic Program. The 1950s were difficult times for the oil industry [1] and in 1951 a young unemployed graduate of OSU with a degree in petroleum geology was looking for a job and asked Iba for help. Iba set the young graduate up with two interviews for high-school basketball coaching jobs and although the graduate didn't end up becoming a coach, the favor Iba did for him was the impetus behind T. Boone Pickens' decision 50 years later to make a $165 million donation to Oklahoma State University's athletic program. "Mr. Iba, he would be very, very happy with my performance," Pickens said. [2]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
NW Missouri Bearcats (MIAA) (1930–1933)
1929-1930	NW Missouri	31-0
1930-1931	NW Missouri	31-6
1931-1932	NW Missouri	26-2			NAAU Runner Up
1932-1933	NW Missouri	12-7
NW Missouri:		90-15 (.861)
Colorado Buffs (Rocky Mountain Conference) (1933–1934)
1933-1934	Colorado	9-8	7-7
Colorado:		9-8
Oklahoma A&M (Missouri Valley Conference) (1934–1957)
1934-1935	Oklahoma A&M	9-9	5-7	5th
1935-1936	Oklahoma A&M	16-8	9-4	T-1st
1936-1937	Oklahoma A&M	19-3	11-1	1st
1937-1938	Oklahoma A&M	25-3	13-1	1st
1938-1939	Oklahoma A&M	19-8	11-3	1st
1939-1940	Oklahoma A&M	26-3	12-0	1st	NIT Final 4
1940-1941	Oklahoma A&M	18-7	8-4	2nd
1941-1942	Oklahoma A&M	20-6	9-1	T-1st	NCAA 1st Round
1942-1943	Oklahoma A&M	14-10	7-3	T-2nd
1943-1944	Oklahoma A&M	27-6			NIT Final 4
1944-1945	Oklahoma A&M	27-4			NCAA Champion
1945-1946	Oklahoma A&M	31-2	12-0	1st	NCAA Champion
1946-1947	Oklahoma A&M	24-8	8-4	T-2nd
1947-1948	Oklahoma A&M	26-4	10-0	T-1st	NCAA 1st Round
1948-1949	Oklahoma A&M	23-5	9-1	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
1949-1950	Oklahoma A&M	18-9	7-5	3rd
1950-1951	Oklahoma A&M	29-6	12-2	1st	NCAA 4th Place
1951-1952	Oklahoma A&M	19-8	9-3	2nd
1952-1953	Oklahoma A&M	23-7	8-2	1st	NCAA Elite 8
1953-1954	Oklahoma A&M	24-5	9-1	1st	NCAA Elite 8
1954-1955	Oklahoma A&M	12-13	5-5	3rd
1955-1956	Oklahoma A&M	18-9	8-4	2nd	NIT 1st Round
1956-1957	Oklahoma A&M	17-9	8-6	3rd
1957-1958	Oklahoma State	21-8	-	-	NCAA Elite 8
Oklahoma A&M/State:		517-160	190-52
Oklahoma State (Big Eight) (1958–1970)
1958-1959	Oklahoma State	11-14	5-9	5th
1959-1960	Oklahoma State	10-15	4-10	7th
1960-1961	Oklahoma State	14-11	8-6	3rd
1961-1962	Oklahoma State	14-11	7-7	4th
1962-1963	Oklahoma State	16-9	7-7	5th
1963-1964	Oklahoma State	15-10	7-7	4th
1964-1965	Oklahoma State	20-7	12-2	1st	NCAA Elite 8
1965-1966	Oklahoma State	4-21	2-12	7th
1966-1967	Oklahoma State	7-18	2-12	7th
1967-1968	Oklahoma State	10-16	3-11	7th
1968-1969	Oklahoma State	12-13	5-9	6th
1969-1970	Oklahoma State	14-12	5-9	7th
Oklahoma State:		133-157	67-100
Total:		751-340
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

Coaching Tree

Iba is known for his coaching tree. Coaches in this tree typically use a physical man to man defense and an offense predicated on ball movement and passing. They are linked to Iba through their mentors. Some notable coaches who are included in this tree, either by themselves or by the media:

• Adolph Rupp (coach at Kentucky 1930–1972)
• John Wooden (coach at Indiana State 1946–1948, coach at UCLA 1948–1975)
• Larry Brown (played for the 1964 U.S. Olympic team)
• Doug Collins (played for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team)
• Bob Knight (coach at Army 1965–1971, coach at Indiana 1972–2000, and coach at Texas Tech 2001–2008)
• Don Haskins (coach at Texas Western/UTEP 1961–1999)
• Eddie Sutton (coach at Creighton 1969–1974; Arkansas 1975–1984; Kentucky 1985-1989; Okla. State 1990-2006, San Francisco 2007–2008)
• Sean Sutton (coach at OSU 2006–2008)
• Scott Sutton (head coach, Oral Roberts University, 1999–present)
• Doc Sadler (head coach, Nebraska, 2006–present)
• Moe Iba (son, head coach, Nebraska, 1981–1986)
• Jack Hartman (coach, Kansas State, 1970–1986)
• Bill Self (coach at Oral Roberts 1993–1997, coach at Tulsa 1997–2000, coach at Illinois 2000–2003, coach at Kansas 2003–present)
• Billy Gillispie (coach at UTEP 2002–2004, coach at Texas A&M 2004–2007, coach at Kentucky 2007–2009)

The Henry Iba Award

The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the award which is presented in conjunction with the Final Four. This Award is presented at The Oscar Robertson Trophy breakfast the Friday before the Final Four.

See also

• NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coaches

External links

• Basketball Hall of Fame profile
• The Henry Iba Award
• Past Henry Iba Award Winners