Dave Strack
David Hessong Strack (March 2, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American athletic director for the University of Arizona and head basketball coach at the University of Michigan. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
 Strack from 1967 Michiganensian | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 2, 1923 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | January 25, 2014 (aged 90) Tucson, Arizona, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1943–1946 | Michigan |
| 1946 | Indianapolis Kautskys |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1948–1959 | Michigan (assistant) |
| 1959–1960 | Idaho |
| 1960–1968 | Michigan |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1970–1972 | Michigan (associate AD) |
| 1972–1982 | Arizona |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 124–104 |
| Tournaments | 7–3 (NCAA University Division) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 Big Ten regular season (1964–1966) | |
David Hessong Strack (March 2, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American athletic director for the University of Arizona and head basketball coach at the University of Michigan. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.[1]
Early life
[edit]Strack grew up in Indiana and graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, where he was the basketball team's captain and MVP in 1941 and was named to the Indiana All-Star team.[2] Strack played college basketball at the University of Michigan (UM), earning MVP honors in 1943 and 1946.[2]
Basketball career
[edit]Strack briefly played professionally for the Indianapolis Kautskys of the NBL.[3] He returned to UM and served as an assistant coach from 1948 to 1959,[2] then left in June 1959 to become the head coach at the University of Idaho.[2][4][5][6]
In May 1960, Strack was hired as the head coach back at the University of Michigan,[7][8][9] and served from 1960 to 1968. He led the Wolverines to three Big Ten Conference titles (1964, 1965, 1966) and the 1965 NCAA Tournament title game. Following his team's 24–4 record and runner-up finish in 1965, Strack was named the UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year.[10]
Athletic director
[edit]In 1968, Strack became the University of Michigan's business manager, then the associate athletic director in 1970.
Strack resigned in January 1972 to become the athletic director of the University of Arizona.[11] Strack's tenure at Arizona included the hiring of the first African-American head coach of a major university (basketball coach Fred Snowden)[12] and the school's transition into the Pac-10 athletic conference.[13] In 1980, Strack was criticized following a scandal involving the football program's use of an athletic slush fund for improper payments to coaches, alumni and recruits.[14] Strack resigned in July 1982 to become a professor of physical education.[15]
In 1992, Strack was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.[2]
Personal life
[edit]In 1947, while attending the University of Michigan, Strack met and married Ruth Ann Mayer. They briefly lived in East Lansing, Michigan before moving to Ann Arbor to raise their five children. When he took the Arizona athletic director job, they moved to Tucson for his tenure and then to Prescott upon his retirement. They later returned to Tucson, where she died in 2011.[16] Strack, aged 90, died of pneumonia in 2014.[17][18]
Head coaching record
[edit]| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Vandals (Independent) (1959–1960) | |||||||||
| 1959–60 | Idaho | 11–15 | |||||||
| Idaho: | 11–15 | ||||||||
| Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Conference) (1960–1968) | |||||||||
| 1960–61 | Michigan | 6–18 | 2–12 | 10th | |||||
| 1961–62 | Michigan | 7–17 | 5–9 | 8th | |||||
| 1962–63 | Michigan | 16–8 | 8–6 | T–4th | |||||
| 1963–64 | Michigan | 23–5 | 11–3 | T–1st | NCAA University Division Final Four | ||||
| 1964–65 | Michigan | 24–4 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA University Division Runner-up | ||||
| 1965–66 | Michigan | 18–8 | 11–3 | 1st | NCAA University Division Elite Eight | ||||
| 1966–67 | Michigan | 8–16 | 2–12 | 10th | |||||
| 1967–68 | Michigan | 11–13 | 6–8 | T–7th | |||||
| Michigan: | 113–89 | 58–54 | |||||||
| Total: | 124–104 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Google".
- ^ a b c d e "Dave Strack". Indian Basketball Hall of Fame. hoopshall.com. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ "Kautskys sign Strack". Kokomo Tribune. February 20, 1946. 10.
- ^ "University studies 55 applications for basketball job". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. June 3, 1959. p. 11.
- ^ "Michigan aide studies Idaho hoop vacancy". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. June 12, 1959. p. 11.
- ^ "Michigan assistant Vandals' cage pick". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. June 16, 1959. p. 18.
- ^ "Idaho cage boss takes new post". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. May 20, 1960. p. 17.
- ^ "Strack's move to Michigan confirmed; Cipriano next?". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. May 21, 1960. p. 10.
- ^ "Strack accepts position at Michigan". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. May 21, 1960. p. 2.
- ^ "United Press International Coach of the Year winners". NCAA Individual Awards. Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
- ^ "Michigan's Strack to go to Arizona". Milwaukee Journal. January 12, 1972. pp. 8 (Section II). Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (January 19, 1994). "Fred Snowden, Basketball Coach And Black Pioneer, Is Dead at 57". New York Times. pp. D20.
- ^ "Arizona Seeks Schedule Help". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Tucson, Arizona. December 22, 1976. p. 23. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ Patterson, Margaret Jones; Russell, Robert H. (October 15, 1986). Behind the Lines: Case Studies in Investigative Reporting. Columbia University Press. pp. 63 _ 93. ISBN 978-0-231-06058-5.
- ^ "Dave Strack Leaves AD Post at Arizona". Lewiston Morning Tribune. May 19, 1982. p. 2C. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ RUTH ANN STRACK November 6, 1925 - April 20, 2011
- ^ "Dave Strack, early architect of Michigan basketball, dies at 90". January 27, 2014.
- ^ "Former Coach Dave Strack Passes Away". Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
External links
[edit]- Strack coaching stats
- Strack interview with the Arizona Daily Star (March 2013)