Gene Bartow

Bobby Gene Bartow (August 18, 1930 – January 3, 2012) was an American 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. In 1972 Bartow coached the Puerto Rico national basketball team in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Gene Bartow
Biographical details
Born(1930-08-18)August 18, 1930[1]
Browning, Missouri
DiedJanuary 3, 2012(2012-01-03) (aged 81)
Birmingham, Alabama
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1961–1964Central Missouri State
1964–1970Valparaiso
1970–1974Memphis State
1974–1975Illinois
1975–1977UCLA
1978–1996UAB
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1977–2000UAB
Head coaching record
Overall
  • 647–353 (college)
  • 145–39 (high school)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2009

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 to 1964, Valparaiso University from 1964 to 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.[2]

Bartow signed a five-year contract to replace Harv Schmidt at the University of Illinois in 1974. A last-place team the previous campaign, the Fighting Illini finished tied for ninth in the Big Ten at 8–18 (4–14 in the conference) in 1975, Bartow's only season there.[3] Despite this, he was the first Illini coach to extensively recruit talented African American high school players from the Chicago area.[4] He was succeeded by Lou Henson.[3]

UCLA

Bartow left the Midwest for Los Angeles to succeed coaching legend John Wooden as the head coach at UCLA. He led the Bruins from 1975 to 1977, guiding them to Pac-8 titles and a 52–9 (.852) record, including a berth in the Final Four in 1976, falling to Indiana, the undefeated eventual champion.[5] Bartow coached the 1977 College Player of the Year, Marques Johnson, but second-ranked UCLA lost to unranked Idaho State by a point in the Sweet Sixteen at Provo, Utah.[6][7][8][9] As of 2008, he has the second-highest winning percentage at UCLA, behind Gary Cunningham (.862) and above Wooden (.808).

UAB

After just two years at UCLA, Bartow left in 1977 to take over the job of creating an athletic program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He served as the Blazers' first head basketball coach and athletic director for 18 years. Bartow led UAB to the NIT in 1980, the program's second year of existence, and followed that up with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including advancements to the Sweet Sixteen 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 was later president of Hoops, LP, the company that runs the Memphis Grizzlies and the FedEx Forum.[10]

Honors

In 1989, Bartow was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, 10 years later, in 1999, Central Missouri State (now the University of Central Missouri) also elected him to theirs.[11] Bartow was also voted one of Valparaiso University's 150 most influential people in October 2009. 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. In 2013, Bartow was selected for induction into the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Hall of Fame.[12]

Death

On April 15, 2009, a UAB spokesman revealed that Bartow had been diagnosed with stomach cancer;[13] he died at his home in Birmingham in early 2012 after a two-year battle with the disease.[14]

Head coaching record

College
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Central Missouri State Mules (Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1961–1964)
1961–62 Central Missouri State 16–6
1962–63 Central Missouri State 17–6
1963–64 Central Missouri State 14–9
Central Missouri State: 47–21
Valparaiso Crusaders (Indiana Collegiate Conference) (1964–1970)
1964–65 Valparaiso 13–125–73rd
1965–66 Valparaiso 18–107–54thNCAA College Division Second Round
1966–67 Valparaiso 21–87–52nd
1967–68 Valparaiso 11–153–96th
1968–69 Valparaiso 16–124–4T–2ndNCAA College Division Second Round
1969–70 Valparaiso 13–132–65th
Valparaiso: 92–7028–36
Memphis State Tigers (Missouri Valley Conference) (1970–1974)
1970–71 Memphis State 18–88–64th
1971–72 Memphis State 21–712-2T–1stNIT First Round
1972–73 Memphis State 24–612–21stNCAA University Division Runner-up
1973–74 Memphis State 19–11
Memphis State: 82–3232–10
Illinois Fighting Illini (Big Ten Conference) (1974–1975)
1974–75 Illinois 8–184–14T–9th
Illinois: 8–184–14
UCLA Bruins (Pacific-8 Conference) (1975–1977)
1975–76 UCLA 28–4†13–11stNCAA Division I Third Place
1976–77 UCLA 24–511–31stNCAA Division I Sweet 16
UCLA: 52–924–4
UAB Blazers (NCAA Division I independent) (1978–1979)
1978–79 UAB 15–11
UAB Blazers (Sun Belt Conference) (1979–1991)
1979–80 UAB 18–1210–4T–2ndNIT First Round
1980–81 UAB 23–99–3T–1stNCAA Division I Sweet 16
1981–82 UAB 25–69–11stNCAA Division I Elite Eight
1982–83 UAB 19–149–53rdNCAA Division I First Round
1983–84 UAB 23–118–65thNCAA Division I First Round
1984–85 UAB 25–911–32ndNCAA Division I Second Round
1985–86 UAB 25–119–5T–3rdNCAA Division I Second Round
1986–87 UAB 21–1110–43rdNCAA Division I First Round
1987–88 UAB 16–157–75th
1988–89 UAB 22–128–64thNIT Final Four
1989–90 UAB 22–912–21stNCAA Division I First Round
1990–91 UAB 18–139–52ndNIT First Round
UAB Blazers (Great Midwest Conference) (1991–1995)
1991–92 UAB 20–94–65thNIT First Round
1992–93 UAB 21–145–54thNIT Final Four
1993–94 UAB 22–88–4T–2ndNCAA Division I First Round
1994–95 UAB 15–155–76th
UAB Blazers (Conference USA) (1995–1996)
1995–96 UAB 16–146–82nd (Red)
UAB: 366–203139–81
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

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See also

References
  2. 1974 USA Basketball Archived August 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. 2011–12 Illinois Basketball Record Book.
  4. Moses, Sam. "Pursued By A Very Long Shadow," Sports Illustrated, November 17, 1975.
  5. McDermott, Barry (April 5, 1976). "Indiana makes its point". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  6. McDermott, Barry (March 28, 1977). "Off and running toward Atlanta". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
  7. Benson, Lee (March 18, 1977). "Utes fall short, Idaho State stuns UCLA". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 6B.
  8. "ISU has greatest win". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 18, 1977. p. 21.
  9. "UCLA becomes the obscure one". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. March 18, 1977. p. 1B.
  10. Former UCLA coach Bartow named president of Grizzlies
  11. Central Missouri Hall of Fame
  12. MIAA Hall of Fame
  13. http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11633141
  14. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bkc-obit-bartow,0,5367546.story%5B%5D
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