H. Lee Prather

Henry Lee Prather
Biographical details
Born	October 10, 1886; near Odessa, Missouri
Died	September 23, 1964 (aged 77); Newellton, Louisiana
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1912	Southwestern Louisiana Industrial
1913–1933	Louisiana State Normal
Basketball
1912–1950	Louisiana State Normal / Northwestern State
Head coaching record
Overall	82–55–14 (football); 473–169 (basketball)

Henry Lee Prather (October 10, 1886 – September 23, 1964) was an American football and basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute for one season in 1912, compiling a record of 3–4. He is best known, however, for his tenures as the head football and men's basketball coach at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Prather coached the Demons' football team between 1913 and 1917, and again from 1919 through 1933. The 1918 season was canceled because of World War I. In 20 seasons as coach at NSU, Prather compiled an overall record of 79–51–14. Including his one season at SLII, his overall football record was 82–55–14.

As the head basketball coach at NSU, Prather's tenure was very interrupted. He was the on-again, off-again coach seven different times. Basketball had not quite become as established as a sport as football in the United States, so he alternated many of the years with having no program at all. In his 35 total years as the school's coach, Prather accumulated an overall record of 473–169. He stepped down in 1950 to become Northwestern State University's president in 1951. He is still the all-time leader in victories for men's basketball by more than 300 wins to the second-closest coach, Red Thomas, who compiled 138 between 1950 and 1957.

Northwestern State's basketball arena, Prather Coliseum, is named in his honor.

Head coaching record

Football


Year	Team	Overall
Southwestern Louisiana Industrial (Independent) (1912)
1912	Southwestern Louisiana Industrial	3–4
Southwestern Louisiana Industrial:		3–4
Northwestern State Demons (Independent) (1913–1933)
1913	Northwestern State	1–1–3
1914	Northwestern State	4–1–1
1915	Northwestern State	4–2
1916	Northwestern State	0–2
1917	Northwestern State	1–1
1918	No team—World War I
1919	Northwestern State	3–1
1920	Northwestern State	5–1–1
1921	Northwestern State	3–3–1
1922	Northwestern State	3–3–1
1923	Northwestern State	3–6
1924	Northwestern State	4–2–1
1925	Northwestern State	5–3–1
1926	Northwestern State	3–5–1
1927	Northwestern State	3–2–1
1928	Northwestern State	5–4
1929	Northwestern State	4–2–3
1930	Northwestern State	7–2
1931	Northwestern State	5–4
1932	Northwestern State	7–1
1933	Northwestern State	6–3
Northwestern State:		79–51–14
Total:		82–55–14

Basketball

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Standing	Postseason
Northwestern State Demons (Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1912–1948)
1912–13	Northwestern State	3–0
1913–14	Northwestern State	Records unavailable
1914–15	Northwestern State	5–2
1915–16	Northwestern State	3–1
1916–17	Northwestern State	14–1
1917–18	No team—World War I
1918–19	Northwestern State	10–1
1919–20	Northwestern State	Records unavailable
1920–21	Northwestern State	10–3
1921–22	Northwestern State	10–5	1st
1922–23	Northwestern State	8–7
1923–24	Northwestern State	Records unavailable
1924–25	Northwestern State	10–5
1925–26	Northwestern State	13–1
1926–27	Northwestern State	20–2
1927–28	Northwestern State	11–2
1928–29	Northwestern State	16–6
1929–30	Northwestern State	8–11
1930–31	Northwestern State	17–6
1931–32	Northwestern State	15–1
1932–33	Northwestern State	12–7
1933–34	Northwestern State	12–10
1934–35	Northwestern State	8–6
1935–36	Northwestern State	12–6
1936–37	Northwestern State	15–7
1937–38	Northwestern State	Records unavailable
1938–39	Northwestern State	16–4
1939–40	Northwestern State	19–2	1st
1940–41	Northwestern State	17–2
1941–42	Northwestern State	5–11
1942–43	Northwestern State	13–11
1943–44	No team—World War II
1944–45	No team—World War II
1945–46	Northwestern State	18–9
1946–47	Northwestern State	15–5
1947–48	Northwestern State	19–6
Northwestern State Demons (Gulf States Conference) (1948–1950)
1948–49	Northwestern State	23–5	1st	NAIA Semifinals
1949–50	Northwestern State	18–8
Total:		473–169
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

External links

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