Jimmy Darden

James Wesley Darden (June 19, 1922 – April 29, 1994) was an American professional basketball player and coach.[1]

Jimmy Darden
Personal information
Born(1922-06-19)June 19, 1922
Cheyenne, Wyoming
DiedApril 29, 1994(1994-04-29) (aged 71)
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High schoolCheyenne Central
(Cheyenne, Wyoming)
CollegeWyoming
Denver
NBA draft1947 / Round: – / Pick: –
Selected by the Chicago Stags
Playing career1947–1951
PositionPoint guard
Number25
Career history
As player:
1946–1950Denver Nuggets
1950–1951Denver Refiners
As coach:
1949–1950Denver Nuggets
1950–1951Denver Refiners
Career NBA statistics
Points211 (8.1 ppg)
Assists67 (2.6 apg)
Games played26
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Darden played college basketball at the University of Wyoming and University of Denver. He was a member of the Wyoming Cowboys team that won the 1943 NCAA championship, but did not play in the actual tournament because he was serving in World War II at the time.[2] After his discharge in 1946, Darden joined the Denver Nuggets, which was then part of the Amateur Athletic Union. The team joined the National Basketball League in the 1948–49 season, and Darden averaged 10.3 points per game in his first year of playing professional basketball.[1] The Nuggets became a part of the National Basketball Association in the league's inaugural 1949–50 season, and Darden served as a player-coach for the team. He coached 62 games that season, but only played 26 games before suffering an injury midway through the season.[1] He averaged 8.1 points as a player, and coached the team to an 11-61 record. The Nuggets left the NBA after one season to become a part of the National Professional Basketball League, and Darden coached the team, who were renamed the Refiners, to an 18-16 record while also having to play three games after some players left the team during the season.[1] The Refiners disbanded due to financial constraints in early 1951.

Darden became the coach of the basketball and baseball teams at Colorado School of Mines in 1954, and coached both sports at the university until he retired in 1992 at the age of seventy.[1] CSM's baseball field was renamed Darden Field in his honour.[2][3] Darden was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.[2]

NBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played
 FG%  Field-goal percentage
 FT%  Free-throw percentage
 APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game

Regular season
Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1949–50 Denver 26.321.6882.68.1
Career 26.321.6882.68.1

Head coaching record
Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Denver 1949–50 621151.1776th in Western———— Missed Playoffs
Total 621151.177————
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References
  1. Marcus, Jeff (2003). A Biographical Directory of Professional Basketball Coaches. United States of America: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 96–97. ISBN 0-8108-4007-3.
  2. "Jim Darden - Colorado Sports Hall of Fame". Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  3. "Jim Darden Field - Colorado School of Mines". Colorado School of Mines. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
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