Hugh Greer

Hugh S. Greer
Sport(s) Basketball
Biographical details
Born 1902
Suffield, Connecticut
Died (1963-01-14)January 14, 1963
Storrs, Connecticut
Playing career
1926 Connecticut
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1947–1963 Connecticut
Head coaching record
Overall 286–112

Hugh Greer (1902–January 14, 1963) was the Connecticut Huskies men's basketball coach from 1946 to 1963.

Biography

Early life and education

Born in Suffield, Connecticut, Hugh Greer went to school at Connecticut Agricultural College (CAC, now University of Connecticut). As a basketball player at CAC, Greer helped lead his school to a New England Conference championship in 1926.

Coaching career

Greer coached basketball at Connecticut from 1947 to 1963.[1] As coach of the Huskies he led UConn to 7 NCAA Tournaments and 1 NIT berth. He would end his career with a record of 286–112 for a .719 win percentage.[1] He was the winningest coach in Connecticut history until Jim Calhoun passed him in 1998. As head coach, he won 12 Yankee Conference Championships overall and 10 consecutively from the 1950–51 season to the 1959–60 season.

In 1954, he famously led UConn to a 78–77 victory against undefeated Holy Cross breaking the Crusaders' 47-game home winning streak. Eventually, Holy Cross won the NIT title. In 1956, Greer led UConn to the Sweet 16, where they lost in a close game to Temple. He led UConn until he died on January 14, 1963, of a massive heart attack. Assistant George Wigton finished out the season and led them to the NCAA Tournament. UConn credits the first 10 games of the season to Greer and the rest of the season (including the NCAA Tournament) to Wigton.

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Connecticut Huskies (Yankee Conference) (1946–1963)
1946–47 Connecticut 12-02nd
1947–48 Connecticut 17-66-11st
1948–49 Connecticut 19-67-11st
1949–50 Connecticut 17-85-22nd
1950–51 Connecticut 22-46-11stNCAA First Round
1951–52 Connecticut 20-76-11st
1952–53 Connecticut 17-45-11st
1953–54 Connecticut 22-37-01stNCAA First Round
1954–55 Connecticut 20-57-01stNIT First Round
1955–56 Connecticut 17-116-11stNCAA Sweet Sixteen
1956–57 Connecticut 17-88-01stNCAA First Round
1957–58 Connecticut 17-109-11stNCAA First Round
1958–59 Connecticut 17-78-21stNCAA First Round
1959–60 Connecticut 17-98-21stNCAA First Round
1960–61 Connecticut 11-136-43rd
1961–62 Connecticut 16-87-32nd
1962–63 Connecticut 7-34-01st
Connecticut: 287–113 (.718)109–22 (.832)
Total:287–113 (.718)

      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

Awards

  • 1957: University of Connecticut Distinguished Alumni Award[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Rhoden, William C. (1986-01-17). "UConn Sees Some Gains". New York Times. Under Hugh Greer, who coached from 1947 until he died during the 1963 season, the Huskies went 286–112, a .718 winning percentage...
  2. ↑ http://www.uconnalumni.com/alumni_awards/distinguished_alumni_award.cfm
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