Cal Luther

Calvin Charles Luther (October 23, 1927[1] – May 8, 2021) was an American men's college basketball coach. He was the head coach at DePauw, Murray State, Longwood, UT Martin, and Bethel College. He was also head coach of the Egyptian national team.[2]

Cal Luther
Biographical details
Born(1927-10-23)October 23, 1927
Valdosta, Georgia, U.S.
DiedMay 8, 2021(2021-05-08) (aged 93)
Dresden, Tennessee, U.S.
Playing career
1949–1951Valparaiso
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1951–1954Illinois (freshmen)
1954–1958DePauw
1958–1974Murray State
1981–1990Longwood
1990–1999UT Martin
1999–2000Bethel (TN)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1967–1978Murray State
Head coaching record
Overall500–489–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
ICC (1957)
2 OVC (1964, 1969)
Awards
3× OVC Coach of the Year (1964, 1969, 1996)
Mason-Dixon Conference Coach of the Year (1988)

Early life

Born in Valdosta, Georgia,[3] Luther was an All-state football and basketball player at Bay View High School in Milwaukee.[4][5] He played college basketball at Valparaiso from 1949 to 1951. He spent two years as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and was a member of Fort Benning's basketball and championship-winning football teams.[6]

Luther's coaching career began at the University of Illinois, where he spent three seasons as the freshman basketball while obtaining his master's degree.[7]

DePauw

Luther became DePauw University's head coach in 1954. In his first season as head coach, he coached DePauw to a rare tie against Wabash. DePauw defeated Wabash 67-66, however the coaches of both teams decided the game should be recorded as a tie due to a scorers error.[8] In four seasons with the Tigers, Luther had a 45-40-1 record; including the 1956-57 ICC Championship and a berth in the inaugural NCAA College Division Tourney.[9] He coached two of DePauw's 1,000 point scorers (#6 Bob Schrier - 1,415 and #22 John Bunnell 1,004)

Murray State

In 1958, Luther became Murray State's seventh head basketball coach. In his sixteen seasons at MSU, Luther's Racers had a 241–134 record and made the NCAA tournament twice.[10] He was also Murray State's Athletic Director.[11] In 1971, the Minnesota Golden Gophers hired Luther to coach the men's basketball team, but he changed his mind and turned the team down after accepting the position.[12] Luther was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1964 and 1969.

Longwood

Luther spent nine seasons as the head coach of Division II Longwood University, where he was selected Mason-Dixon Conference and Kodak Division II South District coach of the year in 1988. One of his players, Jerome Kersey, would be drafted in the second round of the 1984 NBA draft. His overall record at Longwood was 136–105.[13]

Egypt

Luther was the coach of the Egyptian national basketball team in 1990. Egypt finished 16th out of 16 teams in the 1990 FIBA World Championship.

Tennessee-Martin

Luther coached Tennessee-Martin from 1990-1999. There he compiled a 72–163 record. His 319 total victories while a coach in the OVC ranks first all-time in league history. Luther was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1996, making him the only coach to win Coach of the Year honors at two different OVC institutions.[14] After leaving UT Martin, Luther spent one season as the coach of Bethel College before retiring.

Death

Luther died on May 8, 2021, at Hillview Nursing Center in Dresden, TN. His was married to Linda Wren Luther.[15]


Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
DePauw Tigers (Indiana Collegiate Conference) (1954–1958)
1954–55 DePauw 8–11–1
1955–56 DePauw 13–8
1956–57 DePauw 12–9
1957–58 DePauw 12–12
DePauw: 45–40–1 (.529)
Murray State Racers (Ohio Valley Conference) (1958–1974)
1958–59 Murray State 10–153–97th
1959–60 Murray State 12–117–43rd
1960–61 Murray State 13–107–54th
1961–62 Murray State 13–125–75th
1962–63 Murray State 13–96–64th
1963–64 Murray State 16–911–31stNCAA University Division Round of 25
1964–65 Murray State 19–79–53rd
1965–66 Murray State 13–128–63rd
1966–67 Murray State 14–98–62nd
1967–68 Murray State 16–810–4T–1st
1968–69 Murray State 22–611–3T–1stNCAA University Division Round of 25
1969–70 Murray State 17–99–52nd
1970–71 Murray State 19–510–42nd
1971–72 Murray State 15–116–85th
1972–73 Murray State 17–89–52nd
1973–74 Murray State 12–136–85th
1974–75 Murray State 10–153–117th
Murray State: 241–154 (.610)125–88 (.587)
Longwood (NCAA Division II independent) (1981–1983)
1981–82 Longwood 15–8
1982–83 Longwood 15–10
Longwood Lancers (Mason–Dixon Conference) (1983–1988)
1983–84 Longwood 15–127–32nd
1984–85 Longwood 11–173–74th
1985–86 Longwood 14–137–32nd
1986–87 Longwood 13–143–53rd
1987–88 Longwood 19–106–2T–1st
Longwood Lancers (NCAA Division II independent) (1988–1990)
1988–89 Longwood 20–7
1989–90 Longwood 14–14
Longwood: 136–105 (.564)26–20 (.565)
UT Martin (Gulf South Conference) (1990–1991)
1990–91 UT Martin 5–152–14
UT Martin (Ohio Valley Conference) (1991–1999)
1991–92 UT Martin 9–19
1992–93 UT Martin 7–194–12T–8th
1993–94 UT Martin 5–223–139th
1994–95 UT Martin 7–205–119th
1995–96 UT Martin 13–149–7T–4th
1996–97 UT Martin 11–168–107th
1997–98 UT Martin 7–205–13T–8th
1998–99 UT Martin 8–185–139th
UT Martin: 72–163 (.306)39–79 (.331)
Bethel Wildcats (Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1999–2000)
1999–00 Bethel 6–27
Bethel: 6–27 (.182)
Total:500–489–1 (.506)

      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

[16] [17] [18] [19]

References
  1. "Men's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  2. "Small Colleges Lend The Stuff Of Dreams". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 3, 1990.
  3. "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  4. "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  5. Bill Letwin (December 16, 1945). "North Plays West for Lead Friday; South Milwaukee Faces Bay Squad". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  6. "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  7. "Murray Names Luther". Park City Daily News. March 5, 1958. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  8. "NewspaperArchive® |.aspx historic newspaper articles including obituaries, births, marriages, divorces and arrests".
  9. "DePauw University Intercollegiate Athletics". Archived from the original on 2006-09-22. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  10. "Murray State Racers basketball history". Archived from the original on 2008-02-03. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  11. "Cal Luther Resigns As Murray State A.D". The Hartford Courant. November 30, 1977.
  12. Hartman, Sid; Joel Rippel (2006). Sid Hartman's Great Minnesota Sports Moments. Voyageur Press. pp. 31. ISBN 0-7603-2656-8.
  13. Banner Years. Acclaim Press. 2013. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-938905-35-3.
  14. "CollegeHoopsnet.com - OVC History". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  15. "Former Men's Basketball Head Coach Cal Luther Passes Away at 93". longwoodlancers.com. March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  16. DePauw Year-by-Year Men's Basketball Records
  17. Racerhistory.com
  18. Longwood Lancers men's basketball
  19. "2016-17 UT Martin men's basketball media guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
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