Dave Strack

David H. Strack (March 2, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American athletic director for the University of Arizona and head basketball coach of the University of Michigan. He was inducted to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.[1]

Dave Strack
Strack from 1967 Michiganensian
Biographical details
Born(1923-03-02)March 2, 1923
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
DiedJanuary 25, 2014(2014-01-25) (aged 90)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Playing career
1943–1946Michigan
1946Indianapolis Kautskys
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1948–1959Michigan (assistant)
1959–1960Idaho
1960–1968Michigan
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1970–1972Michigan (associate AD)
1972–1982Arizona
Head coaching record
Overall124–104
Tournaments7–3 (NCAA University Division)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 Big Ten regular season (1964–1966)

Early life

Strack grew up in Indiana and graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, where he was the basketball team's captain and MVP in 1941 and named to the Indiana All-Star team.[2] Strack played college basketball at the University of Michigan (UM), earning MVP honors in 1943 and 1946.[2]

Basketball career

Strack briefly played professionally for the Indianapolis Kautskys of the NBL.[3] He returned to UM and served as an assistant coach from 1948 to 1959,[2] then left in June 1959 to become the head coach at the University of Idaho.[2][4][5][6]

In May 1960, Strack was hired as the head coach back at the University of Michigan,[7][8][9] and served from 1960 to 1968. He led the Wolverines to three Big Ten Conference titles (1964, 1965, 1966) and to the 1965 NCAA Tournament title game. Following his team's 24–4 record and runner-up finish in 1965, Strack was named the UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year.[10]

Athletic director

In 1968, Strack became the University of Michigan's business manager, then the associate athletic director in 1970.

Strack resigned in January 1972 to become the athletic director of the University of Arizona.[11] Strack's tenure at Arizona included the hiring of the first African-American head coach of a major university (basketball coach Fred Snowden)[12] and the school's transition into Pac-10 athletic conference.[13] In 1980, Strack was criticized following a scandal involving the football program's use of an athletic slush fund for improper payments to coaches, alumni and recruits.[14] Strack resigned in July 1982 to become a professor of physical education.[15]

In 1992, Strack was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.[2]

Personal life

In 1947, while attending the University of Michigan, Strack met and married Ruth Ann Mayer. They briefly lived in East Lansing, Michigan before moving to Ann Arbor to raise their five children. When he took the Arizona athletic director job, they moved to Tucson for his tenure and then to Prescott upon his retirement. They later returned to Tucson, where she died in 2011.[16] Strack, aged 90, died of pneumonia in 2014.[17][18]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Idaho Vandals (Independent) (1959–1960)
1959–60 Idaho 11–15
Idaho: 11–15
Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Conference) (1960–1968)
1960–61 Michigan 6–182–1210th
1961–62 Michigan 7–175–98th
1962–63 Michigan 16–88–6T–4th
1963–64 Michigan 23–511–3T–1stNCAA University Division Final Four
1964–65 Michigan 24–413–11stNCAA University Division Runner-up
1965–66 Michigan 18–811–31stNCAA University Division Elite Eight
1966–67 Michigan 8–162–1210th
1967–68 Michigan 11–136–8T–7th
Michigan: 113–8958–54
Total:124–104

      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

See also

References
  1. "Google".
  2. "Dave Strack". Indian Basketball Hall of Fame. hoopshall.com. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  3. "Kautskys sign Strack". Kokomo Tribune. February 20, 1946. 10.
  4. "University studies 55 applications for basketball job". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. June 3, 1959. p. 11.
  5. "Michigan aide studies Idaho hoop vacancy". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. June 12, 1959. p. 11.
  6. "Michigan assistant Vandals' cage pick". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. June 16, 1959. p. 18.
  7. "Idaho cage boss takes new post". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. May 20, 1960. p. 17.
  8. "Strack's move to Michigan confirmed; Cipriano next?". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). May 21, 1960. p. 10.
  9. "Strack accepts position at Michigan". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). May 21, 1960. p. 2.
  10. "United Press International Coach of the Year winners". NCAA Individual Awards. Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  11. "Michigan's Strack to go to Arizona". Milwaukee Journal. January 12, 1972. pp. 8 (Section II). Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  12. Thomas, Robert McG., Jr. (January 19, 1994). "Fred Snowden, Basketball Coach And Black Pioneer, Is Dead at 57". New York Times. pp. D20.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. "Arizona Seeks Schedule Help". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Tucson, Arizona. December 22, 1976. p. 23. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  14. Patterson, Margaret Jones; Russell, Robert H. (October 15, 1986). Behind the Lines: Case Studies in Investigative Reporting. Columbia University Press. pp. 63 _ 93. ISBN 978-0-231-06058-5.
  15. "Dave Strack Leaves AD Post at Arizona". Lewiston Morning Tribune. May 19, 1982. p. 2C. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  16. RUTH ANN STRACK November 6, 1925 - April 20, 2011
  17. "Dave Strack, early architect of Michigan basketball, dies at 90". 2014-01-27.
  18. "Former Coach Dave Strack Passes Away". Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
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