Tom Asbury

Thomas Sydnor Asbury (born July 14, 1945) is a retired American men's college basketball coach. He spent two separate terms as head coach at Pepperdine University, retiring from that position in 2011. He was also a head coach for Kansas State University and served as an assistant coach at Pepperdine, the University of Wyoming (his alma mater), and the University of Alabama.

Tom Asbury

Biographical details
Born	(1945-07-14) July 14, 1945 (age 79) Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Playing career
1964–1967	Wyoming
Position(s)	Forward
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1976–1979	Wyoming (assistant)
1979–1988	Pepperdine (assistant)
1988–1994	Pepperdine
1994–2000	Kansas State
2003–2007	Alabama (assistant)
2008–2011	Pepperdine
Head coaching record
Overall	453–238
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 WCC regular season (1991–1993) 3 WCC tournament (1991, 1992, 1994)
Awards
2× WCC Coach of the Year (1991, 1992)

Career

Pepperdine

Asbury was an assistant coach at Pepperdine for nine seasons before succeeding Jim Harrick as head coach. Asbury was very successful in his first stint at Pepperdine, becoming the conference coach of the year twice and compiling a 125–59 record in his first six years. He took the Waves to the NCAA Tournament in 1991, 1992, and 1994, as well as two NIT appearances, three regular-season WCC titles, and three WCC Tournament championships.^[1]

Kansas State and Alabama

His success landed him the head coaching job at Kansas State University. He coached the Wildcats for six seasons, making the NCAA tournament once and the NIT tournament twice. However, his final season ended in 1999–2000 at Kansas State with a 9–19 record and a 2–14 conference record. He was fired and later returned to coaching as an assistant at the University of Alabama under former pupil Mark Gottfried. Mark Fox, the head coach at the University of California, is another former Asbury assistant, having coached with him at Kansas State.

Return to Pepperdine and retirement

Asbury came out of retirement to coach Pepperdine for a second time prior to the 2008–09 season. After three more seasons, on March 11, 2011, Asbury announced his retirement, turning the Pepperdine program over to assistant Marty Wilson.^[2] In October 2012, Asbury was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame.^[3]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Pepperdine Waves (West Coast Athletic Conference/West Coast Conference) (1988–1994)
1988–89	Pepperdine	20–13	10–4	T–2nd	NIT second round
1989–90	Pepperdine	17–11	10–4	2nd
1990–91	Pepperdine	22–9	13–1	1st	NCAA Division I Round of 64
1991–92	Pepperdine	24–7	14–0	1st	NCAA Division I Round of 64
1992–93	Pepperdine	23–8	11–3	1st	NIT second round
1993–94	Pepperdine	19–11	8–6	T–2nd	NCAA Division I Round of 64
Pepperdine:		125–59 (.679)	66–18 (.786)
Kansas State Wildcats (Big Eight Conference) (1994–1996)
1994–95	Kansas State	12–15	3–11	8th
1995–96	Kansas State	17–12	7–7	4th	NCAA Division I Round of 64
Kansas State Wildcats (Big 12 Conference) (1996–2000)
1996–97	Kansas State	10–17	3–13	T–10th
1997–98	Kansas State	17–12	7–9	T–7th	NIT first round
1998–99	Kansas State	20–13	7–9	T–7th	NIT first round
1999–2000	Kansas State	9–19	2–14	12th
Kansas State:		85–88 (.491)	29–63 (.315)
Pepperdine Waves (West Coast Conference) (2008–2011)
2008–09	Pepperdine	9–23	5–9	6th
2009–10	Pepperdine	7–24	3–11	T–6th
2010–11	Pepperdine	16–18	5–9	6th
Pepperdine:		32–66 (.327)	13–29 (.310)
Total:		242–212 (.533)
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

1. Pepperdine Basketball Records Book
2. Retiring Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury's Statement, accessed March 14, 2011
3. Pepperdine Inducts Four Into Hall of Fame, accessed Oct. 22, 2012