Gene Bartow

Bobby Gene Bartow (August 18, 1930 – January 3, 2012) was an American men's college basketball coach. The Browning, Missouri, native coached 36 years at six universities after coaching two high schools in Missouri for six years. In 1972 Bartow coached the Puerto Rico national basketball team in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Gene Bartow

Bartow in 1975
Biographical details
Born	(1930-08-18)August 18, 1930[1] Browning, Missouri, U.S.
Died	January 3, 2012(2012-01-03) (aged 81) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater	Truman State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1961–1964	Central Missouri State
1964–1970	Valparaiso
1970–1974	Memphis State
1974–1975	Illinois
1975–1977	UCLA
1978–1996	UAB
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1977–2000	UAB
Head coaching record
Overall	647–353 (college) 145–39 (high school)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 MVC regular season (1972, 1973) 2 Pac-8 regular season (1976, 1977) 3 Sun Belt regular season (1981, 1982, 1990) 4 Sun Belt tournament (1982–1984, 1987) MSHAA (1957)
Awards
MVC Coach of the Year (1972) 3x Sun Belt Coach of the Year (1981, 1982, 1985) Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (1989)
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2009

High school

Bartow began his coaching at the prep level in Missouri, coaching Shelbina and St. Charles High School basketball squads to a 145–39 win–loss mark in six seasons. His 1957 St. Charles team won the state championship, defeating North Kansas City in the Class L finals by a score of 60–54.

College

Bartow coached at Central Missouri State University from 1961 to 1964, Valparaiso University from 1964 to 1970, and Memphis State University from 1970 until 1974, and he led the Memphis State Tigers to the 1973 NCAA national championship game and consecutive Missouri Valley Conference titles in the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons. He coached the US national team in the 1974 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.^[2]

Bartow signed a five-year contract to replace Harv Schmidt at the University of Illinois in 1974 but stayed only one year. The Fighting Illini finished tied for last in the Big Ten at 4–14 (8–18 overall) in 1975, Bartow's only season there before he broke his contract and left for UCLA.^[3] He was succeeded by Lou Henson.^[3]

UCLA

Bartow left the Midwest for Los Angeles to succeed coaching legend John Wooden as the head coach at UCLA. He led the Bruins from 1975 to 1977, guiding them to Pac-8 titles and a 52–9 (.852) record, including a berth in the Final Four in 1976, falling to Indiana, the undefeated eventual champion.^[4] In 1977, his second-ranked UCLA lost to unranked Idaho State by a point in the Sweet Sixteen at Provo, Utah.^[5][6][7][8] As of 2023, his two seasons had the second-highest winning percentage at UCLA, behind Gary Cunningham (.862).

UAB

After just two years at UCLA, Bartow left in 1977 to take over the job of creating an athletic program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He served as the Blazers' first head basketball coach and athletic director for 18 years. Bartow led UAB to the NIT in 1980, the program's second year of existence, and followed that up with seven straight NCAA tournament appearances, including advancements to the Sweet Sixteen in 1981 and the Elite Eight in 1982.

Bartow retired from coaching in 1996, and in 1997, UAB renamed its basketball venue Bartow Arena in his honor. His son Murry, a UAB assistant, became the coach upon Bartow's retirement; Bartow was later president of Hoops, LP, the company that runs the Memphis Grizzlies and the FedEx Forum.^[9]

Honors

In 1989, Bartow was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, 10 years later, in 1999, Central Missouri State (now the University of Central Missouri) also elected him to theirs.^[10] Bartow was also voted one of Valparaiso University's 150 most influential people in October 2009.^[11] Bartow was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City on November 22, 2009, along with fellow inductees Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wayman Tisdale, Jud Heathcote, Walter Byers, Travis Grant and Bill Wall. In 2013, Bartow was selected for induction into the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Hall of Fame.^[12]

Death

On April 15, 2009, a UAB spokesman revealed that Bartow had been diagnosed with stomach cancer; he died at his home in Birmingham in early 2012 from the disease.

Head coaching record

College

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Central Missouri State Mules (Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1961–1964)
1961–62	Central Missouri State	16–6
1962–63	Central Missouri State	17–6
1963–64	Central Missouri State	14–9
Central Missouri State:		47–21
Valparaiso Crusaders (Indiana Collegiate Conference) (1964–1970)
1964–65	Valparaiso	13–12	5–7	3rd
1965–66	Valparaiso	18–10	7–5	4th	NCAA College Division Second Round
1966–67	Valparaiso	21–8	7–5	2nd
1967–68	Valparaiso	11–15	3–9	6th
1968–69	Valparaiso	16–12	4–4	T–2nd	NCAA College Division Second Round
1969–70	Valparaiso	13–13	2–6	5th
Valparaiso:		92–70	28–36
Memphis State Tigers (Missouri Valley Conference) (1970–1974)
1970–71	Memphis State	18–8	8–6	4th
1971–72	Memphis State	21–7	12–2	T–1st	NIT First Round
1972–73	Memphis State	24–6	12–2	1st	NCAA University Division Runner-up
1973–74	Memphis State	19–11
Memphis State:		82–32	32–10
Illinois Fighting Illini (Big Ten Conference) (1974–1975)
1974–75	Illinois	8–18	4–14	T–9th
Illinois:		8–18	4–14
UCLA Bruins (Pacific-8 Conference) (1975–1977)
1975–76	UCLA	28–4†	13–1	1st	NCAA Division I Third Place
1976–77	UCLA	24–5	11–3	1st	NCAA Division I Sweet 16
UCLA:		52–9	24–4
UAB Blazers (NCAA Division I independent) (1978–1979)
1978–79	UAB	15–11
UAB Blazers (Sun Belt Conference) (1979–1991)
1979–80	UAB	18–12	10–4	T–2nd	NIT First Round
1980–81	UAB	23–9	9–3	T–1st	NCAA Division I Sweet 16
1981–82	UAB	25–6	9–1	1st	NCAA Division I Elite Eight
1982–83	UAB	19–14	9–5	3rd	NCAA Division I First Round
1983–84	UAB	23–11	8–6	5th	NCAA Division I First Round
1984–85	UAB	25–9	11–3	2nd	NCAA Division I Second Round
1985–86	UAB	25–11	9–5	T–3rd	NCAA Division I Second Round
1986–87	UAB	21–11	10–4	3rd	NCAA Division I First Round
1987–88	UAB	16–15	7–7	5th
1988–89	UAB	22–12	8–6	4th	NIT Final Four
1989–90	UAB	22–9	12–2	1st	NCAA Division I First Round
1990–91	UAB	18–13	9–5	2nd	NIT First Round
UAB Blazers (Great Midwest Conference) (1991–1995)
1991–92	UAB	20–9	4–6	5th	NIT First Round
1992–93	UAB	21–14	5–5	4th	NIT Final Four
1993–94	UAB	22–8	8–4	T–2nd	NCAA Division I First Round
1994–95	UAB	14–16	5–7	6th
UAB Blazers (Conference USA) (1995–1996)
1995–96	UAB	16–14	6–8	2nd (Red)
UAB:		365–204	139–81
Total:		647–353
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

• List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins
• List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach

References

1. Litsky, Frank (5 January 2012). "Gene Bartow, Successor to John Wooden at U.C.L.A., Dies at 81". The New York Times.
2. 1974 USA Basketball Archived August 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
3. "2011–12 Illinois Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-16. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
4. McDermott, Barry (April 5, 1976). "Indiana makes its point". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
5. McDermott, Barry (March 28, 1977). "Off and running toward Atlanta". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
6. Benson, Lee (March 18, 1977). "Utes fall short, Idaho State stuns UCLA". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 6B.
7. "ISU has greatest win". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 18, 1977. p. 21.
8. "UCLA becomes the obscure one". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. March 18, 1977. p. 1B.
9. "Former UCLA coach Bartow named president of Grizzlies". Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
10. "Home Events March 4–10 - Official Athletics Website". University of Central Missouri Athletics. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
11. "Valpo Athletics". www.valpoathletics.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
12. "MIAA ANNOUNCES 2013 HALL OF FAME CLASS". themiaa.com. 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2024-03-10.

External links

• Sports Reference – Gene Bartow
• Gene Bartow at Find a Grave