Ned Wulk

Ned W. Wulk (August 14, 1920 – November 15, 2003) was an American basketball and baseball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Arizona State University from 1958 to 1982, compiling a record of 406–272. His 406 wins are the most of any head coach history of the Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball program. Wells Fargo Arena's basketball court was named after him in 1999. At the time of his 400th victory, he was one of only four active coaches to win 400 or more games at one school. He led Arizona State to 17 winning seasons in his 25 years and a record of 39–15 against rival Arizona.

Ned Wulk

Biographical details
Born	(1920-08-14)August 14, 1920 Marion, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	November 15, 2003(2003-11-15) (aged 83) Tempe, Arizona, U.S.
Playing career
Football
(2 yrs.)	La Crosse State
Basketball
1938–1942	La Crosse State
Baseball
(3 yrs.)	La Crosse State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1948–1956	Xavier (assistant)
Basketball
1948–1951	Xavier (assistant)
1951–1957	Xavier
1957–1982	Arizona State
Baseball
1949–1956	Xavier
Head coaching record
Overall	495–342 (basketball) 61–39–1 (baseball)
Tournaments	Basketball 8–10 (NCAA University Division / Division I) 2–2 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Basketball 4 Border regular season (1958, 1959, 1961, 1962) 4 WAC regular season (1963, 1964, 1973, 1975)
Awards
Basketball Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1980)

Early life and career

Wulk graduated from the La Crosse State Teachers College (now UW La Crosse) in 1942. There, he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. After working as a high school physical education teacher for several years, he was hired by Xavier University in fall 1948 to serve as an assistant football coach, assistant basketball coach, and head baseball coach. He was promoted to head basketball coach after three seasons as an assistant.^[1]

Arizona State

Under Wulk, Arizona State reached 9 NCAA tournaments, and 3 Elite Eight appearances in 1961, 1963, and 1975. In the 1963 NCAA tournament at Provo, the Sun Devils routed UCLA in a second-round game, 93–79. The Bruins were on the brink of back-to-back national titles in ‘64 and ‘65. And in 1981, Wulk's ASU Sun Devils went to Corvallis on the final day of the regular season and defeated #1 ranked Oregon State by a score of 87–67. Wulk's 1963 team still has the school record for most wins in a season at 26. In the previous season, he set the ASU school record for longest winning streak at 18 games. He led the 1981 ASU Sun Devils of the Pac-10 to the highest national ranking in school history at #3, finishing with a record of 24–4. He was selected as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1980, when ASU finished 21–6, including 15–3 in conference play. He was fired in 1982 after one mediocre season.

Wulk was inducted into the Pac-10 Hall of Fame in 2003.

Head coaching record

Basketball

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Xavier Musketeers (NCAA University Division independent) (1951–1957)
1951–52	Xavier	10–14
1952–53	Xavier	11–12
1953–54	Xavier	18–12
1954–55	Xavier	13–13
1955–56	Xavier	17–11			NIT quarterfinal
1956–57	Xavier	20–8			NIT quarterfinal
Xavier:		89–70
Arizona State Sun Devils (Border Conference) (1957–1962)
1957–58	Arizona State	13–13	8–2	1st	NCAA University Division first round
1958–59	Arizona State	17–9	7–3	T–1st
1959–60	Arizona State	16–7	7–3	T–2nd
1960–61	Arizona State	23–6	9–1	T–1st	NCAA University Division Elite Eight
1961–62	Arizona State	23–4	10–0	1st	NCAA University Division first round
Arizona State Sun Devils (Western Athletic Conference) (1962–1978)
1962–63	Arizona State	26–3	9–1	1st	NCAA University Division Elite Eight
1963–64	Arizona State	16–11	7–3	T–1st	NCAA University Division first round
1964–65	Arizona State	13–14	4–6	5th
1965–66	Arizona State	12–14	3–7	6th
1966–67	Arizona State	5–21	1–9	6th
1967–68	Arizona State	11–17	4–6	T–4th
1968–69	Arizona State	11–15	4–6	T–5th
1969–70	Arizona State	4–22	2–12	8th
1970–71	Arizona State	16–10	8–6	4th
1971–72	Arizona State	18–8	9–5	T–2nd
1972–73	Arizona State	19–9	10–4	1st	NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place
1973–74	Arizona State	18–9	9–5	T–2nd
1974–75	Arizona State	25–4	12–2	1st	NCAA Division I Elite Eight
1975–76	Arizona State	17–10	5–9	7th
1976–77	Arizona State	15–13	6–8	T–5th
1977–78	Arizona State	13–14	6–8	T–4th
Arizona State Sun Devils (Pacific-10 Conference) (1978–1982)
1978–79	Arizona State	16–14	7–11	T–6th
1979–80	Arizona State	22–7	15–3	2nd	NCAA Division I second round
1980–81	Arizona State	24–4	16–2	2nd	NCAA Division I second round
1981–82	Arizona State	13–14	8–10	T–6th
Arizona State:		406–272	186–132
Total:		495–342
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

Baseball

Wulk spent eight seasons as Xavier's baseball coach.^[2]

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Xavier Musketeers (Independent) (1949–1956)
1949	Xavier	7–5
1950	Xavier	6–6
1951	Xavier	12–4
1952	Xavier	6–5
1953	Xavier	6–4
1954	Xavier	10–2–1
1955	Xavier	8–4
1956	Xavier	6–9
Xavier:		61–39–1
Total:		61–39–1

References

1. "Ned Wulk of Hartford to Coach at Xavier". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. September 3, 1948. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
2. "NCAA Database".