William Reinhart

William J. Reinhart (August 2, 1896 – February 14, 1971) was an American college basketball, football, and baseball coach at the George Washington University, the University of Oregon, and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. From 1923 to 1935, he served as the head basketball coach at Oregon. He is the school's second-winningest coach with 180 victories. His record through 13 seasons at Oregon was 180–101. He suffered only one losing season. Largely due to his success, Oregon was forced to build McArthur Court to accommodate the large crowds that became fixtures for Ducks games on his watch.^[1]

William Reinhart

Reinhart from the 1934 Oregana
Biographical details
Born	(1896-08-02)August 2, 1896
Died	February 14, 1971(1971-02-14) (aged 74) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Playing career
Football
1919–1921	Oregon
Position(s)	Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
?	Oregon (assistant)
1938–1941	George Washington
1945	Fleet City
1946–1949	Merchant Marine
Basketball
1923–1935	Oregon
1935–1942	George Washington
1949–1966	George Washington
Baseball
1924–1935	Oregon
1950–1966	George Washington
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1946–1949	Merchant Marine
Head coaching record
Overall	28–42–3 (football) 499–338 (basketball) 295–225–5 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Basketball 2 SoCon regular season (1954, 1956) 2 SoCon tournament (1954, 1961) Baseball 4 SoCon
Awards
Southern Conference Basketball Coach of the Year (1954) Helms Basketball Hall of Fame (1956) George Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame (1993) University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame (1994)

At George Washington, he compiled a 319–237 record in basketball, or .574 winning percentage, including a 23–3 season in 1953–54. His teams twice made the NCAA tournament, in 1954 and 1961, George Washington's only trips to the NCAA Tournament until Mike Jarvis's team in 1993.^[2] Players he coached at George Washington included future Basketball Hall of Famer Red Auerbach and future National Basketball Association (NBA) players Joe Holup, Corky Devlin and Gene Guarilia^[2] and at Oregon he coached Howard Hobson. Auerbach said Reinhart's coaching and fast break offenses were "15 years ahead of their time."^[1]

Reinhart also was head football coach at George Washington and the United States Merchant Marine Academy, assistant football coach at Oregon, and head baseball coach at Oregon and George Washington.

Reinhart died of cancer on February 14, 1971, at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.^[3] He was inducted into George Washington's athletic hall of fame in 1993.^[2]

A collection of papers and memorabilia related to Reinhart is housed in the Special Collections Research Center of The George Washington University. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, certificates, and news clippings. The material ranges in date from 1920 to 1993.^[4]

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
George Washington Colonials (Independent) (1938–1940)
1938	George Washington	5–4
1939	George Washington	5–3
1940	George Washington	5–3–1
George Washington Colonials (Southern Conference) (1941)
1941	George Washington	1–7–1	0–4–1	15th
George Washington:		16–17–2	0–4–1
Fleet City Bluejackets (Independent) (1945)
1945	Fleet City	11–0–1
Fleet City:		11–0–1
Merchant Marine Mariners (Independent) (1946–1949)
1946	Merchant Marine	4–7
1947	Merchant Marine	2–9
1948	Merchant Marine	3–4–1
1949	Merchant Marine	3–5
Merchant Marine:		12–25–1
Total:		39–42–4

Basketball

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Oregon Webfoots (Pacific Coast Conference) (1923–1935)
1923–24	Oregon	15–5	4–4	3rd
1924–25	Oregon	15–5	7–2	T–1st
1925–26	Oregon	18–4	10–0	1st
1926–27	Oregon	24–4	8–2	1st
1927–28	Oregon	18–3	8–2	2nd
1928–29	Oregon	10–8	3–7	5th
1929–30	Oregon	14–12	8–8	3rd
1930–31	Oregon	12–10	6–10	4th
1931–32	Oregon	13–11	7–9	4th
1932–33	Oregon	8–19	2–14	5th
1933–34	Oregon	17–8	9–7	2nd
1934–35	Oregon	16–12	7–9	3rd
Oregon:		180–101 (.641)	79–74 (.516)
George Washington Colonials (Independent) (1935–1941)
1935–36	George Washington	16–3
1936–37	George Washington	16–4
1937–38	George Washington	13–4
1938–39	George Washington	13–8
1939–40	George Washington	13–6
1940–41	George Washington	18–4
George Washington Colonials (Southern Conference) (1941–1942)
1941–42	George Washington	11–9	8–3	2nd
George Washington Colonials (Southern Conference) (1949–1966)
1949–50	George Washington	17–8	12–4	T–2nd
1950–51	George Washington	12–12	8–9	10th
1951–52	George Washington	15–9	12–6	5th
1952–53	George Washington	15–7	12–6	9th
1953–54	George Washington	23–3	10–0	1st	NCAA first round
1954–55	George Washington	24–6	8–2	2nd
1955–56	George Washington	19–7	10–2	T–1st
1956–57	George Washington	3–21	3–9	9th
1957–58	George Washington	12–11	8–4	3rd
1958–59	George Washington	14–11	4–7	7th
1959–60	George Washington	15–11	7–5	5th
1960–61	George Washington	9–17	3–9	7th	NCAA University Division first round
1961–62	George Washington	9–15	6–7	4th
1962–63	George Washington	8–15	6–6	T–5th
1963–64	George Washington	11–15	5–7	6th
1964–65	George Washington	10–13	6–7	5th
1965–66	George Washington	3–18	3–9	9th
George Washington:		319–237 (.574)	131–102 (.562)
Total:		499–338 (.596)
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. University of Oregon Hall of Fame bio
2. GW bio
3. "William Reinhart, Coached Basketball in Washington". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 16, 1971. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
4. Guide to the William Reinhart Papers, 1920-1993, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University

External links

• William Reinhart at Find a Grave