Bob King
Bob King (1923-2004)
Teams coached: New Mexico Lobos, Indiana State Sycamores
New Mexico record: 175-89 (.663)
Indiana State record: 61-24 (.718)
Overall record: 236-113 (.676)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (1968)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 1 (1968)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0
- NIT Championships: 0 (Runner-up in 1964)
- NIT Appearances: 5 (1964, 1965, 1967, 1977, 1978)
- WAC Regular Season Champion: 3 (1964, 1968, 1969)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1975-1978 | Indiana State |
| 1962-1972 | New Mexico |
| 1960-1962 | Iowa (asst) |
Bob King Facts
- Bob King
- Born August 24, 1923
- Died December 10, 2004
- Hometown: Gravity, Iowa
- Alma Mater: University of Iowa (BA, 1947) / Drake University (MS, 1957)
- Was an All-State basketball player at Gravity HS (IA) and then played freshman basketball for the hometown Iowa Hawkeyes
- Started his basketball coaching career at the high school level in Iowa and Illinois
- Compiled a 205-75 record over 12 years at Britt HS (IA), Algona HS (IA) and Rockford West HS (IL)
- Also served as an Officer in the United States Air Force from 1943-46
- Returned to his alma mater in 1960, joining the staff of head basketball coach Sharm Scheuerman
- Hired to be the head coach at New Mexico in 1962, leading the Lobos for the next ten seasons
- In his second season, led the Lobos to a Runner-up finish in the 1964 NIT
- Won three WAC regular season titles, went to three NITs and one NCAA (a Sweet Sixteen berth in 1968)
- King’s success as head coach led to the opening of The Pit in 1966, which originally held nearly 15K seats
- UNM dedicated the playing surface at “The Pit” to King in 1992, renaming it “Bob King Court”
- Inducted into the Albuquerque Sports HOF (c/o 1982) and the University of New Mexico Athletic HOF (c/o 1987)
- Stepped down from coaching in 1972 to become the Assistant AD at New Mexico
- Left UNM after he was not offered the AD role when it became available the following year
- Headed back to the Midwest in 1973, becoming the athletic director at Indiana State University
- Served as the Sycamores’ head basketball coach from 1975-78, noted for the arrival and stardom of Larry Bird
- Handed the program over to assistant Bill Hodges in 1978; Bird and Hodges led the Sycamores all the way to the NCAA Championship game for a showdown with Michigan State star Earvin “Magic” Johnson, which the Spartans won
- Other achievements in his time as AD include moving the football program into the Division I Missouri Valley, an NCAA championship in men’s gymnastics and the career of four-time Olympic medal-winning wrestler Bruce Baumgartner
- Inducted into the Indiana State University Athletics HOF (c/o 1999) and the Missouri Valley HOF (c/o 2014)
- Survived by his wife, Sharel, four sons and two daughters
Bob King Coaching Tree
- Larry Bird (Indiana Pacers)
- Norm Ellenberger (New Mexico)
- Bill Hodges (Mercer, Georgia College, Indiana State)
- Harv Schmidt (Illinois)