Clem Haskins
Clem Haskins (born August 11, 1943)
Teams coached: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Minnesota Golden Gophers
Western Kentucky record: 101-73 (.580)
Minnesota record: 231-162 (.588) **
Overall record: 332-235 (.586) **
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 5 (1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999) **
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 2 (1989, 1990) **
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0 **
- NIT Championships: 1 (1993) **
- NIT Appearances: 3 (1982, 1992, 1993) **
- Big Ten Regular Season Champion: 0 **
- Ohio Valley Regular Season Champion: 2 (1981, 1982)
- Big Ten Tournament Champion: 0 **
- Ohio Valley Tournament Champion: 1 (1981)
Awards:
- AP Coach of the Year: 0 **
- NABC Coach of the Year: 0 **
- Henry Iba Award: 0 **
- Clair Bee Coach of the Year: 0 **
- Big Ten Coach of the Year: 0 **
- Sun Belt Coach of the Year: 1 (1986)
- Ohio Valley Coach of the Year: 1 (1981)
- Ohio Valley Player of the Year: 3 (1965, 1966, 1967)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1986-1999 | Minnesota |
| 1980-1986 | Western Kentucky |
| 1977-1980 | Western Kentucky (asst) |
Clem Haskins Facts
- Clem Smith Haskins
- Born August 11, 1943
- Hometown: Campbellsville, Kentucky
- Alma Mater: Western Kentucky University (BA, 1967)
- Played at WKU for John Oldham; he and teammate Dwight Smith became the first African-American players in the program’s history in 1963
- Named the Ohio Valley POY three times (1965-67) and was a first-team All-American as a senior in 1967
- Drafted 3rd overall in the 1967 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls
- Spent nine seasons in the NBA, three in Chicago, four with the Phoenix Suns and two with the Washington Bullets
- While in the NBA, he layed for coaches Johnny Kerr, Dick Motta, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Jerry Colangelo, John MacLeod and K. C. Jones
- Started coaching at his alma mater in 1977 as an assistant under Jim Richards
- Hired by his former coach, John Oldham, who was by then the school’s athletic director
- Stayed on staff for two more seasons under Gene Keady before taking over as the Hilltoppers’ head coach in 1980
- Hired as the head coach at Minnesota in 1986, coaching there for the next 13 seasons
- Built the program up to a Sweet 16 team in 1989 (and Elite 8 a year later); went on to win the 1993 NIT Championship
- From 1994-99, the Gophers went to four NCAA Tournaments, made a trip to the 1997 Final Four and won the 1998 NIT
- However, during that same time frame the program was also engaging in academic misconduct that would eventually have three NCAAT appearances (w/ the Final Four) and the NIT title wiped from the record books
- A story in the St. Paul Pioneer Press broke the news that the manager of the school’s academic counseling office has been doing work for men’s basketball players who would then pass it off as their own
- Due to his knowledge of and participation in these activities, Haskins – who was later found to have paid the academic manager $3,000 – was forced to resign
- Haskins was given a seven-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA, which effectively ended his coaching career
- The 1997 season earned Haskins many Coach of the Year honors that would later be stripped, as well as a vacated Big Ten regular season and Tournament title
- In 1996, Haskins served as an assistant coach for Lenny Wilkens and team USA at the Summer Olympics; the team cruised to a gold medal, winning each game by at least 22 points
- Haskins retired to a 750-acre farm near his hometown of Campbellsville with his wife, Yvette
Clem Haskins Coaching Tree
- Dwane Casey (Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors)
- Larry Davis (Furman)
- David Farrar (Idaho, Middle Tennessee)
- Bobby Jackson (Stockton Kings)
- Bobby Jones (Saint Francis PA)
- Niko Medved (Colorado State, Drake, Furman)
** Listed records and accomplishments for this coach do not include wins or appearances later vacated by the NCAA
