Frank McGuire
Frank McGuire (1913-1994)
Teams coached: St. John’s Redmen, North Carolina Tar Heels, South Carolina Gamecocks
St. John’s record: 102-36 (.739)
North Carolina record: 164-58 (.739)
South Carolina record: 283-142 (.666)
Overall record^: 549-236 (.699)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 1 (1957)
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 8 (1951, 1952, 1957, 1959, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 4 (1957, 1971, 1972, 1973)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 2 (1952, 1957)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 7 (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1969, 1975, 1978)
- ACC Regular Season Champion: 6 (1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1970)
- Metro NY Regular Season Championships: 3 (1949, 1951, 1952)
- ACC Tournament Champion: 2 (1957, 1971)
- Helms Foundation National Championships: 1 (1957)
Awards:
- UPI Coach of the Year: 1 (1957)
- ACC Coach of the Year: 2 (1957, 1969)
- NABC Golden Anniversary Award (1989)
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1977)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1964-1980 | South Carolina |
| 1961-1962 | Philadelphia Warriors |
| 1952-1961 | North Carolina |
| 1947-1952 | St. John’s |
Frank McGuire Facts
- Frank Joseph McGuire
- Born November 8, 1913
- Died October 11, 1994
- Hometown: New York City, New York
- Alma Mater: St. John’s University (BA, 1936)
- The youngest of thirteen attended Xavier HS in Manhattan, then played at St. John’s for head coach James “Buck” Freeman
- Was a teacher and coach at Xavier HS before joining the Navy and serving during World War II
- Returned to his alma mater St. John’s in 1947 as the basketball and baseball head coach
- Led the Redmen baseball team to the College World Series in 1949, the first ever appearance for the program
- On the basketball court, McGuire’s teams won 102 games and finished as the runner-Up in the 1952 NCAA Tournament
- Left SJU for North Carolina – then an unheralded program – in 1952
- Recruited a number of NYC-area prospects to Chapel Hill during his tenure there
- Finished undefeated 32-0 in 1956-57 and won the NCAA Championship – the program’s first – with back-to-back triple-OT victories over Michigan State and Kansas
- Won five ACC regular season titles in nine seasons at UNC and left there with 164 total victories
- Resigned in 1961 amidst rumors of point shaving by Tar Heels players and other NCAA violations
- Recruited a number of NYC-area prospects to Chapel Hill during his tenure there
- Spent one season as the head coach of the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA, going 49-31
- Coached HOFer Wilt Chamberlain during the season in which he averaged over 50 ppg and achieved his 100-point game
- The franchise moved to San Francisco after the season and McGuire resigned to avoid moving out West
- Returned to the college ranks in 1964, spending the next sixteen seasons as the head coach at South Carolina
- Won the ACC title once, the ACC Tournament once and went to four NCAA Tournaments (three Sweet 16s) and three NITs during his tenure
- Was the first and is one of just four head coaches to take two different programs to the NCAA Division I final game
- Passed away in Columbia, SC in 1994 at the age of 80, two years after suffering a major stroke
- Survived by his wife, Jane, and three children by a previous marriage
Frank McGuire Coaching Tree
- Larry Brown (SMU, Kansas, UCLA + 10x NBA/ABA teams)
- Bobby Cremins (College of Charleston, Georgia Tech, Appalachian State)
- Billy Cunningham (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Al DeStanfano (St. John’s)
- Mike Dunleavy (Tulane + 4x NBA teams)
- George Felton (South Carolina)
- Tom Gola (La Salle)
- Ben Jobe (Southern, Tuskegee, Alabama A&M, Denver)
- Al McGuire (Marquette)
- Dick McGuire (New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons)
- Jack McMahon (4x NBA/ABA teams)
- Doug Moe (Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs)
- Ken Rosemond (Georgia)
- Dean Smith (North Carolina)
- Donnie Walsh (Denver Nuggets)
- Brad Winters (Indiana Fever, Vancouver Grizzlies)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only
