Jerry Steele
Jerry Steele (1939-2021)
Teams coached: Guilford Quakers, High Point Panthers
Guilford record^: 150–76 (.664)
High Point record^: 457-412 (.526)
Overall record^: 607-488 (.554)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- Carolinas (Div II) Regular Season Champion: 2 (1989, 1997)
- Carolinas (Div II) Tournament Champion: 4 (1987, 1988, 1989, 1996)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 2 (1996, 1997)
- NAIA Tournament Appearances: 5 (1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1979)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
1972-2003 | High Point |
1970-1971 | Carolina Cougars |
1962-1970 | Guilford |
Jerry Steele Facts
- Jerry Steele
- Born March 10, 1939
- Died July 11, 2021
- Hometown: Elkin, North Carolina
- Alma Mater: Wake Forest University (BA, 1961) / University of North Carolina (MA, 1962)
- The NC-native played at Wake Forest for head coach Bones McKinney; twice named Academic All-ACC
- Served as a co-captain in 1961-62 when the Demon Deacons won the ACC regular season title
- Started his coaching career at Guilford College in Greensboro, where he went 150-76 in eight seasons at the helm
- Reached the NAIA Tournament four times in his last five years and reached the NAIA Final Four in 1970
- Went 17-25 in one season (1970-71) as head coach of the ABA’s Carolina Cougars, taking over for his former coach McKinney
- Arrived at High Point, then a NAIA member, in 1972 and would serve as head coach for the next 31 seasons
- Went 457-412 through his tenure, which included seasons in NAIA, NCAA Division II and Division I competition
- Reached the NAIA Tournament in 1979 then back-to-back D-II NCAA Tournaments in 1996 and 1997
- Won two Conference Carolinas regular season titles and four conference tournament titles
- Also served as athletic director starting from 1972-1998; retired from coaching in 2003
- Inducted into the High Point HOF (c/o 2015), Wake Forest HOF (c/o 2010), Guilford County (NC) HOF (c/o 2005), North Carolina Sports HOF (c/o 2002), NAIA Hall of Fame (c/o 1987)
- Passed away in July 2021 at the age of 82
- Survived by his wife, Kitty, a member of the High Point HOF (c/o 2016) after coaching a number of women’s sports for many years
- The Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center, which houses offices, training facilities and locker rooms, opened in 2007
Jerry Steele Coaching Tree
- Bob Kauffman (Detroit Pistons)
- Brett Reed (Lehigh)
- Tubby Smith (High Point, Memphis, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Kentucky, Georgia, Tulsa)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III and NAIA levels; during Steele’s tenure at High Point, the program transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II then finally to Division I in 1999