John Longfellow

Teams coached: Indiana State Sycamores
Indiana State record^: 120-59 (.670)
Overall record^: 120-59 (.670)

1948-1954

John Landis Longfellow
Born September 20, 1901
Died November 8, 1977
Hometown: Warsaw, Indiana
Alma Mater: Manchester College (BA, 1922)
The Indiana-native spent over 20 years coaching at the HS level in his home state, most notably at Elkhart HS (1929-48)
- At Elkhart, Longfellow’s teams won over 375 games and 24 state tournament titles
- Also coached at Leesburg HS (1922-24), Nappannee HS (1924-28) and Hatford City HS (1928-29), all in Indiana
Became the head coach at Indiana State, then a NAIA program, in 1948 and led the Sycamores for six seasons
- Compiled a 120-59 record overall, reaching five NAIA Tournaments and winning three conference titles (2x IIC, 1x ICC)
- His 1948-49 team reached the Final Four and then the 1949-50 team won the NAIA National Championship
- Indiana State represented the US in the 1951 Pan-American Games, during which Longfellow’s team won the gold medal
At the same time as he became head coach (1948), he also became the athletic director at Indiana State
- Carried on in that role even after his coaching career, working as AD until his retirement in 1966
Inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame (c/o 1960), Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (c/o 1967) and the Indiana State University Hall of Fame (c/o 1984)
- Additionally, the 1949-50 were inducted as a team into the NAIA Hall of Fame (c/o 2000)

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NAIA level only; Indiana State did not move up to Division I play until 1971