Les Wothke
Les Wothke (born November 30, 1938)
Teams coached: Western Michigan Broncos, Army Cadets, Winona State Warriors
Western Michigan record: 42-41 (.506)
Army record: 92-135 (.405)
Winona State record^: 183-110 (.625)
Overall record^: 317-286 (.526)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- MAC Regular Season Champion: 1 (1981)
- NSIC (NAIA) Regular Season Champion: 4 (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975)
- NAIA Division I Tournament Appearances: 2 (1973, 1975)
Awards:
- MAAC Coach of the Year: 1 (1985)
- NSIC (NAIA) Coach of the Year: 3 (1972, 1973, 1975)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1992-1998 | Winona State |
| 1982-1990 | Army |
| 1979-1982 | Western Michigan |
| 1975-1979 | Illinois (asst) |
| 1970-1975 | Winona State |
Les Wothke Facts
- Leslie L. Wothke
- Born November 30, 1938
- Hometown: LaPort County, Indiana
- Alma Mater: Greenville College (BA, 1961) / Eastern Illinois University (MS, 1964)
- After graduating from Greenville (IL), Wothke began his coaching career at the high school level in Illinois
- Hired in 1970 to be the head coach at then-NAIA Winona State (MN), coaching there for five years
- Led the Warriors to four NSIC regular season titles and twice reached the national NAIA Tournament
- Left in 1975 to join Lou Henson‘s staff at Illinois, working as an assistant with the Illini for four seasons
- Became the head coach at D-I Western Michigan in 1979, going 42-41 over three seasons
- Won 15 games in each of last two seasons, winning a share of the MAC title in 1981
- Hired by Army in 1982 to led the (then Cadets) program, which he did for the next eight years
- Went 16-13 in his third season, earning MAAC COY honors but never again finished above .500
- In 1990, after a fifth-straight losing season, Wothke resigned as head coach
- After a couple years away from the sport, Wothke returned to Winona State to be the head coach again
- Coached there for another six seasons (eleven in total), now at the Division II level
- Retired in 1998 with an overall record of 183-110 at the school, the most wins for any head coach to that point
- Record was surpassed by his successor, Mike Leaf, one of his assistants who went on to win two D-II NCAA titles there
- Remained in the Winona area, later becoming a volunteer assistant at Winona Senior HS (MN)
- Throughout his coaching career, Wothke led clinics across the country as well as in Syria, Turkey and China
- Inducted into both the NSIC Hall of Fame (c/o 2003) and Winona State Hall of Fame (c/o 2004)
Les Wothke Coaching Tree
- Randy Ayers (Philadelphia 76ers, Ohio State)
- Ricky Byrdsong (Northwestern, Detroit Mercy)
- Steve Fisher (San Diego State, Michigan)
- Mike Leaf (Winona State)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I, Division II and NAIA levels (WSU was NAIA during Wothke’s first stint and D-II by his second stint)
