Marv Harshman

Marv Harshman (1917-2013)

Teams coached: Pacific Lutheran Lutes, Washington State Cougars, Washington Huskies
Washington State record: 155-181 (.461)
Washington record: 246-146 (.628)
Overall record^: 637-328 (.816)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  3  (1976, 1984, 1985)
  • NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  1  (1984)
  • NCAA Tournament Final Four:  0
  • NIT Championships:  0
  • NIT Appearances:  2  (1980, 1982)
  • Pac-12 Regular Season Champion:  2  (1984, 1985)
  • Evergreen (Div III) Regular Season Champion:  4  (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958)

Awards:

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1971-1985 Washington
1958-1971 Washington State
1945-1958 Pacific Lutheran

Marv Harshman Facts

  • Marvel Keith Harshman
  • Born October 4, 1917
  • Died April 12, 2013
  • Hometown: Lake Stevens, Washington
  • Alma Mater: Pacific Lutheran University (BA, 1942)
  • Born in Wisconsin and raised in Washington, graduating from Lake Stevens HS (WA) before attending Pacific Lutheran (WA)
    • Lettered 13 times in four sports at PLU and graduated in 1942
  • Served in the US Navy for three years during World War II
  • Returned to PLU in 1945 to be the head basketball coach, a position he held for thirteen seasons
    • Went 236-117 overall at PLU, winning four Evergreen Conference regular season titles
    • Was also the head football coach from 1951-1957 and head baseball coach from 1954-1958
  • Took over as the head coach at Washington State in 1958, coaching there for thirteen seasons, as well
    • Went 155-181 overall but never reached the NCAA Tournament or NIT while in Pullman
  • Left WSU for rival Washington in 1971, where he would spend the final fourteen seasons of his coaching career
    • Went 246-146 games and led the Huskies to five postseasons (3 NCAA, 2 NIT), including the 1984 Sweet Sixteen
    • During this time, only one Pac-8/Pac-10 went to the annual NCAA Tournament and that team was often the UCLA Bruins (coached by John Wooden)
      • Harshman was the last coach to beat Wooden, as the Huskies defeated the Bruins on Feb 22, 1975 in what would be the final loss in Wooden’s final season before retirement
    • Harshman himself was pushed into retirement in 1985 (at age 67) by Washington president Dr. Williams Gerberding
    • The court at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the UW campus is named Marv Harshman Court in his honor in 2007
  • After retirement, he had offers to coach at both Denver and Hawaii but ultimately decided to stay retired
  • Passed away in April 2013 at the age of 95
  • Along with his wife, Dorothy, had two sons, Michael and Dave

Marv Harshman Coaching Tree

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the both the NCAA Division I and Division III levels