Phil Woolpert (1915-1987)
Teams coached: San Francisco Dons, San Diego Toreros
San Francisco record: 153-78 (.662)
San Diego record: 90-90 (.500)
Overall record: 243-168 (.591)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 2 (1955, 1956)
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 4 (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 3 (1955, 1956, 1957)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- WCC Regular Season Champion: 4 (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958)
- Helms Foundation National Championships: 2 (1955, 1956)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 1 (1966)
Awards:
- UPI Coach of the Year: 2 (1955, 1956)
- WCC Coach of the Year: 4 (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958)
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1992)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1962-1969 | San Diego |
| 1950-1959 | San Francisco |
Phil Woolpert Facts
- Phil Woolpert
- Born December 15, 1915
- Died May 7, 1987
- Hometown: Danville, Kentucky
- Alma Mater: Loyola Marymount University (BA, 1940)
- The Kentucky-native went to high school in Los Angeles and then, after a year at LA Junior College, played at Loyola University, LA (now Loyola Marymount) for head coach James Needles
- In high school, served as a ball boy at Loyola Marymount alongside fellow future HOF coaches Pete Newell and Tex Winter
- Spent four years as the head coach at St. Ignatius HS in San Francisco, leaving with a 63-29 overall record
- Became head basketball coach and athletic director at USF in 1950, helping guide the Dons into the WCC a few seasons later
- Coached future Hall of Famers and NBA Champions Bill Russell and K. C. Jones in the mid-1950’s, anchors of what would be some of the most successful college teams in the history of the game
- Run included a 60-game win streak, the longest in NCAA history until UCLA‘s 88-game streak in the 1970s
- During the 1954-55 and 1955-56 seasons, the Dons went 57-1 (26-0) overall and won back-to-back NCAA titles
- Woolpert led the team to the Final Four in 1957 and Sweet Sixteen in 1958, capping a run of four-straight WCC titles
- Coached future Hall of Famers and NBA Champions Bill Russell and K. C. Jones in the mid-1950’s, anchors of what would be some of the most successful college teams in the history of the game
- Woolpert briefly coached the San Francisco Saints of the American Basketball League
- Coached the San Diego Toreros, then an NCAA Independent, from 1962-1969; posted a 90-90 record during that tenure, finishing .500 or better in five of seven seasons
- Retired from coaching in 1969, settled in Sequim, WA and became a school bus driver for the Sequim School District
- Passed away in 1987 after a battle with lung cancer; survived by his wife, Mary, and their five children
Phil Woolpert Coaching Tree
- Bernie Bickerstaff (Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards, Seattle SuperSonics, San Diego)
- Ross Giudice (San Francisco)
- K. C. Jones (Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics, Washington Bullets, Brandeis)
- Bill Russell (Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics)
