Tippy Dye

Tippy Dye (1915-2012)

Teams coached: Brown Bears, Ohio State Buckeyes, Washington Huskies
Brown record: 11-7 (.611)
Ohio State record: 53-34 (.609)
Washington record: 156-91 (.632)
Overall record: 220-132 (.625)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  3  (1950, 1951, 1953)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  1  (1953)
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  1  (1953)
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  0
• PCC Regular Season Champion:  2  (1951, 1953)
• Big Ten Regular Season Champion:  1  (1950)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1950-1959	Washington
1946-1950	Ohio State
1942-1943	Ohio State (asst)
1941-1942	Brown

Tippy Dye Facts

• William Henry Harrison Dye
• Born April 1, 1915
• Died April 11, 2012
• Hometown: Harrisonville, Ohio
• Alma Mater: Ohio State University (BA, 1937)
• Got his nickname from his namesake William Henry Harrison’s campaign slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too”
• Played football, baseball and basketball at Ohio State, the latter under head coach Harold Olsen
  • As starting QB, led the Buckeyes to three straight football victories over Michigan
  • Was a two-time all-conference selection as a guard on the basketball team; team captain in 1937
  • Spent two years playing with the American Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals after graduation
• Started his coaching career at Grandview Heights HS (OH)
• Became head basketball coach – and assistant football coach – at Brown in 1941, going 11-7 that year
• Returned to his alma mater the following year to be an assistant coach in both basketball and football
  • Served three years in the US Navy (1943-46) during World War II
• Became the Buckeyes’ head basketball coach in 1946 when he returned from the War
  • Went 53-34 in four seasons, culminating with a 22-4 (11-1 Big Ten) record in 1949-50
  • Won the 1950 Big Ten regular season title and reached the NCAA Tournament
• Left OSU in 1950 to take over the basketball program at Washington; was head coach for nine seasons
  • Won the PCC regular season title in two of his first three seasons and reached the 1953 Final Four
• Stepped away from coaching in 1959 to become the athletic director at Wichita State University
• After three years at WSU, Dye left for the same role at the University of Nebraska
  • Over five years in Lincoln, Dye helped vault the Huskers’ football program into a national power
• Dye spent seven years as the athletic director at Northwestern before retiring in 1974 at age 59
• Inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame (c/o 1996) and Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame (c/o 2008)
• Passed away in 2012 just days after turning 97
  • Along with his late wife, Mary, had one daughter and one son

Tippy Dye Coaching Tree

• Joe Cipriano (Nebraska, Idaho)
• Neil Johnston (Philadelphia Warriors)