Wimp Sanderson
Wimp Sanderson (born August 8, 1937)
Teams coached: Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans
Alabama record: 265-118 (.692) **
Arkansas-Little Rock record: 85-58 (.594)
Overall record: 350-176 (.665) **
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 9 (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992) **
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 5 (1982, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991) **
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 2 (1981, 1996)
- Sun Belt Regular Season Champion: 1 (1996)
- SEC Regular Season Champion: 1 (1987)
- SEC Tournament Champion: 5 (1982, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991)
Awards:
- Sun Belt Coach of the Year: 1 (1996)
- SEC Coach of the Year: 2 (1987, 1989)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1994-1999 | Arkansas-Little Rock |
| 1980-1992 | Alabama |
| 1961-1980 | Alabama (asst) |
| 1960-1961 | Alabama (grad. asst) |
Wimp Sanderson Facts
- Winfrey Sanderson
- Born August 8, 1937
- Hometown: Florence, Alabama
- Alma Mater: Florence State University (BA, 1959)
- After graduating from Florence State (now North Alabama), became a graduate assistant at Alabama under head coach Hayden Riley; promoted to full-time assistant one year later
- When C. M. Newton took over as the Tide’s head coach in 1968, Sanderson stayed on an assistant for the entirety of Newton’s 12-year tenure
- In his 20 years as an assistant, Sanderson played a pivotal role in recruiting African-American players in order to integrate the conference
- Took over the Alabama program in 1980, going on to coach the Crimson Tide for 12 seasons
- Won 265 games, five SEC Tournaments, one SEC title and went to 10 NCAA Tournaments and one NIT
- The Tide advanced to the Sweet Sixteen six of the ten trips under Sanderson, though never further than that round
- Sanderson resigned in 1992 in the midst of an off-court scandal revolving around an affair he had and a domestic issue that resulted from it
- After stepping away from coaching for two seasons, Sanderson became the head coach at Arkansas-Little Rock
- Won 85 games in five years with the program, winning a Sun Belt title and a trip to the NIT in 1996
- Retired from coaching after the 1998-99 season and returned to his home state of Alabama where he currently resides
- Hosted a radio show on WJOX-AM Birmingham (AL) with friend and fellow retired coach Sonny Smith from 2000-2006
- Inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1990
- Has a son, Scott Sanderson, that played at South Carolina and then became a coach; career includes a 14-year tenure as the head coach at Lipscomb
Wimp Sanderson Coaching Tree
- Rick Barnes (Tennessee, Texas, Clemson, Providence, George Mason)
- Mike Davis (Detroit Mercy, Texas Southern, UAB, Indiana)
- Benny Dees (Western Carolina, Wyoming, New Orleans)
- Mark Gottfried (Cal State Northridge, NC State, Alabama, Murray State)
- David Hobbs (Alabama)
- Don Maestri (Troy)
- Porter Moser (Oklahoma, Loyola IL, Illinois State, Arkansas-Little Rock)
- Gregg Polinsky (Georgia Southern)
- Daniyal Robinson (Cleveland State)
** Listed records for this coach do not include wins later vacated by the NCAA
