Adolph Rupp
Encyclopedia
Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

. Rupp is fourth (behind Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight and Dean Smith
Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith is a retired American head coach of men's college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel...

) in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching. Rupp is also second among all coaches in all-time winning percentage (.822), trailing only Clair Bee
Clair Bee
Clair Francis Bee was an American basketball coach, who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles...

. Adolph F. Rupp was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on April 13, 1969.

Early life

Rupp was born outside Halstead
Halstead, Kansas
Halstead is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. Halstead was named in honor of Murat Halstead, a respected Civil War correspondent and newspaper editor. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,085.-History:...

, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, to Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

 German immigrants, the fourth of six children. He grew up on a 173 acre (0.70010678 km²) farm which his father Heinrich homesteaded. After his father's death in 1910, Rupp's oldest brother Otto took over farming responsibilities. As a youngster, Rupp worked on the farm and attended a school in a one-room school house in the country. He first became interested in the sport of basketball at the age of six when Halstead won the first of two consecutive Kansas state high school titles. According to interviews, he and his brothers stuffed rags into a gunnysack which his mother sewed up to use as a basketball on the family farm. Later, after growing to a sturdy 6-foot-2, Rupp was a star on his Halstead High School
Halstead High School
Halstead High School is a public high school located in Halstead, Kansas, USA, serving students in grades 9-12. The school is part of the Unified School District 440. The school primarily serves the towns of Halstead and Bentley, Kansas...

 team, averaging over 19 points a game in both his junior and senior years. Rupp also served as team captain and unofficial coach.

After high school, Rupp attended the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 from 1919–1923. He worked part-time at the student Jayhawk Cafe to help pay his college expenses. He was a reserve on the basketball team under legendary coach Forrest "Phog" Allen
Phog Allen
Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen was an American basketball and baseball player, coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, college athletics administrator, and osteopathic physician...

 from 1919 to 1923. Assisting Allen during that time was his former coach and inventor of the game of basketball, James Naismith
James Naismith
The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...

, who Rupp also got to know well during his time in Lawrence.

In Rupp's junior and senior college seasons (1921–22 and 1922–23), Kansas (KU) had outstanding basketball squads. Later, both of these standout Kansas teams would be awarded the Helms National Championship, recognizing the Jayhawks as the top team in the nation during those seasons.

High school coaching

Rupp began his career in coaching by accepting a teaching job at Burr Oak High School, Kansas. After a one year stay, Rupp moved on to Marshalltown, Iowa
Marshalltown, Iowa
Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States. The population was 27,552 in the 2010 census, an increase from the 26,009 population in the 2000 census. -History:...

 where he coached wrestling, a sport he knew nothing about at the time and learned from a book. He did lead the Marshalltown
Marshalltown High School
Marshalltown High School is located in Marshalltown, Iowa and is home to 1,600 students in grades 9-12.-History:The first Marshalltown High School was located north of downtown Marshalltown on Grant Street before moving to the present Miller Middle School...

 team to a state wrestling title in 1926.

In 1926-30, Rupp accepted the basketball head coaching position at Freeport High School
Freeport High School (Illinois)
Freeport High School is a public secondary school located in Freeport, Illinois. Their sport teams are named the Pretzels.-Academics:In 2009, Freeport had an average composite ACT score of 19.7, and graduated 85.8% of its senior class...

, (Freeport, Illinois
Freeport, Illinois
Freeport is a city in and the county seat of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,443 at the 2000 census. The mayor of Freeport is George W...

) where he also taught history and economics. During his four years at Freeport, Rupp compiled a record of 66-21 and guided his team to a third-place finish in the 1929 state tournament. While at Freeport High School Rupp started William "Mose" Mosely, the first African-American to play basketball at Freeport and the second to graduate from the school. There have been rumors in the Freeport community for years that Rupp was forced out because he played Mosely, while others say that he left because he did not win the state championships in 1929 and 1930.

University of Illinois head basketball coach Craig Ruby was invited to speak at the team banquet following the 1929-30 season. Ruby informed Rupp of the Kentucky head coaching job and followed up by recommending him for the job.

During his time in Freeport, Rupp met his future wife, Esther Schmidt.

University of Kentucky

Rupp coached the University of Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky , a founding member of the Southeastern Conference...

 men's basketball
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...

 team from 1930 to 1972. At Kentucky, he earned the titles "Baron of the Bluegrass" and "The Man in the Brown Suit" (Rupp always wore a brown suit to games). Rupp was a master of motivation and strategy, often using local talent to build his teams. In fact, throughout his career, more than 80% of Rupp's players came from the state of Kentucky. Rupp promoted a sticky man-to man defense, a fluid set offense, perfect individual fundamentals, and a relentless fast break that battered opponents into defeat. Rupp demanded 100% effort from his players at all times, pushing them to great levels of success.

Rupp's Wildcat teams won four NCAA championships
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

 (1948
1948 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page....

, 1949
1949 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1949 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1949, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle, Washington...

, 1951
1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 20, 1951, and ended with the championship game on March 27 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis,...

, 1958
1958 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1958 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 11, 1958, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in...

), one National Invitation Tournament
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...

 (NIT
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...

) title in 1946, appeared in 20 NCAA tournaments, had six NCAA Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...

 appearances, won five Sugar Bowl tournament championships, captured 27 Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 regular season titles, and won 13 Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 tournaments. Rupp's Kentucky teams also finished ranked #1 on six occasions in the final Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 college basketball poll and four times in the United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...

 (Coaches) poll. In addition, Rupp's legendary 1966 Kentucky squad (nicknamed "Rupp's Runts") finished second in the NCAA tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

 and Rupp's powerful 1947 Wildcats finished second in the NIT. Further, Rupp's 1933 and 1954 Kentucky squads were awarded the Helms National Championship.

Rupp coached some of the nation's best. In all, Rupp coached 32 All-Americans, chosen 50 times, 52 All-SEC players, chosen 91 times, 44 NBA Draft Picks, 2 National Players-of-the-Year, 7 Olympic Gold Medalists, and 4 Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Fame members.

Rupp was forced into retirement in March 1972 after reaching the age of 70, which at the time was the mandatory retirement age for all University of Kentucky employees. He was a 4-time National Coach-of-the-Year award winner, and a 7-time Conference Coach-of-the-Year award winner.

Superstitions

Rupp, a very superstitious man, was known to carry a "lucky" buckeye in his pocket. His favorite sign of good luck was finding a pin, especially a bobby pin, particularly on a game day. The depth of his superstitious nature was revealed while he was coaching at Freeport, when he had bought a new blue suit to replace his old brown one. He wore his new suit to a game, and his team got beaten badly (a rarity). Rupp never again wore anything but brown to games.

Head coaching record

    • Record includes SEC playoff tiebreaker games
  • The team did not play in the 1952-53 season because of involvement in a point shaving
    Point shaving
    In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one...

     scandal.

Career after Kentucky

In April 1972, Rupp was named Team President of the Memphis Pros
Memphis Pros
Memphis Pros were an American Basketball Association team during the 1970-1971 and 1971-1972 seasons.-Origins:The New Orleans Buccaneers were a charter member of the ABA and played for three seasons, 1967-1970, winning the Western Division championship in 1969...

, soon to become the Memphis Tams
Memphis Tams
The Memphis Tams were an American Basketball Association team during the 1972-1973 and 1973-1974 seasons. The team had previously been the New Orleans Buccaneers for three seasons before moving to Memphis, Tennessee where it became the Memphis Pros from 1970 through 1972. The team later became...

, of the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

.

In July 1973, Rupp was hired as Vice President of the Board of the Kentucky Colonels
Kentucky Colonels
The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did...

 of the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

.

Death

Rupp died at age 76 in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

, on December 10, 1977, on a night that Kentucky defeated his alma mater, Kansas, at Allen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The arena, named in honor of Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, who coached the university's men's basketball team for 39 years, is one of college basketball's most historically significant and prestigious buildings...

 in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...

. The game that night was promoted as "Adolph Rupp Night". He is buried in Lexington Cemetery.

See also

  • List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins
  • List of NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coach

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK