Fred Schaus

Fred Schaus

Schaus from The Monticola, 1955
Personal information
Born (1925-06-30)June 30, 1925
Newark, Ohio
Died February 10, 2010(2010-02-10) (aged 84)
Morgantown, West Virginia
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school Newark (Newark, Ohio)
College West Virginia (1946–1949)
NBA draft 1949 / Round: 3
Selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons
Playing career 1949–1954
Position Small forward
Number 8, 17
Career history
As player:
1949–1953 Fort Wayne Pistons
1953–1954 New York Knicks
As coach:
1954–1960 West Virginia
1960–1967 Los Angeles Lakers
1972–1978 Purdue
Career highlights and awards

As player:

As coach:

  • NIT championship (1974)
  • 4× SoCon Coach of the Year (1955, 1958–1960)
Career NBA statistics
Points 4,070 (12.2 ppg)
Rebounds 1,609 (6.0 rpg)
Assists 961 (2.9 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
1959 Chicago Team competition

Frederick Appleton "Fred" Schaus (June 30, 1925 – February 10, 2010) was an American basketball player, head coach and athletic director for the West Virginia University Mountaineers, player for the National Basketball Association's Fort Wayne Pistons and New York Knicks, general manager and head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, head coach of Purdue University basketball, and a member of the NCAA Basketball Committee. He was born in Newark, Ohio.[1]

College career

Schaus played basketball at West Virginia, where he earned the record of first to score 1,000 career points (1,009). He was also selected to the All-American team in 1949.

Pro career

Schaus left West Virginia to join the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1949–1950 season. He scored 14.3 points a game and a year later scored a career-best 15.3 points a game. He was selected to play in the first NBA All-Star Game and scored eight points for the West. However, he only averaged 14.1 points per game in 1952, and then in 1953 it dropped to 10.1 points per game.

He was traded to the New York Knicks halfway through the 1954 season and ended his NBA career that season with 7.1 points per game average.

College coaching career

West Virginia

After his retirement from the NBA, Schaus returned to his alma mater to coach the Mountaineers. In his first season, he led the Mountaineers to a 19–11 mark and an NCAA tournament appearance. In the next five seasons, he posted an amazing 127–26 (.831) record, which included five consecutive NCAA tournament berths. He led WVU to the NCAA finals in 1959, but lost to Pete Newell's California team, 71–70.[2]

Purdue

After leaving NBA coaching and management in 1972, he returned to the college ranks to coach at Purdue University, taking over for George King. He held a 104–60 overall record as the Boilermaker's head coach, while leading them to the 1974 NIT Championship and a berth in the 1977 NCAA tournament. He then owned the distinction of being the only coach to reach the NIT finals, NCAA finals, and the NBA Finals.

Ironically, at Purdue, Schaus was the successor to George King, who was Schaus' successor at West Virginia.

After 1981, Schaus returned to WVU to serve as the athletic director.

Professional coaching/management career

Los Angeles Lakers

After the 1960 season, he left college coaching for the Los Angeles Lakers and reunited with his former WVU star, Jerry West. Schaus guided the Lakers to seven consecutive playoff appearances, including 4 Western Conference Championships[2] in 5 years (1962, 1963, 1965 and 1966) then in 1967 he left to the front office as the Lakers GM. He assembled the Lakers, eventually winning the 1972 NBA title.

Schaus died in Morgantown, West Virginia in February, 2010.[3]

Head coaching record

College basketball

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
West Virginia Mountaineers (Southern Conference) (1954–1960)
1954–55 West Virginia 19-11 9-1 1st NCAA First Round
1955–56 West Virginia 21-9 10-2 T-1st NCAA First Round
1956–57 West Virginia 25-5 12-0 1st NCAA First Round
1957–58 West Virginia 26-2 12-0 1st NCAA First Round
1958–59 West Virginia 29-5 11-0 1st NCAA Runner-up
1959–60 West Virginia 26-5 9-2 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
West Virginia: 146–37 (.798) 63–5 (.926)
Purdue Boilermakers (Big Ten Conference) (1972–1978)
1972–73 Purdue 15-9 8-6 T-3rd
1973–74 Purdue 21-9 10-4 3rd NIT Champions
1974–75 Purdue 17-11 11-7 T-3rd
1975–76 Purdue 16-11 11-7 3rd
1976–77 Purdue 20-8 14-4 2nd NCAA First Round
1977–78 Purdue 16-11 11-7 T-4th
Purdue: 104–60 (.634) 65–35 (.650)
Total: 250–97 (.720)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Professional basketball

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win-loss %
Post season PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win-loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
LAL 1960–61 793643.4562nd in Western1266.500 Lost in Western Div. Finals
LAL 1961–62 805426.6751st in Western1376.538 Lost in NBA Finals
LAL 1962–63 805327.6631st in Western1367.462 Lost in NBA Finals
LAL 1963–64 804238.5253rd in Western523.400 Lost in Western Div. Semifinals
LAL 1964–65 804931.6131st in Western1156.455 Lost in NBA Finals
LAL 1965–66 804535.5631st in Western1477.500 Lost in NBA Finals
LAL 1966–67 813645.4443rd in Western303.000 Lost in Western Div. Semifinals
Career 560315245.563 713338.465

References

  1. ↑ Basketball-reference.com page Accessed February 11, 2010
  2. 1 2 Stavro, Barry (February 12, 2010), "Fred Schaus dies at 84; first L.A. Lakers head coach", The Los Angeles Times
  3. ↑ Tsn.ca Obituary Accessed February 11, 2010
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