Phil Woolpert
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
December 15, 1915 Danville, Kentucky |
| Died |
May 7, 1987 (aged 71) Sequim, Washington |
| Alma mater |
Los Angeles Junior College Loyola University, Los Angeles |
| Playing career | |
| 1936-1940 | Loyola-Los Angeles |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1950–1959 | San Francisco |
| 1961-1962 | San Francisco Saints |
| 1962–1969 | San Diego |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1950-1959 | San Francisco |
| 1962-1969 | San Diego |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 243–168 (.591) |
| Tournaments | NCAA: 13-2 (.867) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
|
2x NCAA Champion (1955, 1956) NCAA Final Four (1957) 4x WCC Champion (1955-1958) | |
| Awards | |
| 2x UPI Coach of the Year (1955, 1956) | |
|
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1992 (profile) | |
|
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 | |
Phil Woolpert (December 15, 1915 – May 7, 1987) was an American college basketball coach. He is best known for coaching the University of San Francisco Dons to two straight national championships in 1955 and 1956.
Born in Danville, Kentucky, Woolpert attended high school in Los Angeles. He subsequently attended Los Angeles Junior College and Loyola University, Los Angeles, where he played basketball for three years and was initiated into the Alpha Delta Gamma National Fraternity.
In 1946, Woolpert was hired as basketball coach for St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco, California where he posted a 63-29 record in his four years as coach. Upon Pete Newell's departure for Michigan State University, the University of San Francisco hired Woolpert to succeed Newell. He assumed both the posts of men's basketball coach and athletic director.
During his tenure at USF, Woolpert posted a 153-78 record, including a 60-game win streak that at the time was the longest in college basketball (surpassed later by John Wooden's 88 straight wins at UCLA.). His teams, anchored by Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Eugene Brown and Mike Farmer, were known for their defense and held opponents below 60 points on 47 different occasions. USF won the national championship in 1955 and 1956, and finished third in 1957. At the time the youngest college basketball coach to win a national championship, Woolpert also won Coach of the Year honors in 1955 and 1956.
After briefly coaching the San Francisco Saints of the American Basketball League, Woolpert returned to the college ranks in 1962, this time with the University of San Diego. While in San Diego, Woolpert posted a 90-90 record and served as both men's basketball coach and athletic director.
Phil Woolpert retired from coaching in 1969. He later settled down in Sequim, Washington and became a school bus driver. Woolpert died of cancer in 1987.
His son Paul is the assistant coach of the D-League Los Angeles D-fenders.[1]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Dons (Independent) (1950–1952) | |||||||||
| 1950–51 | San Francisco | 9-17 | |||||||
| 1951–52 | San Francisco | 11-13 | |||||||
| San Francisco Dons (West Coast Conference) (1955–1959) | |||||||||
| 1952–53 | San Francisco | 10-11 | 6-2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1953–54 | San Francisco | 14-7 | 8-4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1954–55 | San Francisco | 28-1 | 12-0 | 1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 1955–56 | San Francisco | 29-0 | 14-0 | 1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 1956–57 | San Francisco | 21-7 | 12-2 | 1st | NCAA Third Place | ||||
| 1957–58 | San Francisco | 25-2 | 12-0 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1958–59 | San Francisco | 6-20 | 3-9 | 6th | |||||
| San Francisco: | 153–78 (.662) | 67–17 (.785) | |||||||
| San Diego Toreros (Independent) (1962–1969) | |||||||||
| 1962–63 | San Diego | 6-19 | |||||||
| 1963–64 | San Diego | 13-13 | |||||||
| 1964–65 | San Diego | 15-11 | |||||||
| 1965–66 | San Diego | 17-11 | |||||||
| 1966–67 | San Diego | 14-11 | |||||||
| 1967–68 | San Diego | 15-10 | |||||||
| 1968–69 | San Diego | 10-15 | |||||||
| San Diego: | 90–90 (.500) | ||||||||
| Total: | 243–168 (.591) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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