Fred Schaus

📅 آخر تحديث: ٣ أغسطس ٢٠٢٦
✍️ نُشر في: ٣ أغسطس ٢٠٢٦
الموسوعة الحرة

Frederick Appleton 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 was recruited from out of state (Ohio) by the legendary coach Lee Patton in 1946 to play at West Virginia University. Under Patton, Fred developed into a top star among stars during that golden age of Mountaineer basketball. Among Schaus' many accomplishments was that he was the first to score 1,000 career points (1,009) at WVU. He was also selected to the All-American team in 1949.

Professional 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.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
 FG% Field goal percentage 3P% 3-point field goal percentage FT% Free throw percentage
 RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game
 BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

Regular season

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGPPG
1949–50Fort Wayne68–.352.818–2.614.3
1950–51Fort Wayne68–.340.8357.32.715.1
1951–52Fort Wayne6241.6.361.8337.04.014.1
1952–53Fort Wayne6936.8.334.8216.03.610.5
1953–54Fort Wayne2311.8.397.7602.2.93.8
1953–54New York4428.3.386.7934.92.08.8
Career33433.5.352.8236.02.912.2

Playoffs

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGPPG
1950Fort Wayne4–.364.839–2.818.5
1951Fort Wayne3–.386.8185.33.314.3
1952Fort Wayne245.0.343.8757.57.015.5
1953Fort Wayne830.5.300.7615.35.38.9
1954New York429.8.280.9333.03.07.0
Career2132.4.339.8205.02.611.8

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. The recruitment of Schaus for Jerry West (a native of Chelyan, West Virginia) to play for the Mountaineers was a key factor, with West calling Schaus his "mentor"; West played on the freshmen team in 1957 before playing with Schaus and the varsity team from 1958 to 1960.[2] He led WVU to the NCAA finals in 1959, but lost to Pete Newell's California team, 71–70.[3]

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.

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[3] in 5 years (1962, 1963, 1965 and 1966). He labeled the loss in 1966 (a Game 7 loss in Boston) as the “worst disappointment of my pro coaching career....If you don’t win it all, you’re nothing.” In 1967, he moved to the front office to become the Lakers general manager. He rebuilt the Lakers, eventually winning the 1972 NBA title. Not long after, Schaus was contacted by his friend George King (who had succeeded Schaus at West Virginia in 1960) about joining him at Purdue, as King wanted to focus on being the athletic director rather than being director and coach. Schaus accepted.[4]

Head coaching record

College

Record table
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
West Virginia Mountaineers(Southern Conference)(1954–1960)
1954–55West Virginia 19–119–11stNCAA first round
1955–56West Virginia 21–910–2T–1stNCAA first round
1956–57West Virginia 25–512–01stNCAA University Division First Round
1957–58West Virginia26–212–01stNCAA University Division First Round
1958–59West Virginia29–511–01stNCAA University Division Runner-up
1959–60West Virginia26–59–22ndNCAA University Division Regional Third Place
West Virginia:146–37 (.798)63–5 (.926)
Purdue Boilermakers(Big Ten Conference)(1972–1978)
1972–73Purdue 15–98–6T–3rd
1973–74Purdue21–910–43rdNIT Champion
1974–75Purdue 17–1111–7T–3rdNCIT Semifinals
1975–76Purdue16–1111–73rd
1976–77Purdue20–814–42ndNCAA Division I First Round
1977–78Purdue 16–1111–7T–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

Legend
Regular seasonGGames coachedWGames wonLGames lostW–L %Win–loss %
PlayoffsPGPlayoff gamesPWPlayoff winsPLPlayoff lossesPW–L %Playoff win–loss %
TeamYearGWLW–L%FinishPGPWPLPW–L%Result
LAL1960–61793643.4562nd in Western1266.500Lost in Western Div. Finals
LAL1961–62805426.6751st in Western1376.538Lost in NBA Finals
LAL1962–63805327.6631st in Western1367.462Lost in NBA Finals
LAL1963–64804238.5253rd in Western523.400Lost in Western Div. Semifinals
LAL1964–65804931.6131st in Western1156.455Lost in NBA Finals
LAL1965–66804535.5631st in Western1477.500Lost in NBA Finals
LAL1966–67813645.4443rd in Western303.000Lost in Western Div. Semifinals
Career560315245.563713338.465

Personal life

He is the father of Southern Conference Commissioner and former Ohio University and Wichita State Universityathletic directorJim Schaus.[5]

Schaus died in Morgantown, West Virginia, on February 10, 2010. He was 84.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑Basketball-reference.com page Accessed February 11, 2010
  2. ↑"Fred Schaus dies at 84; first L.A. Lakers head coach". Los Angeles Times. March 7, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  3. 12Stavro, Barry (February 12, 2010), "Fred Schaus dies at 84; first L.A. Lakers head coach", The Los Angeles Times
  4. ↑"Good guy Fred Schaus passes away". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  5. ↑"JIM SCHAUS". Southern Conference.
  6. ↑Fred Schaus, Coach of Lakers in First Los Angeles Years, Dies at 84. The New York Times. February 13, 2010.