kids encyclopedia robot

Dave Strack facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Dave Strack
Dave Strack.png
Strack from 1967 Michiganensian
Biographical details
Born (1923-03-02)March 2, 1923
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Died January 25, 2014(2014-01-25) (aged 90)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Playing career
1943–1946 Michigan
1946 Indianapolis Kautskys
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1948–1959 Michigan (assistant)
1959–1960 Idaho
1960–1968 Michigan
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1970–1972 Michigan (associate AD)
1972–1982 Arizona
Head coaching record
Overall 124–104
Tournaments 7–3 (NCAA University Division)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 Big Ten regular season (1964–1966)

David H. Strack (March 2, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American athletic director for the University of Arizona and head basketball coach of the University of Michigan. He was inducted to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

Early life

Strack grew up in Indiana and graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, where he was the basketball team's captain and MVP in 1941 and named to the Indiana All-Star team. Strack played college basketball at the University of Michigan (UM), earning MVP honors in 1943 and 1946.

Basketball career

Strack briefly played professionally for the Indianapolis Kautskys of the NBL. He returned to UM and served as an assistant coach from 1948 to 1959, then left in June 1959 to become the head coach at the University of Idaho.

In May 1960, Strack was hired as the head coach back at the University of Michigan, and served from 1960 to 1968. He led the Wolverines to three Big Ten Conference titles (1964, 1965, 1966) and to the 1965 NCAA Tournament title game. Following his team's 24–4 record and runner-up finish in 1965, Strack was named the UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year.

Athletic director

In 1968, Strack became the University of Michigan's business manager, then the associate athletic director in 1970.

Strack resigned in January 1972 to become the athletic director of the University of Arizona. Strack's tenure at Arizona included the hiring of the first African-American head coach of a major university (basketball coach Fred Snowden) and the school's transition into Pac-10 athletic conference. In 1980, Strack was criticized following a scandal involving the football program's use of an athletic slush fund for improper payments to coaches, alumni and recruits. Strack resigned in July 1982 to become a professor of physical education.

In 1992, Strack was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

Personal life

In 1947, while attending the University of Michigan, Strack met and married Ruth Ann Mayer. They briefly lived in East Lansing, Michigan before moving to Ann Arbor to raise their five children. When he took the Arizona athletic director job, they moved to Tucson for his tenure and then to Prescott upon his retirement. They later returned to Tucson, where she died in 2011. Strack, aged 90, died of pneumonia in 2014.

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Idaho Vandals (Independent) (1959–1960)
1959–60 Idaho 11–15
Idaho: 11–15
Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Conference) (1960–1968)
1960–61 Michigan 6–18 2–12 10th
1961–62 Michigan 7–17 5–9 8th
1962–63 Michigan 16–8 8–6 T–4th
1963–64 Michigan 23–5 11–3 T–1st NCAA University Division Final Four
1964–65 Michigan 24–4 13–1 1st NCAA University Division Runner-up
1965–66 Michigan 18–8 11–3 1st NCAA University Division Elite Eight
1966–67 Michigan 8–16 2–12 10th
1967–68 Michigan 11–13 6–8 T–7th
Michigan: 113–89 58–54
Total: 124–104

      National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion
      Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

See also

  • List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach
kids search engine
Dave Strack Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.