Fred Schaus facts for kids
Schaus from The Monticola, 1955
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Born | June 30, 1925 Newark, Ohio, U.S. |
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| Died | February 10, 2010 (aged 84) Morgantown, West Virginia, U.S. |
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| High school | Newark (Newark, Ohio) | |||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | |||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | |||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||
| College | West Virginia (1946–1949) | |||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 1949 / Round: 3 | |||||||||||||
| Selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons | ||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1949–1954 | |||||||||||||
| 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:
As executive:
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| Career NBA statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Points | 4,070 (12.2 ppg) | |||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 1,609 (6.0 rpg) | |||||||||||||
| Assists | 961 (2.9 apg) | |||||||||||||
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Medals
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Frederick Appleton Schaus (born June 30, 1925 – died February 10, 2010) was an American basketball star. He was a player, a coach, and an athletic director. Fred Schaus played for the Fort Wayne Pistons and the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also coached the Los Angeles Lakers and college teams like the West Virginia Mountaineers and Purdue Boilermakers. Schaus was born in Newark, Ohio.
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College Basketball Career
Fred Schaus played college basketball at West Virginia University. He was the first player there to score over 1,000 points in his college career, reaching 1,009 points. In 1949, he was chosen for the All-American team, which means he was one of the best college players in the country.
Playing in the NBA
After college, Schaus joined the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1949–1950 season. In his first year, he scored 14.3 points per game. The next year, he had his best scoring season, averaging 15.3 points per game. He was even picked to play in the very first NBA All-Star Game in 1951, where he scored eight points for the West team.
However, his scoring average dropped in the following seasons. In 1954, he was traded to the New York Knicks. He finished his NBA playing career that same season. Overall, he averaged 12.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game during his time in the NBA.
Coaching College Teams
After his NBA playing career, Fred Schaus returned to his old college, West Virginia University, to become their coach.
Leading the West Virginia Mountaineers
In his first season as coach, he led the Mountaineers to a winning record and a spot in the NCAA tournament. Over the next five seasons, his teams had an amazing record of 127 wins and only 26 losses. They also made it to the NCAA tournament five times in a row.
A big part of his success was recruiting future NBA legend Jerry West to play for West Virginia. West considered Schaus his "mentor." In 1959, Schaus led West Virginia to the NCAA finals, but they narrowly lost by one point to the University of California, Berkeley.
Coaching the Purdue Boilermakers
After coaching in the NBA for a while, Schaus went back to college coaching in 1972 at Purdue University. He coached the Boilermakers for six seasons, achieving a record of 104 wins and 60 losses. He led them to win the NIT Championship in 1974. He also guided them to the NCAA tournament in 1977.
Fred Schaus is the only coach to have reached the finals in the NIT, the NCAA tournament, and the NBA Finals.
Coaching and Management in the NBA
In 1960, Schaus left college coaching to become the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. There, he reunited with his former college star, Jerry West.
Success with the Los Angeles Lakers
Schaus led the Lakers to the playoffs for seven years in a row. His teams won the Western Conference Championship four times in five years (1962, 1963, 1965, and 1966). He once said that losing the 1966 NBA Finals in Game 7 was the "worst disappointment" of his professional coaching career.
In 1967, Schaus moved from coaching to a management role, becoming the Lakers' general manager. He helped rebuild the team, and they went on to win the NBA championship in 1972. After this success, Schaus decided to return to college coaching at Purdue.
Personal Life
Fred Schaus was the father of Jim Schaus, who also became an athletic director and commissioner for the Southern Conference.
Fred Schaus passed away in Morgantown, West Virginia, on February 10, 2010, at the age of 84.
See also
In Spanish: Fred Schaus para niños
