Sam Barry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Sam Barry

Sam Barry from the 1950 "El Rodeo"
Biographical details
Born	(1892-12-17)December 17, 1892 Aberdeen, South Dakota, U.S.
Died	September 23, 1950(1950-09-23) (aged 57) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1918–1922	Knox (IL)
1922–1929	Iowa
1929–1941	USC
1945–1950	USC
Football
1918–1921	Knox (IL)
1922–1928	Iowa (assistant)
1929–1940	USC (assistant)
1941	USC
1945–1950	USC (assistant)
Baseball
1923–1924	Iowa
1930–1942	USC
1946–1950	USC
Head coaching record
Overall	17–18–5 (football) 360–207 (basketball) 361–141–4 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Basketball 2 Big Ten (1923, 1926) 4 PCC (1930, 1933, 1935, 1940) 6 PCC South Division (1930, 1933–1935, 1939–1940) Baseball NCAA (1948) 10 PCC regular season (1930, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1942, 1946–1949)
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1979 (profile)
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006

Justin McCarthy "Sam" Barry (born December 17, 1892 – died September 23, 1950) was an amazing American sports coach. He achieved great success in three major sports: football, baseball, and basketball. He is one of only three coaches ever to lead teams to both the Final Four in basketball and the College World Series in baseball.

Sam Barry and four of his players from the USC team (Jack Gardner, Alex Hannum, Tex Winter, and Bill Sharman) were later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Sharman was even inducted as both a player and a coach!

Sam Barry's Early Coaching Days

Sam Barry was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He was a star athlete in high school in Madison, Wisconsin, playing basketball, baseball, and football. He continued his sports career at Lawrence University and finished his degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

He started his coaching career back at Madison High School. From 1918 to 1922, he became the athletic director at Knox College (Illinois). There, he coached football, basketball, baseball, and track.

Coaching at the University of Iowa

In 1922, Barry became the basketball coach at the University of Iowa. He also worked as an assistant football coach under Howard Jones. This partnership with Jones lasted for 15 years at two different universities. Barry also coached the baseball team in 1923 and 1924.

His Iowa basketball teams won or shared the Big Ten Conference championships in 1923 and 1926. These were the first conference titles for the team! In 1929, he even wrote a book about basketball called "Basketball: Individual Play and Team Play." He also helped the football team have a perfect 7–0 season in 1922, sharing the Big Ten title.

Moving to USC

In 1929, the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles needed a new basketball coach. Howard Jones, who was already at USC, suggested Sam Barry for the job. Barry moved west and took over the USC basketball and baseball teams. He also continued as an assistant football coach for Jones.

Barry's USC basketball teams won Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) titles in 1930, 1935, and 1940. They also won eight southern division titles between 1930 and 1940. His baseball teams won many PCC crowns too, from 1930 to 1949.

In 1940, the USC basketball team was considered one of the best in the country. They played in the new NCAA tournament. They lost a very close game in the national semifinal to Kansas by just one point. Even with the loss, the Helms Athletic Foundation later named USC the 1940 national champions.

Barry was also a key part of the USC football teams that won national championships in 1931, 1932, and 1939. They also won seven PCC titles and five Rose Bowl games. He was Jones's main assistant from 1929 to 1940. He was also the team's chief scout and coached the "scout team." Barry was often praised for creating the strategies that helped USC stop their opponents. His role was similar to what we call a defensive coordinator today.

Sam Barry in the 1940s

After Howard Jones passed away suddenly in July 1941, Sam Barry was the natural choice to become the head coach of the football team. This meant he was the head coach for all three major sports at the same time!

His 1941 USC football team had a tough year, finishing with a losing record. The team was sad about losing Jones, and Barry also faced a schedule where most opponents were coached by future Hall of Famers. Injuries and illnesses also made it hard, sometimes leaving the team with only 28 players. Despite these challenges, the team improved and gained popularity. The USC–Stanford game in 1941 had the largest crowd in the nation that year. The team also pulled off some upsets, like beating Oregon State, who went to the Rose Bowl. They almost beat fourth-ranked Notre Dame, losing by only two points.

World War II Service

In 1942, Barry, who was 49, joined the United States Navy to serve during World War II. He suggested other coaches take over his duties at USC during the war. As a lieutenant commander, Barry was in charge of physical and military training for Navy personnel in the South Pacific. He later received an award for his service.

Rod Dedeaux and Barry, around 1950

After leaving the Navy in 1945, Barry returned to USC. He continued coaching the basketball and baseball teams and became a football assistant again. He worked to make the basketball program strong once more. He found his biggest success in baseball. At the 1948 College World Series, the Trojans won their first title! They beat a Yale team led by future President George H. W. Bush. The finals were held in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and USC won the deciding game 9–2. The Trojans almost won again in 1949 but lost two extra-inning games to Wake Forest.

As the years went on, the stress of his many responsibilities began to affect Barry's health. Even with medical warnings, he only agreed to stop coaching the football scout team. He continued as head coach of two sports and as a chief scout and sideline assistant in football. He passed away in 1950 while scouting a USC opponent. He had a heart attack while walking to a football game in Berkeley, California, and died before reaching the hospital.

At USC's next home football game, the students honored Barry during halftime. They formed a giant "SC" on the field. When the stadium lights were turned off, they lit matches for a minute of silence to remember their coach. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Sam Barry's Lasting Impact

Sam Barry's 18 seasons as a USC assistant football coach are among the longest in the program's history. His death happened just as USC basketball was becoming successful again.

Sam Barry's players learned a lot from his leadership. Four of his basketball players became "first-team All-Americans," which is a huge honor. Barry is one of only 12 coaches to have guided so many players to this achievement. Many of his players went on to become successful coaches themselves, like Bill Sharman, Alex Hannum, Tex Winter, and Rod Dedeaux. Even Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson started his career as a batboy for USC in the 1940s. In total, 14 of Barry's baseball players went on to play in the major leagues.

Barry was also known for his new ideas in sports. He was a big reason why the center jump after every free throw and basket was removed in basketball. This change made the game much faster! He also helped create the center line and the 10-second rule. He even invented the triangle offense, which his student Tex Winter later made famous with the NBA champion Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers teams. Barry also supported the "delayed offense" (or "stalling") in college basketball before the shot clock was introduced in 1985.

Barry was a respected figure in basketball from his early days. He served on many important NCAA committees. He was a main force in creating national playoffs like the NCAA basketball tournament and the College World Series. His teams were very popular. His 1939–40 basketball team drew a record crowd when they played at Madison Square Garden.

His coaching achievements are still impressive today. His 40-game winning streak in basketball against UCLA, from 1932 to 1942 and continued in 1946, is the longest winning streak by any coach against a single opponent in college basketball history! Only two other coaches have also led teams to both the Final Four and the College World Series. In 1966, he was one of the first people inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 1978, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor in 2012.

What People Said About Sam Barry

Many people admired Sam Barry. Here are some things they said:

• "His successes as a basketball, baseball and football coach would fill several books... when Sam died suddenly ... he left not one enemy along the trail of his phenomenal career." – Paul Zimmerman, Los Angeles Times, 1950
• "I feel that the Pacific Coast Conference has lost one of its finest coaches and I feel a great personal loss. He was one of the scrappiest coaches during a game and one of the nicest persons I've ever known after the game." – John Wooden
• "Sam was a man who loved his fellow men, loved life, loved living. He leaves a big hole, not only in the Trojan family, not only on the West Coast, but on the entire national scene." – Dick Hyland, Los Angeles Times, 1950
• "For 34 of his 57 years the genial coach... had engaged in one of athletics' most successful careers. ... Barry is the man most responsible for basketball as it is played today, a game that leads the nation in attendance." – Jack Geyer, Los Angeles Times, 1950

Records and Accomplishments

Here are some of Sam Barry's amazing records:

Longest Winning Streaks by a Coach Against One Opponent (College Basketball)

• 40 games – Sam Barry (USC) vs. UCLA, 1932–1942 and 1946
• 38 games – Lute Olson (Arizona) vs Washington State, 1986–2004
• 37 games – Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) vs. Mississippi, 1933–1972

Coaches Who Guided 4 or More Players to All-American Honors (Men's Basketball)

• Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) – 10 players
• Dean Smith (North Carolina) – 9 players
• John Wooden (UCLA) – 8 players
• Sam Barry (USC) – 4 players

Coaches Who Led Teams to Both the Final Four and the College World Series

• Sam Barry (USC) – Final Four in 1940; College World Series in 1948 and 1949
• Everett Dean (Stanford) – Final Four in 1942; College World Series in 1953
• Frank McGuire (St. John's, North Carolina) – Final Four in 1952 and 1957; College World Series in 1949

Images for kids

• 

  Rod Dedeaux and Barry, around 1950

Head Coaching Records

Basketball

Football

See also

In Spanish: Sam Barry para niños

• List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach