American college men's basketball coach
Edgar Allen Diddle
(March 12, 1895 ? January 2, 1970) was an American
college
men's
basketball
coach. He is known for coaching at
Western Kentucky University
in
Bowling Green, Kentucky
from 1922 to 1964. Diddle became the first coach in history to coach 1,000 games at one school. Diddle was known as one of the early pioneers of the fast break and for waving a red towel around along the sidelines. During games he would wave, toss, and chew on this towel, and even cover his face in times of disappointment. His red towel is now part of WKU's official athletic logo. Diddle experienced only five losing seasons in 42 years.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
He was born near
Gradyville, Kentucky
.
[2]
Diddle played basketball and football for
Centre College
and was a member of their 1919 undefeated basketball team and
1919 undefeated football team
.
[3]
He was a
halfback
on the football team.
[4]
After college, he coached basketball at
Monticello
High School, where he guided the team to the Kentucky State Tournament semi-finals, and then Greenville High School, which played in a regional tournament at Bowling Green. During the tournament, he came to the attention of officials at Western Kentucky who offered him the coaching position at the college.
[5]
Career at Western Kentucky
[
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]
He became
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
coach in 1922. Diddle's Western Kentucky teams claimed 32 conference championships; played in 13 national postseason tournaments (an impressive total considering that there was no national tournament for the first 15 years of his tenure); won 20+ games eighteen different times (including 10 consecutive); became the first team from the South to participate in the Olympic Trials; the first Kentucky team to play in the
NCAA tournament
and
National Invitation Tournament
; and were nationally ranked numerous times. In 1942 he led the Hilltoppers to the
national championship game
. His 1948 team finished
3rd nationally
and the 1954 team finished
4th
. Diddle's teams led the
NCAA
in victories six seasons and had the highest winning percentage in 1948.
[6]
When he retired in 1964, he had won a then record 759 games.
While Diddle was best known for coaching men's basketball, he also coached
football
(1922?1928),
baseball
(1923?1957) and
women's basketball
at Western.
Legacy
[
edit
]
An image of E.A. Diddle Arena.
Diddle was responsible for breaking a color barrier at the college when he recruited the first African American basketball players,
Clem Haskins
and Dwight Smith, in the early 1960s.
[7]
E. A. Diddle Arena
, the basketball venue at WKU, built in 1963, is named for him. For the last six years of his life, Diddle was a fixture at the arena, even leading cheers. During a 1968 game against
Dayton
, he jumped on top of a press table to lead the students in cheers. When a Dayton sportswriter told him to get down, Diddle snapped, "What do you mean I can't get on top of this table? This is
my
damn gym!".
[8]
Hall of Fame
[
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]
Coach Diddle has been inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame,
[9]
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
,
[10]
the Western Kentucky University Athletic Hall of Fame,
[11]
the Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame,
[12]
and
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
.
[13]
Head coaching record
[
edit
]
Men's basketball
[
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]
[14]
Lead the NCAA in wins 1933?34, 1934?35, 1935?36, 1937?38, and 1941?42 seasons
[15]
Baseball
[
edit
]
[16]
[17]
Women's basketball
[
edit
]
[18]
Statistics overview
Season
|
Team
|
Overall
|
Conference
|
Standing
|
Postseason
|
Western Kentucky State Normal
(Independent)
(1922?1924)
|
1922?23
|
Western Kentucky State Normal
|
5?3
|
|
State Champions
|
|
1923?24
|
Western Kentucky State Normal
|
6?3
|
|
|
|
Western Kentucky State Normal:
|
11?6
|
|
|
Total:
|
11?6
|
|
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
|
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Harrison, Lowell (1987).
Western Kentucky University
. University Press of Kentucky.
ISBN
978-0813116204
.
- ^
Holl, R.E. (2015).
Committed to Victory: The Kentucky Home Front During World War II
. Topics in Kentucky History. University Press of Kentucky. p. pt270.
ISBN
978-0-8131-6564-6
. Retrieved
September 22,
2018
.
- ^
"Edgar Allen Diddle"
.
Western Kentucky University Alumni
. Retrieved
October 6,
2014
.
- ^
Frank G. Weaver (1919).
"Come On, You Praying Kentucians"
.
Association Men
.
45
: 416.
- ^
Ruby, Earl (1979).
Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University
. American National Bank and Trust Co.
- ^
"E.A. Diddle"
.
E.A. Diddle College Record
. Retrieved
October 6,
2018
.
- ^
Haskins, Chapman reflect on special WKU squads from 1965?66, '66?67, By ZACH GREENWELL The Bowling Green Daily News Feb 20, 2016, retrieved 2 July 2020
- ^
"The Story of Legendary WKU Basketball Coach E.A. Diddle"
.
Western Kentucky University
. Retrieved
March 5,
2014
.
- ^
"E A Diddle"
.
Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
October 1,
2018
.
- ^
"Edgar A. Diddle"
.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
October 1,
2018
.
- ^
"Edgar Diddle"
.
Western Kentucky University Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
October 1,
2018
.
- ^
"Ed Diddle"
.
Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
October 1,
2018
.
- ^
"Edgar Diddle"
.
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
October 1,
2018
.
- ^
2019?2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
- ^
"E.A. Diddle"
.
E.A. Diddle College Record
. Retrieved
October 6,
2018
.
- ^
"2020 WKU Baseball Media Guide"
(PDF)
.
Western Kentucky University Athletics
. Retrieved
July 2,
2020
.
- ^
"2019 WKU Football Media Guide"
(PDF)
.
Western Kentucky University Athletics
. Retrieved
March 31,
2020
.
- ^
"2019?20 WKU Women's Basketball Media Guide"
(PDF)
.
Western Kentucky University Athletics
. Retrieved
July 2,
2020
.
External links
[
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]
Links to related articles
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*selected national champion by Sagarin
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