Henry
Iba
Three-time Olympic coach (1964, 1968, 1972) Tokyo 1964, gold (basketball) Mexico City 1972, gold (basketball) Munich 1972, silver (basketball)
Athlete Bio#
Age
Died (Aged 88)
1904-1993
Hometown
Easton, MS
Education
Easton High School (Easton, Miss.) Westminster College
Quick Facts
- Began his coaching career at age 22 at the high school level
- Coached four years at Maryville Teachers College and one year at the University of Colorado
- Pioneer of the slowdown style of basketball prior to the inclusion of the shot clock, often holding the score of a game below 50 points per team
- Won two national championships as the head coach at Oklahoma State University, compiling a 767-338 college coaching record
- Head coach of three successive Olympic men’s basketball teams
- Named the honorary coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team by head coach Bob Knight and was lifted by the team’s players to their shoulders as part of the team’s gold-medal celebration.
Hall Of Fame Bio #
Henry P. “Hank” Iba is considered one of the best basketball coaches of all time. As a three-time leader of the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team, Iba is the only coach in history to win two Olympic gold medals. He also led Oklahoma State University’s men’s Basketball team for 36 years, where he won back-to-back national championships in 1945 and 1946, as well as 15 conference titles. Born in Easton, Missouri, Iba played baseball, basketball, football and track growing up. He began coaching a high school basketball team, then took over the program at his alma mater, Maryville Teachers College. Iba not only served as basketball coach for OSU, but was also the Baseball coach and athletic director. As the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball head coach, Iba led his teams to gold at the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 and the Mexico City 1968 Games. In his third Games, Iba and the Americans lost to the Soviet team in a highly controversial game where the clock was reset multiple times in the final seconds. The U.S. team refused to accept its silver medals. In 1959, the United States Basketball Writers Association established the annual Henry Iba Award to recognize the country’s best college basketball coach. Iba passed away on Jan. 15, 1993, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, due to heart failure.
