Robert Stevens (November 11, 1923 – September 29, 2012) was an American basketball

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He was the head men's basketball coach at the University of South Carolina and the University of Oklahoma. From 1959–60 to 1966–67, he posted a combined 80–124 win–loss record at the two schools.

Biography

Raised in Warsaw, Indiana, Stevens attended Sidney High School before going to college at the University of Michigan and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

; he played on the men's basketball team at Michigan State and graduated from the university in 1949. In World War II and the Korean War, Stevens served in the United States Marine Corps. He coached at Indiana's Milford High School before receiving his first collegiate job from Michigan State. Stevens spent three seasons coaching the university's freshman team, and was then promoted to an assistant position on the varsity team. After three seasons in that position, he was hired as head coach at South Carolina in 1959. The Gamecocks were 10–16 in 1959–60, Stevens' first head coaching season. Following 1960–61, a season in which the team had a 9–17 record, South Carolina improved to 15–12 in 1961–62, and Stevens earned the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year award. In April 1962, Stevens left South Carolina to become Oklahoma's men's basketball coach. In the five seasons that he coached the Sooners, the team did not post a winning record. Oklahoma's best record during this time came in Stevens' first season there, 1962–63, when the Sooners went 12–13. Reportedly "under pressure" after the 1966–67 season, Stevens resigned in April 1967. During his career, he was known for employing attacking, fast break offensive tactics. Later in his life, Stevens had a 20-year stint as leader of the Waterford Athletic Club, and was an assistant coach for the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

's Oklahoma City Cavalry. On September 29, 2012, Stevens died in a boating accident.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Bob 1920s births 2012 deaths Accidental deaths in Oklahoma American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Boating accident deaths Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball coaches People from Warsaw, Indiana South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball coaches United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II