Bobby Lutz (born April 4, 1958) is an American basketball coach. He is currently an Associate AD for the
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment.
...
Rebels men's basketball team. From 2016 to 2017, he was an assistant coach of the
Windy City Bulls
The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...
of the
NBA Development League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
. He previously was an associate head coach at
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...
Wolfpack men's basketball team after being an assistant coach there. Lutz was also head coach of the
Charlotte 49ers basketball team from 1998 to 2010.
Early career
Lutz graduated from
Bandys High School
Bandys High School ( ) is a public, coeducational high school located in Catawba, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Catawba County Schools district.
Athletics
Bandys is classified as a 2A school by the North Carolina High School ...
in
Catawba, North Carolina
Catawba is a town in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 603 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. As with the county, the name recalls the Catawba p ...
in 1976 and from the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...
in 1980 with a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in Psychology and Economics. He taught social studies and coached basketball at several high schools in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. In 1984 he received a job as a graduate assistant coach for the men's basketball team at
Clemson University
Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...
. Prior to the 1986–87 season he was named head coach at
Pfeiffer College in
Misenheimer, North Carolina. He led the Falcons to a 181–91 record in his nine years as their coach, including one berth in the
NAIA championship game.
Charlotte
In 1995 Lutz was named the head coach at
Gardner–Webb University
Gardner–Webb University (Gardner–Webb, GWU, or GW) is a private Baptist university in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). It was founded as Boili ...
, but resigned two weeks after accepting the job in order to become an assistant coach at his alma mater under head coach
Jeff Mullins. He served as an assistant under Mullins (1995–96) and his successor,
Melvin Watkins
Melvin Lenzo Watkins (born November 15, 1954) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has also been the associate head coach at the University of Missouri. He served as interim head coach during the end of the 2006 season, but ...
(1996–98). When Watkins accepted the head coaching job at
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
, Lutz was promoted and became the eighth head coach of the Charlotte 49ers on April 9, 1998.
The 49ers enjoyed consistent success during Lutz's tenure, reaching the
NCAA tournament five times (
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
,
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
), plus three appearances in the
NIT (2000, 2006 and 2008). In 2005 Lutz was a finalist for the
Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.
On February 23, 2008, Charlotte won at home over
Saint Louis 81–64, giving Lutz 183 wins at Charlotte and the all-time mark for wins by a 49ers coach, passing Mullins' 182 wins accumulated between 1985 and 1996.
Lutz' 49ers were expected to contend for their first NCAA Tournament berth as an
Atlantic 10
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...
member in 2009-10. With eight games to go in the season, they had a record of 18-5 and seemed well on their way to a bid. However, they went 1-7 the rest of the way. They bottomed out in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament against
UMass when they came out of a timeout with six men on the court. The resulting technical foul derailed a last-ditch rally, and they lost the game. After not even receiving an NIT bid, Lutz was fired on March 15, 2010. He compiled a 218–158 record at UNC Charlotte,
[Bobby Lutz hire gives Iowa State experience on bench - ESPN]
/ref> and is the school's winningest men's basketball coach. He then spent a season as an assistant coach with the Iowa State Cyclones
The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's an ...
under head coach Fred Hoiberg
Fredrick Kristian Hoiberg (born October 15, 1972) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has served as the men's head basketball coach at the University of Nebraska since 2019. Hoiberg grew up in Ames, Iowa, and played coll ...
.[
]
D-League
On September 30, 2016, Lutz was appointed an assistant coach of the Windy City Bulls
The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...
, a new NBA Development League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
franchise, under head coach Nate Loenser.
Lutz helped Coach this team to a 23-27 record. This was good for 7th in the Eastern Conference, but only the top four teams get into the playoffs. At the conclusion of the 2016-17 season, Windy City Bulls head coach Nate Loenser switched jobs with Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...
assistant coach Charlie Henry and Lutz was not a part of Henry's 2017-18 staff.
Head coaching record
Personal
Lutz has a wife and two daughters.[
]
References
External links
Bobby Lutz Profile - NC State University Official Athletic Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutz, Bobby
1958 births
Living people
American men's basketball coaches
Basketball coaches from North Carolina
Charlotte 49ers men's basketball coaches
Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
High school basketball coaches in the United States
Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball coaches
NC State Wolfpack men's basketball coaches
People from Hickory, North Carolina
Pfeiffer Falcons men's basketball coaches
University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni
Windy City Bulls coaches