Benny Dees (December 29, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He was head coach of the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

Privateers team from 1985 to 1987, the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

team from 1987 to 1993 and

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

from 1993 to 1995. Additionally, Dees served as assistant coach at Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Western Kentucky. In 1987, he led the University of New Orleans to their first NCAA Championship tournament, where they defeated

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

in the first round 83–79. While attending college at the University of Wyoming, Dees lettered in basketball and baseball. He began his coaching career as head coach of

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) is a public college in Tifton, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and offers baccalaureate and associate degrees. The college is named after Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the Uni ...

from 1962 to 1967. Dees subsequently became the first coach of VCU. Upon retirement, Dees returned to his native

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, where he coached high school basketball. He retired as head coach of the

Toombs County High School Toombs County High School is a public high school located in Lyons, Georgia, United States. The school is part of the Toombs County School District, which serves Toombs County, Georgia. Athletics Toombs County High School's sports teams are kno ...

boys' basketball team in 2010. Dees was married to Nancy Dees, who coached women's basketball at the

University of West Georgia The University of West Georgia is a public university in Carrollton, Georgia. The university offers a satellite campus in Newnan, Georgia, select classes at its Douglasville Center, and off-campus Museum Studies classes at the Atlanta History Ce ...

. Benny and Nancy Dees have one son, Josh Dees, who played basketball for the

and

and now serves as assistant coach at the

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Until the foundation of the College of Western Idaho in 2007, CSI was one of only two ...

. Dees died on March 23, 2021, at the age of 86.

Head coaching record

College

References