William Oscar Hodges (born March 9, 1943) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He was the head basketball coach at

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

from 1978 to 1982, at

Georgia College and State University Georgia College & State University (Georgia College or GC) is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia. The university enrolls approximately 7,000 students and is a member of the University System of Georgia and the Council ...

from 1986 to 1991 and at

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

from 1991 to 1997.

Career

As an assistant basketball coach at

, he recruited

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

after Bird had dropped out of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. Before the start of the 1978–79 season, Hodges was hired as Head Coach at Indiana State University after head coach Bob King suffered a brain aneurysm. Hodges proceeded to lead Indiana State with

to an undefeated regular season and a second-place finish in the

1979 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9 and ended with the championship game on Ma ...

, losing to

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 ...

and

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

in the NCAA Final. During that year, after a 33-1 record, Hodges won several coach of the year awards, including the

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

's and AP's. The Sycamores were selected as the United Press International Collegiate Champions. His later Indiana State teams would never reach the same heights, leading to his resignation from Indiana State after the 1982 season. Hodges is currently #7 in coaching wins at Indiana State with a record of 67–48 (.583) and #5 in wins at Mercer with a record of 62–107 (.367). His record at Georgia College was 110–53 (.675). His overall collegiate head coaching record is 239–208 (.535). Hodges is a graduate of Purdue University. Moving to live near his daughter, Hodges returned to high school teaching and coaching to keep busy and coach his granddaughter. He coached the boys basketball teams

Roanoke Catholic High School Roanoke Catholic School is a private, Roman Catholic K-12 school in Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in t ...

and North Cross School in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

from 2011 to 2013, where he led North Cross to the VISAA state tournament where they upset Carlisle School in the semifinals and went on to play for the state title, but came up just short. He then coached the girls team at

The Villages Charter High School The Villages Charter High School is a charter school serving the community and surrounding areas of The Villages, Florida. It is part of The Villages Charter Schools. The Villages High School is located at 251 Buffalo Trail The Villages, FL 32162. ...

The Villages, Florida The Villages is a census-designated place (CDP) in central Florida. It is in Sumter and Marion counties, Florida, United States. It shares its name with a broader master-planned age-restricted community that spreads into portions of Lake Count ...

as of the 2016–17 season.

Personal

Hodges also coached golf at

Armstrong Atlantic State University Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong, O ...

before moving to Indiana State. He is a Vietnam-era veteran of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Inducted in 1999, Hodges is a member of the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the 1978–79 men's basketball team. In 2019, Hodges was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame individually.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Bill 1943 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Indiana College golf coaches in the United States Georgia College Bobcats men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Florida High school basketball coaches in Virginia Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball coaches Long Beach State Beach men's basketball coaches People from Zionsville, Indiana Mercer Bears men's basketball coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches

Career

Personal

Head coaching record

See also

References