Bobby Paschal (born October 22, 1941) is a retired

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

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, ...

team from 1986 to 1996, as well as the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns from 1978 to 1986. A native of

Enterprise, Alabama Enterprise is a city in the southeastern part of Coffee County and the southwestern part of Dale County in Southeastern Alabama, United States. Its population was 28,711 at the 2020 census. Enterprise is the primary city of the Enterprise micr ...

, Paschal played college basketball at

Chipola College Chipola College is a public college in Marianna, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. History The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed several bachelor's ...

and

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

in Florida. Following the close of his college career, he coached at the high school level at Ashford High School in Alabama and then

Plant High School H.B. Plant High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of South Tampa in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1927 between South Himes Avenue on the east and Dale Mabry Highway on the west. The school is named in honor ...

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

. He then spent a year as an assistant at Livingston College (now the

University of West Alabama The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston F ...

) while obtaining a master's degree before moving to

Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

. He moved to Southwestern Louisiana in 1974 and was elevated to head coach with the departure of

Jim Hatfield Jim Hatfield (born December 28, 1943) is an American former college basketball coach. He was head coach of the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Hardin–Simmons Cowboys. Hatfield played at East Tennessee ...

. Over his career, Bobby Paschal was head coach of two NCAA Division I programs. He had a career won/loss record of 280-244 which included four NCAA tournament appearances and six NIT tournament appearances. One Bobby Paschal coached team reached the NIT final four. Another made an NIT elite eight appearance. In Paschal's eight years with the Ragin' Cajuns, his team's 153 wins rank fourth in the number of wins for the program. His teams ranked second in Ragin' Cajun history in winning percentage at .643 (153-85). His 1981-82 and 1982-83 teams competed in the NCAA tournament. Four of his teams competed in the NIT tournament (1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1984–85) with the 1983-84 team reaching the tournament's final four. In addition to the 1983-84 team, his 1979-80 and 1984-85 teams reached the second round of the NIT. Paschal's overall coaching record at South Florida was 127-159 which included one conference tournament championship, two NCAA tournament appearances, and two NIT tournament appearances. Bobby Paschal's ten years at South Florida saw the Bulls compete in three conferences. As members of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

from the 1986-87 season to the 1990–91 season, the Bulls competed in the program's first NCAA tournament, the

1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I men's college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championsh ...

, after winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship. The following year, South Florida's last season in the Sun Belt, the Bulls returned to post season play competing in the 1991 National Invitation Tournament. The following year, as a new member of the

Metro Conference The Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all in urban metropolitan areas, though its later members did n ...

, the Paschal coached Bulls received an at large bid to the

1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the champions ...

. At the end of the 1994-95 season, the Bulls's last season as a Metro Conference member, the Bobby Paschal coached team returned to the NIT advancing to the tournament's second round. The next season saw a new conference as well as a new conference for the Bulls following the merger of the Metro Conference and the

Great Midwest Conference The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995. History It was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Bel ...

. That season also marked the final season for Bobby Paschal as a head coach. He remained at the university an additional eight years. In 2013, Bobby Paschal was named to the South Florida Bulls Hall of Fame.

References

1941 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Alabama Basketball players from Alabama Chipola Indians men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Florida Southern Moccasins men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Alabama High school basketball coaches in Florida Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball coaches People from Enterprise, Alabama South Florida Bulls men's basketball coaches Stetson Hatters men's basketball players West Alabama Tigers men's basketball coaches {{US-basketball-coach-stub