Don Corbett (October 5, 1942 – September 12, 2018) 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 for

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

, where he led the program to seven NCAA tournament appearances from 1982 to 1988. Corbett was born in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

and raised in Thomasville. After graduating from Lincoln University in

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...

and obtaining his master's degree from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

, Corbett began his coaching career at Carver High School in Columbus, Georgia. After assistant coaching stints at

South Carolina State South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a me ...

and

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

, he became head coach at

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

in 1971. At

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Lincoln, Corbett led his teams to an eight-year 159–59 record from 1971 to 1979. During that time, the Blue Tigers won three

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, headquartered ...

(MIAA) regular season championships (1972, 1975 and 1977) and one MIAA tournament title (1977). His teams earned five NCAA Division II tournament appearances (1972, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978) and never won fewer than 17 games in a season. Corbett's .729 winning percentage is the highest in program history. In 2014 he was named to the MIAA Hall of Fame. In 1979, Corbett moved to Division I

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

. After an initial rebuilding season where his Aggies went 8–19, Corbett's teams ran off a string of eight consecutive seasons winning either the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

(MEAC) regular season or tournament championship (winning both in five seasons). The Aggies program won seven consecutive MEAC tournament titles between 1982 and 1988, a streak only equaled in Division I history by the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

. Corbett retired in 1993 with a 256–145 record in his thirteen seasons. Corbett was inducted into several basketball halls of fame - including the MEAC Hall of Fame, the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame, the MIAA Hall of Fame and the Lincoln University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2006, North Carolina A&T named the court of the

Corbett Sports Center The Ellis F. Corbett Health, Physical Education and Recreation Center, usually called simply the Corbett Sports Center and popularly referred to as the "Dawg Pound", is a multi-purpose arena in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, on the c ...

after Corbett and fellow Aggie coaching great Cal Irvin. Corbett died of cancer on September 12, 2018.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Coaching record @ sports-reference.com
1942 births 2018 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) Lincoln Blue Tigers men's basketball coaches Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni North Carolina A&T Aggies men's basketball coaches South Carolina State Bulldogs basketball coaches Sportspeople from Thomasville, Georgia Tennessee State Tigers basketball coaches University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni {{US-basketball-coach-stub