John Frederick Bohler (April 14, 1885 – July 12, 1960) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head

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 at the State College of Washington in Pullman, now

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

, from 1908 to 1926, compiling a record of 226–177. Bohler's 1916–17 team finished the season with a 25–1 record, and was retroactively named the national champion by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

and the

Premo-Porretta Power Poll The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons. The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...

. Bohler was also the head

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach at Washington State from 1916 to 1920, tallying a mark of 47–27–1. The

Bohler Gymnasium Bohler Gymnasium is a 3,000 seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Opened in 1928 and located directly northwest of Rogers Field (now the site of Martin Stadium), it was home to the Co ...

, opened on the WSC campus in 1928, was named for him in 1946. He was the older brother of

George Bohler George Mohn "Doc" Bohler (February 8, 1887 – December 10, 1968) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi College (1925–1927), Auburn University (1928–1929), and Louisiana ...

and

Roy Bohler Roy Bohler was a college athletics coach and athletic director. He also had a standout college basketball career as a player, earning All-American status in 1916. While playing for Washington State, Bohler – a 5'11" center Center or centre may ...

, also college coaches. Bohler served on the city council in Pullman and was its mayor from 1948 to 1951. In 1950, he became the manager of the new Memorial Stadium in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, which was renamed

Joe Albi Stadium Joe Albi Stadium is a former outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, located in Spokane, Washington. In the northwest part of the city, just east of the Spokane River, it was primarily used for high school football, and as a secon ...

in 1962. Bohler died in Pullman at age 75, and is buried at its city cemetery.

References

External links

Fred Bohler
at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

– John Frederick Bohler Papers * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohler, Fred 1885 births 1960 deaths Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Mayors of places in Washington (state) Sportspeople from Reading, Pennsylvania Washington State Cougars athletic directors Washington State Cougars baseball coaches Washington State Cougars men's basketball coaches