Frederick Appleton Schaus (June 30, 1925 – February 10, 2010) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player, head coach and athletic director for the West Virginia University Mountaineers, player for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and New York Knicks, general manager and head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, head coach of

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

basketball, and a member of the NCAA Basketball Committee. He was born in

Newark, Ohio Newark ( ) is a city serving as the county seat of Licking County, Ohio, United States, east of Columbus, at the junction of the forks of the Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 census, which makes it the 15th largest city in O ...

College career

Schaus played basketball at

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, where he earned the record of first to score 1,000 career points (1,009). He was also selected to the All-American team in 1949.

Pro career

Schaus left West Virginia to join the

in the 1949–1950 season. He scored 14.3 points a game and a year later scored a career-best 15.3 points a game. He was selected to play in the first NBA All-Star Game and scored eight points for the West. However, he only averaged 14.1 points per game in 1952, and then in 1953 it dropped to 10.1 points per game. He was traded to the New York Knicks halfway through the 1954 season and ended his NBA career that season with 7.1 points per game average.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

College coaching career

West Virginia

After his retirement from the NBA, Schaus returned to his alma mater to coach the Mountaineers. In his first season, he led the Mountaineers to a 19–11 mark and an NCAA tournament appearance. In the next five seasons, he posted an amazing 127–26 (.831) record, which included five consecutive NCAA tournament berths. He led WVU to the NCAA finals in 1959, but lost to

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Univer ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

team, 71–70.

Purdue

After leaving NBA coaching and management in 1972, he returned to the college ranks to coach at

, taking over for

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (18 ...

. He held a 104–60 overall record as the Boilermaker's head coach, while leading them to the 1974 NIT Championship and a berth in the 1977 NCAA tournament. He then owned the distinction of being the only coach to reach the NIT finals, NCAA finals, and the NBA Finals. At Purdue, Schaus was the successor to George King, who was Schaus' successor at West Virginia. After 1981, Schaus returned to WVU to serve as the athletic director.

Professional coaching/management career

Los Angeles Lakers

After the 1960 season, he left college coaching for the Los Angeles Lakers and reunited with his former WVU star,

Jerry West Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability ...

. Schaus guided the Lakers to seven consecutive playoff appearances, including 4 Western Conference Championships in 5 years (

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, 1965 and 1966) then in 1967 he moved to the front office to become the Lakers GM. He rebuilt the Lakers, eventually winning the 1972 NBA title.

Head coaching record

College

Professional

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Personal life

He is the father of

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

Commissioner and former

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

and

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

Jim Schaus. Schaus died in Morgantown, West Virginia, on February 10, 2010. He was 84.Fred Schaus, Coach of Lakers in First Los Angeles Years, Dies at 84
''The New York Times''. February 13, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaus, Fred 1925 births 2010 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people of German descent Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Fort Wayne Pistons draft picks Fort Wayne Pistons players Los Angeles Lakers head coaches Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association executives New York Knicks players Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball coaches Small forwards Sportspeople from Newark, Ohio West Virginia Mountaineers athletic directors West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball coaches West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players