Gene Sullivan (April 21, 1931 – February 21, 2002) was an American basketball coach and collegiate athletic director. Sullivan grew up on the Northwest Side of Chicago and attended the University of Notre Dame. After serving with the United States Army in the Korean War, he became a boys' basketball coach at

Loyola Academy Loyola Academy is a private, Catholic, co-educational college preparatory high school run by the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, and in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago ...

in Wilmette, Illinois, and guided them to three

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some o ...

titles between 1957 and 1967. In 1967, he became an assistant coach to Johnny Dee at the University of Notre Dame, and hoped to succeed Dee as head coach. When Dee retired in 1971, however, the school hired

Digger Phelps Richard Frederick "Digger" Phelps (born July 4, 1941) is an American former college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1971 to 1991. For 20 years, from 1993 to 2014, he served as an analyst on ESPN. He got the n ...

as head coach, and a disappointed Sullivan spent the next few years writing a basketball book and running a limousine company.Bill Jauss. "Gene Sullivan 1931-2002". ''Chicago Tribune''. February 22, 2002. Sports, 1. From 1975 to 1978, Sullivan worked as DePaul University's athletic director. He then became athletic director at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

, and took over as men's basketball coach in 1980. In 1985, his Loyola Ramblers, led by Alfredrick Hughes, reached the Sweet Sixteen of the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

, where they lost to Georgetown University–their deepest NCAA Tournament run in 31 years. Sullivan left Loyola in 1989 with a 149-114 career record. Sullivan spent the next few years as head of recreational programs for the Chicago Park District. He later worked as director of an anti-gang youth program with the Cook County State's Attorney's office and as a radio analyst for DePaul basketball radio broadcasts. He died of a staph infection at age 70 in February 2002. Loyola returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 for the first time since Sullivan's team made its 1985 appearance. The school honored the team in 2009.

Head Coaching Record

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Gene 1931 births 2002 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Illinois DePaul Blue Demons athletic directors High school basketball coaches in the United States Loyola Ramblers athletic directors Loyola Ramblers men's basketball coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Chicago University of Notre Dame alumni