Harry Aldrich Rabenhorst (April 30, 1898 – March 24, 1972) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player, coach of football,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

, and college athletics administrator. A native of

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, he served as the head basketball coach at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU) from 1925 to 1942 and again from 1945 to 1957. Rabenhorst was also the head baseball coach at LSU from 1927 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1946 as well as the school's

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 and ...

from 1967 to 1968. His 1935 LSU basketball team won a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

and his 1953 squad reached the Final Four. Rabenhorst played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Wake Forest as a fullback from 1917 to 1920, captaining the team for three seasons. Rabenhorst holds the record for longest punt in football history. On Thanksgiving Day 1919, against North Carolina State, Rabenhorst got off a world record 115-yard punt that sailed 85 yards in the air. Rabenhorst is credited as Wake Forest's head coach of record for the 1918 and 1919 seasons. In 1925, Rabenhorst began a very long and successful career at LSU as the head coach of the men's basketball team. Two years later, in 1927, he also became the head baseball coach. Along with his successes in basketball, he also won two SEC baseball titles (1939 and 1946). As a reward for his team's success on the baseball diamond, Rabenhorst was named SEC Coach of the Year in 1939 and 1946,SEC Coach of the Year
as well. Rabenhorst stepped down as baseball and basketball coach in 1942 when he left to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Upon his return, he again coached the baseball team from 1946 until 1956 and the basketball team from 1946 to 1957. He finished his baseball coaching career with a record of 220–226–3.

Accolades

Rabenhorst is a member of the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

Baseball

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rabenhorst, Harry 1898 births 1972 deaths American football fullbacks Baseball coaches from Louisiana Basketball coaches from Louisiana College men's basketball head coaches in the United States LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers athletic directors LSU Tigers baseball coaches LSU Tigers basketball coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Sportspeople from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana LSU Tigers football coaches Coaches of American football from Louisiana