James Austin Killingsworth (June 19, 1923 – June 10, 2007) 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. He was best known for his tenures at

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

and

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU). Born in

Checotah, Oklahoma Checotah is a town in McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named for Samuel Checote, the first chief of the Creek Nation elected after the American Civil War, Civil War. Its population was 3,481 at the United States Census, 2000, 2000 ...

, Killingsworth played college basketball at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah and began his coaching career in 1948 at the high school level in Oklahoma. After many years of success, he left for the college ranks to coach the freshman team at

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, then took a head coaching job at

Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions. History The college was founded in 1955. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a local r ...

in southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1964. In seven seasons at Cerritos, Killingsworth compiled a record and led the Falcons to the 1968 California junior college championship. In March 1971, he was hired as head coach at

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

, succeeding Dan Miller. In his six seasons in

Pocatello Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the ...

, Killingsworth led the Bengals to a record, including three Big Sky regular-season titles and the second

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

title in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. The season was his last at ISU and was capped off by a run to the

Elite Eight In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...

of the NCAA tournament, following a one-point upset of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the Sweet Sixteen in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

, behind the play of center The Bengals led by a point at the half against

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

, but lost by seventeen and ended the year at Following his successful run at Idaho State, Killingsworth was hired as head coach at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

after

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

Jack Hartman Jack Hartman (October 7, 1925 – November 6, 1998) was an American gridiron football player and basketball coach. Hartman played basketball and football collegiately at Oklahoma State University with his basketball tutelage under famed coach ...

took the job and resigned two days After two losing seasons, the first in his career at any level, he left the Cowboys to take the head coaching job at TCU in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

Nicknamed "Killer" during his time at

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, Killingsworth raised the profile of a school that had experienced limited basketball success in recent seasons. In eight seasons, he led his team to a record, and in he led the team to a record, an SWC title, and the team's first NCAA tournament appearance in 16 years. Following that season, Killingsworth retired after 38 years Killingsworth died in

in 2007 at

Head coaching record

* 1974 team won an unscheduled playoff game for the NCAA berth

References

External links

Sports Reference
– Jim Killingsworth {{DEFAULTSORT:Killingsworth, Jim 1923 births 2007 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States Idaho State Bengals men's basketball coaches Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Northeastern State RiverHawks men's basketball players Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball coaches People from Checotah, Oklahoma TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball coaches University of Oklahoma alumni Guards (basketball)