John Danza Plant (November 19, 1877 – February 19, 1954)John Plant
Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Accessed July 21, 2019. "John Danza Plant Born: Nov 19, 1877 Died: Feb 19, 1954 Hometown: Trenton, NJ" was an athletic coach at

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

from 1926 to 1947. He was the head basketball coach there from 1926 to 1932, compiling a record of 54–49. Plant was originally from

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, Staffordshire, England. As a child, he served as a laborer in the pottery mills of

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Peddie School The Peddie School is a college preparatory school in Hightstown, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is a non-denominational, coeducational boarding school located on a campus, and serves students in the ninth through twelfth gr ...

, a prep school then affiliated with the Northern Baptist Convention, located in Hightstown, New Jersey starting in the early years of the 20th century and at some point began coaching there. His basketball teams won six New Jersey Prep School Championships and he was a successful football coach. Among his players were John J. McCloy, Peddie Class of 1912, who served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II and as United States High Commissioner for Germany and George Murphy, Class of 1920, later a Hollywood actor and Senator from California. McCloy credited Plant with the phrase "run with the swift" and with an approach to life that those words embodied and which McCloy made his own. (Evan Thomas The Wise Men) Too old to volunteer for the First World War, Plant joined the YMCA and ran athletic competitions for American Doughboys stationed in France. Plant came to

in 1926, coaching basketball (1926–1932), track and field (1926–1947), and boxing (co-coach, 1928–1930). He also was the director of physical education, and was involved in the creation of the school's intramural program. The intramural program stressed "participation for all" and was emulated by other schools. Plant retired in 1947 and was given the honor of "The Grand Old Man of Bucknell Athletics". He was entered into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982.

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* 1877 births 1954 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players British emigrants to the United States Basketball coaches from New Jersey Basketball players from Trenton, New Jersey Bucknell Bison athletic directors Bucknell Bison men's basketball coaches Bucknell University faculty College boxing coaches in the United States College track and field coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in New Jersey High school football coaches in New Jersey Peddie School alumni Players of American football from Trenton, New Jersey Sportspeople from Stoke-on-Trent {{US-basketball-coach-stub