Leslie Leonard Wothke (November 30, 1938 – November 16, 2022) was an American
college basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach for the
Winona State University,
Western Michigan University and
United States Military Academy (Army) programs.
Wothke played at Greenville College in Illinois (now
Greenville University), graduating in 1961. After beginning his coaching career at the high school level, he became head coach at
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program
Winona State
Winona State University (Winona) is a public university in Winona, Minnesota. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the first n ...
in 1970. In his first tenure for the Warriors, he led the team to four consecutive
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) regular season titles from 1972 to 1975.
[ ]
His success caught the attention of new
Illinois head coach
Lou Henson
Louis Ray Henson (January 10, 1932 – July 25, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. He retired as the all-time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Overall, Henso ...
, who offered Wothke an assistant coaching role for the
NCAA Division I Fighting Illini. After four years under Henson, Wothke was given his first Division I head coaching role at
Western Michigan. He spent three seasons at WMU, compiling a 42–41 record and winning a
Mid-American Conference regular season championship in the
1980–81 season.
In 1982, Army athletic director
Carl F. Ullrich
Carl Farnum Ullrich (born June 23, 1928 - May 9, 2023) was a former American college rowing coach and athletics administrator who served as the first civilian athletic director at the United States Military Academy, from 1980 to 1990.
Early life ...
(who had hired Wothke when at WMU) offered him the West Point head coaching position. In eight seasons at Army, Wothke compiled a 92–135 record and in the
1984–85 season was named the
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. He resigned in 1990.
Wothke returned to Winona State in 1992, coaching the Warriors for a second tenure. He coached the team for six seasons. His overall record at Winona State was 183–110 in eleven seasons.
[
Wothke died at age 83 on November 16, 2022, at his home in Olathe, Kansas.]
References
External links
Head coaching record @ sports-reference.comNSIC Hall of Fame profileWinona State Athletics Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wothke, Les
1938 births
2022 deaths
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Army Black Knights men's basketball coaches
Basketball coaches from Indiana
Basketball players from Indiana
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
Eastern Illinois University alumni
Greenville Panthers men's basketball players
High school basketball coaches in Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball coaches
People from LaPorte County, Indiana
Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball coaches
Winona State Warriors men's basketball coaches