Paul M. Lambert Jr. (August 15, 1934 – June 6, 1978) 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. Lambert played basketball at

William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri Baptist Conventi ...

Liberty, Missouri Liberty is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Missouri, United States and is a suburb of Kansas City, located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 30,167. Liberty is home to Willi ...

. After graduation, he coached high school basketball in

Moberly, Missouri Moberly is a city in Randolph County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,974 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri metropolitan area. History Moberly was founded in 1866, and named after Colonel William E. Moberly ...

and

Boone, Iowa Boone ( ) is a city in Des Moines Township, Boone County, Iowa, Des Moines Township, and county seat of Boone County, Iowa, Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encom ...

, then obtained a job as an assistant and freshman coach (and head baseball coach) at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

. He got his first college head coaching position at Pittsburg State, where his teams went 44–29 in three seasons. From there, he followed

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 ...

at Hardin–Simmons, compiling a four-year record of 57–47. He then moved to

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

(SIU), where he led the team to an eight-year record of 126–84. His tenure was punctuated by leading the Salukis to their first Division I NCAA tournament appearance and win, behind star

Mike Glenn Michael Theodore "Stinger" Glenn (born September 10, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player. College career Moving on to Southern Illinois University, Glenn was an All-Missouri Valley Conference college basketball player, gra ...

. Lambert left SIU following the 1977–78 season to become head coach at

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. Lambert died at age 43 in a

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

motel fire on June 6, 1978, prior to coaching a game at Auburn.

Head coaching record

College basketball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Paul 1934 births 1978 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Drake Bulldogs baseball coaches Drake Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Hardin–Simmons Cowboys basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Pittsburg State Gorillas men's basketball coaches Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Kansas City, Missouri William Jewell Cardinals men's basketball players Deaths from fire in the United States