Peter L. "Pete" Padgett (born June 15, 1954) is an American high school
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
coach. He is best known, however, for his playing career between 1972–73 and 1975–76 while on the
Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball team.
Playing career
Pete Padgett played for his father,
Jim Padgett, the head coach at Nevada. Padgett, who is , played the
power forward
The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...
position and became one of the most statistically accomplished players in school history.
[ Padgett was selected to the all-conference second team during his freshman year, then was subsequently picked as a first team all-conference member for his final three seasons.][ Padgett led the ]West Coast Athletic Conference
The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...
in rebounding all four seasons and finished his career with 1,464 total, a sum good enough to place him in the top ten all-time in the NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
's modern era.
Although rebounding was his specialty, Padgett finished his career with 1,642 points, which at the time was the third-highest in school history.[ He also set a conference-record by accumulating 784 assists (in conference games only).][ As a senior he was honored with the Doc Martie Award, given annually to the University of Nevada's top male athlete.][ Padgett was then chosen in the sixth round (88th overall) by the ]Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
in the 1976 NBA Draft, but he never played in the league.
Padgett was a two-sport star who also played baseball.
Coaching career
After college, Padgett stayed at school for one additional year to earn his master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in education administration.[ In 1977, he began his coaching career at Carson High School in ]Carson City
Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the ...
, Nevada. He served as an assistant coach from 1977 to 1980, and then took over head coaching duties in 1980.[ For the next 15 years he guided the school's boys' basketball program before leaving to coach at ]Reno High School
Reno High School (RHS) is a public secondary school in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is a part of the Washoe County School District. The school's teams are known as the Reno Huskies, and the school colors are red and blue.
History
Reno High w ...
.[ Padgett spent five years at the school, and then prior to the 2000–01 NCAA Division I season he joined the staff at ]UC Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
.[ In addition to serving as head coach, Padgett serves as the ]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 an ...
.
Personal
Padgett was born in San Jose, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, where his father Jim Padgett, an Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
native, was teaching and coaching at the time. Jim Padgett previously served in the United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
during the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, and later served as the head coach at Cal and Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
. Pete Padgett's mother is Nancy Padgett, who was married to his late father for fifty-eight years. Pete and his wife, Debra A. Padgett, have one daughter, Melissa, and one son, David C. Padgett.[ David played basketball for ]Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
and Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
;[ he later went on to become an assistant at IUPUI and Louisville before being named interim head coach at Louisville in 2017 following revelations of the possible involvement of previous Louisville head coach ]Rick Pitino
Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA ...
in a pay-for-play scandal.
See also
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padgett, Pete
1954 births
Living people
Atlanta Hawks draft picks
Baseball players from Nevada
Basketball players from Nevada
High school basketball coaches in the United States
Nevada Wolf Pack baseball players
Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players
People from Carson City, Nevada
Sportspeople from Reno, Nevada
Power forwards (basketball)
Baseball players from Berkeley, California
Basketball players from Berkeley, California
Baseball players from San Jose, California
Basketball players from San Jose, California
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players