Presley Askew (November 17, 1909 – February 7, 1994) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach. Overall Askew won 169 games at

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and had an overall record of 509–312 in all high school and college coaching. Born in Red Oak, Oklahoma, Askew played basketball and graduated from Red Oak High School in 1926. He played for and graduated from

Eastern Oklahoma State College Eastern Oklahoma State College is a public community college in Wilburton, Oklahoma. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The school has a branch campus in McAlester and teaching sites in Antlers (Ki ...

, and eventually

Oklahoma State University 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 ...

in 1930. He began coaching at Fanshawe Public School and became head varsity coach in 1932. In 1937 Askew moved to his hometown Red Oak High School to coach and was there until 1942 when he moved on to Van Buren High School in Arkansas. Askew's teams at Van Buren were very competitive and went to the state championship tournaments. In 1947 Askew accepted an assistant coaching position at

and the following year was named the head coach. In his first season he tied for first 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 ...

. The following two seasons were not as good and he was fired. Askew coached at Connors State College the next season before being hired as the head basketball and baseball coach at what was then New Mexico A&M in 1953. Askew coached New Mexico State for twelve seasons that included three

Border Conference The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 season. ...

championships and two NCAA tournament appearances. He resigned after the 1964–65 season. New Mexico State dedicated their baseball field as Presley Askew Field in 1981 in honor of their former coach. Askew was awarded the NABC Merit and Honor awards in 1977. He died on February 7, 1994, at the age of 84 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Head coaching record

College basketball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Askew, Presley 1909 births 1994 deaths Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Oklahoma College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Arkansas New Mexico State Aggies athletic directors New Mexico State Aggies baseball coaches New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball coaches People from Le Flore County, Oklahoma