Russell "Sox" Walseth (April 6, 1926 – January 28, 2004) 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, best known for his tenures as both the men's and women's head coach at the
University of Colorado Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...
.
Walseth was born in
Aberdeen, South Dakota
Aberdeen ( Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre. The city population was 28,495 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populous ci ...
and an all-state basketball player at Pierre High School, graduating in 1944. He joined the U. S. Navy, and was ultimately moved to Colorado where he attended the University of Colorado and was a member of the basketball and baseball teams. Following his graduation, he stayed at Colorado to earn a master's degree and coach the freshman team. He then moved on to coach
Arvin High School in
Arvin, California
Arvin is a city in Kern County, California. Arvin is located southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of . As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,304, up from 12,956 at the 2000 census.
In 2007, the United States Environmental Prot ...
for the 1953–54 season.
Walseth moved to the college ranks the following season as he was named head coach at
South Dakota State
South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...
. He led the Jackrabbits to a significant improvement, as he compiled records of 14–11, then 17–7 in his two seasons. In the 1955–56 season he led the team to the
North Central Conference
The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II.
History
The NCC ...
championship and a berth in the
1956 NAIA Tournament. This performance helped Walseth earn the Colorado head coaching job when his former mentor
Bebe Lee was named
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 ...
at
Kansas State University. Walseth coached the Buffaloes for twenty seasons, compiling a 261–245 record. His teams won three
Big Eight Conference championships (in 1962, 1963 and 1969) and won the league's Coach of the Year award four times (1962, 1963, 1969 and 1973). Under his watch,
Ken Charlton and
Cliff Meely
Cliff Meely (July 10, 1947 – May 29, 2013) was an American basketball player who played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, then at the Universi ...
earned
All-American honors. Walseth was relieved of his duties following the 1975–76 season, but was coaxed out of retirement in 1980 to oversee the Buffaloes' women's team for three seasons, compiling a record of 77–21. He was the first person to coach both men's and women's basketball at the same school.
Walseth died at his home in
Boulder, Colorado on January 28, 2004 at the age of 77.
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References
External links
Colorado Buffaloes Athletic HOF profile
South Dakota Sports HOF profile
Colorado Sports HOF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walseth, Sox
1926 births
2004 deaths
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
American women's basketball coaches
Basketball coaches from South Dakota
Basketball players from South Dakota
Carroll College (Montana) alumni
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
Colorado Buffaloes baseball players
Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball coaches
Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players
Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball coaches
High school basketball coaches in the United States
People from Aberdeen, South Dakota
South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball coaches
Guards (basketball)