Thomas George Bartlett (June 6, 1928 – October 19, 2016) 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 ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, as well as a college basketball and tennis

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. After graduating from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, Bartlett served as the men's basketball head coach for Carson-Newman College, the University of Chattanooga (now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga), and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and also as the men's tennis head coach at the University of Tennessee and UT-Chattanooga.

Early life and playing career

Bartlett was born in Homerville, Georgia and graduated from Knoxville High School in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. He attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he played for the

Tennessee Volunteers basketball The Tennessee Volunteers Men's Basketball Team is the collegiate men's basketball program for the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. The Volunteers (commonly referred to as the "Vols") compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athlet ...

team from 1949 to 1952 and the Volunteers men's tennis team from 1950 to 1952. In basketball, he was a three-year varsity

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

, team captain, and an All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

as a senior; in tennis, he was a three-year letterman, a two-year starter, and the team captain and an All-SEC selection as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

. Memorably, Bartlett was undefeated in three seasons on the Volunteers varsity men's tennis team, and won SEC

singles tennis Traditionally, tennis is played between two people in a singles match, or two pairs in a doubles match. Tennis can also be played on different courts, including grass courts, clay courts, hard courts, and artificial grass courts. Standard types ...

championships at No. 6 in 1950, No. 5 in 1951, and No. 3 in 1952, and SEC doubles championships at No. 3 in 1950 and 1951, and No. 2 in 1952. As a senior, Bartlett and was also the third-ranked college basketball player in the percentage of

foul shots In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

completed (80.2%), and led the Vols to their first-ever SEC team championship in men's tennis.Associated Press,
Bartlett New Cage Coach At Florida
" ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'', p. 1D (June 5, 1966). Retrieved February 7, 2011. He graduated from Tennessee in 1952.

Coaching career

Bartlett began his coaching career at Lenoir City High School in Lenoir City, Tennessee, in 1953. In four seasons as the Lenoir City Panthers head coach, he compiled an overall win–loss record of 97–20, and led the Panthers to the state high school championship semifinal game before losing to Kingsport High School in 1957. He subsequently served as the head basketball coach for Carson-Newman College in 1957–1958, and the University of Chattanooga from 1958 to 1962. In 1962, he returned to his alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, as an assistant basketball coach under

Ray Mears Raymond Paul Mears (born 7 February 1964) is a British woodsman, instructor, businessman, author and TV presenter. His TV appearances cover bushcraft and survival techniques. He is best known for the TV series ''Ray Mears' Bushcraft'', ''Ray ...

. In 1963, while continuing as a Volunteers basketball assistant, he also became the head coach of the Volunteers men's tennis team. In 1966, he led the Vols tennis team to their second SEC tennis team championship, and their first since 1952—when Bartlett was a member of the team. In 1966, Bartlett began a seven-year tenure at Florida after

Norm Sloan Norman Leslie Sloan Jr. (June 25, 1926 – December 9, 2003) was an American college basketball player and coach. Sloan was a native of Indiana and played college basketball and football at North Carolina State University. He began a long career a ...

left for North Carolina State. Unlike Sloan, Bartlett emphasized defense from the start. Bartlett's first Gators squad, including Gary Keller and

Neal Walk Neal Eugene Walk (July 29, 1948 – October 4, 2015) was an American college and professional basketball player who was a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons during the late 1960s and 1970s, playing overseas after ...

, was the best Florida had produced until that time; they finished 21–4 overall (the school's first 20-win season), and 14–4 in the SEC.Mike Cobb,
20 years ago, UF also scaled the heights
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', p. 6C (January 29, 1987). Retrieved February 7, 2011. It was also the first Gators basketball squad to ever be ranked in the national polls. In an era when only conference champions were guaranteed bids in the 23-team NCAA Tournament, the Gators missed their first SEC title and NCAA Tournament appearance by a single game after losing to coach Ray Mears' Tennessee Volunteers twice in the regular season. Although Bartlett's 1968–1969 Gators received an invitation to the

1969 National Invitation Tournament The 1969 National Invitation Tournament was originated by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association in 1938. Responsibility for its administration was transferred two years later to local colleges, first known as the Metropolitan Intercolle ...

(NIT), none of his subsequent Gators teams equaled the success of his first. He was also responsible for recruiting Florida's first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

player, Steve Williams. He finished with an overall win–loss record of 95–85 and 62–64 in the SEC.''2009–10 Florida Gators Men's Basketball Media Guide''
History
, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 125–126, 132, 134 (2009). February 7, 2011. Bartlett returned to collegiate coaching in 1979, serving as the men's and women's tennis head coach for the Chattanooga Mocs for twelve seasons until 1990.
2010 Chattanooga Mocs Tennis Media Guide
', University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletic Department, Chattanooga, Tennessee (2010). Retrieved February 6, 2011. His Chattanooga Mocs teams won eight Southern Conference men's tennis championships (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988 and 1989); his Lady Mocs teams won five Southern Conference women's tennis championships (1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990) and three

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

women's tennis championships (1983, 1984 and 1985). Bartlett was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Inductees
Bartlett, Thomas G.
Retrieved March 9, 2015. He died on October 19, 2016, at his home in Chattanooga.

Tennis family

Bartlett's daughter-in-law, Sue Bartlett, was an All-American for the Chattanooga Lady Mocs tennis team in 1978; his granddaughter, Claire Bartlett, played for the

Florida Gators women's tennis The Florida Gators women's tennis team represents the University of Florida in the sport of tennis. The Gators compete in Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) ...

team from 2008 to 2011.Gatorzone.com, Women's Tennis Roster
Claire Bartlett
Retrieved October 15, 2012.

Head coaching record

Men's basketball

References

Bibliography

* Koss, Bill, ''Pond Birds: Gator Basketball, The Whole Story From The Inside'', Fast Break Press, Gainesville, Florida (1996). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Tommy 1928 births 2016 deaths Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Florida Gators men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Tennessee Tennessee Volunteers basketball coaches Tennessee Volunteers basketball players Tennessee Volunteers men's tennis players Sportspeople from Knoxville, Tennessee Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Knoxville, Tennessee American men's basketball players Guards (basketball)