John Warren Womble, Jr. (March 15, 1920 – March 21, 2015) was an American

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. He was the

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 ...

of the

Peoria Cats The Caterpillar Diesels (also later known as the Peoria Cats or Caterpillars) was an amateur basketball team located in Peoria, Illinois and sponsored and run by the Caterpillar Inc. company. The Caterpillars were one of the most successful team ...

, a National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL) team, located in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

, and the head coach of the

1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team The 1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland from July 14 to August 2, 1952. Warren Womble was the team's head coach, and Phog Allen was the team's main assistant coach. The team w ...

Early life

Born in

Aylesworth, Oklahoma Aylesworth is an unincorporated community in Marshall County, Oklahoma, Marshall County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located east of Kingston, Oklahoma, Kingston.Shirk, George H. ''Oklahoma Place Names'', Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklaho ...

, Womble attended college at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he was a two-sport Savage Storm athlete, earning letters in

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was a

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 ...

on the school's basketball team that reached the quarterfinals of the

AAU National Tournament The Amateur Athletic Association is an amateur basketball league that was created in 1897. It hosts the annual AAU National Tournament. All players participating have to be amateurs. During the 1960s players who left college before the formation ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, in 1948.

Coaching career

Club coaching career

At the club level, Womble was the head coach of the

for 10 seasons (1951–60). With the Cats, he won 296 games and lost 126, while leading his teams to the National Amateur Athletic Union Tournament championship five times. He coached the Cats team that tied with the

Bartlesville Phillips 66ers The Phillips 66ers (also known as the Oilers) were an amateur basketball team located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and sponsored and run by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The 66ers were a national phenomenon that grew from a small-town team to an ...

, for the most wins in the National Industrial Basketball League (14–10 overall record), in 1954. Womble would later go on to serve as the first director of the National Industrial Basketball League.

National team coaching career

In international competition, Womble had an unbelievable 34–0 record against some of the best international competition in the world. In 1952, Womble's

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

won the Olympic Trials Tournament. He was then named head coach of the

. Team USA (a team which included seven of his Cats players) went on to defeat the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in the final of the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics, by a score of 36–25, to win the gold medal. Womble also coached the USA national team that won the gold medal at the

1954 FIBA World Championship The 1954 FIBA World Championship (also called the 2nd World Basketball Championship – 1954) was an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in Ginásio do Maracanãzinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil fr ...

. Later, he coached the first United States team to tour the Soviet Union, in 1958. In 1960, his Cats placed second in the Olympic Trials Tournament. Womble was named as assistant coach of the U.S. team at the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics. That team included

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

members Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Walt Bellamy, and Jerry Lucas. They defeated

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, by a score of 90–36, to win the gold medal.

Honors

*Womble was named to the

Helms Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

Hall of Fame. *Womble was named to the Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1977. *Womble was inducted into the Southeastern Athletic Hall of Fame, on February 18, 1978.

Personal life

Womble served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He worked in management with Caterpillar Corporation, until he retired in 1985. Womble died on March 21, 2015, at the age of 95, in

Springdale, Arkansas Springdale is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, fourth-largest city in Arkansas, United States. It is located in both Washington County, Arkansas, Washington and Benton County, Arkansas, Benton counties in Northwest Arkansas. Located on th ...

.John Womble Jr.
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References

External links

WARREN WOMBLE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Womble, Warren 1920 births 2015 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American male tennis players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Olympic coaches for the United States Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma Guards (basketball) People from Durant, Oklahoma Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team coaches United States Army soldiers