Ira Harlan "Sphinx" Van Cleave (July 30, 1888 – May 29, 1943) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

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 ...

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 t ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

coach, athletics administrator, and physical education instructor. He served as the head football coach at Fort Hays Kansas State Normal School—now known as

Fort Hays State University Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total enrollment of approximately 15,100 students. History FHSU w ...

—in Hays, Kansas from 1912 to 1914,

Whittier College Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...

from 1917 to 1919, and La Verne College—now known as the

University of La Verne The University of La Verne (ULV) is a private university in La Verne, California. Founded in 1891, the university is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, College o ...

—in

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomare ...

from in 1928 to 1929.

Early life and education

Van Cleave was born on July 30, 1888, in

Peoria, Iowa Peoria () is an unincorporated community in Richland Township, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. Peoria is located along County Highway T33 northeast of Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece ...

. He graduated from Central College in

Pella, Iowa Pella is a city in Marion County, Iowa, Marion County, Iowa, United States, with a population of 10,464 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. Founded by immigrants from the Netherlands, it is forty miles southeast of Des ...

in 1909 and International YMCA College—now known as Springfield College—in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1912.

Coaching career

Van Cleave resigned from his position at Hays Normal in the summer of 1915 and moved to

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 ...

. He was hired in 1917 as athletic coach at

, succeeding Russell T. Wilson. Van Cleave left Whittier in 1920 to become the athletic director at Pomona High School in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Pol ...

. He led the Pomona High baseball team to a Citrus Belt League title in 1926. In June 1926, the Pomona school board opted to retain Van Cleave at athletic coach, but offered him the position of physical education instructor. Van Cleave was hired by La Verne College—now known as the

—in

as varsity basketball and track coach and freshman coach in football and baseball. He succeeded Claude Arnett as head football coach in 1928. Van Cleave resigned as head athletic coach at La Verne in early 1930 and was succeeded by Lee Eisan.

Death

Van Cleave died on May 29, 1943, at Pomona Valley Community Hospital in

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Cleave, Ira 1888 births 1943 deaths Fort Hays State Tigers athletic directors Fort Hays State Tigers football coaches Fort Hays State Tigers men's basketball coaches La Verne Leopards athletic directors La Verne Leopards baseball coaches La Verne Leopards football coaches La Verne Leopards men's basketball coaches Springfield Pride baseball players Whittier Poets baseball coaches Whittier Poets football coaches Whittier Poets men's basketball coaches College track and field coaches in the United States High school baseball coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in California High school football coaches in California High school track and field coaches in the United States People from Mahaska County, Iowa Coaches of American football from Iowa Baseball coaches from Iowa Baseball players from Iowa Basketball coaches from Iowa Schoolteachers from California