Lee Hyden Rose (October 23, 1936 – April 5, 2022) 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 ...

coach and college athletic administrator. He served as the head men's basketball at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

, in an interim capacity in 1964–65 and on a permanent basis from 1968 to 1975; the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine coll ...

from 1975 to 1978;

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

from 1978 to 1980; and the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

from 1980 to 1986, compiling a career

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 record in 388–162. Rose twice coached teams to the Final Four of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament, with

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and the Purdue Boilermakers in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

. After leaving the college ranks, Rose was an assistant coach with several teams in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) between 1986 and 2001.

Collegiate coaching career

Rose, a native of

Irvine, Kentucky Irvine () is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Estill County, Kentucky, Estill County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the county seat, seat of its county. Its population was 2,715 at the time of the 2010 United States Censu ...

, is a 1958 alumnus of

where he served as an assistant coach after graduation under C. M. Newton. He then took a similar position at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

before returning to his alma mater as head coach and athletic director and recorded 160 wins in eight seasons. In 1975 he became the head coach and athletic director at

UNC Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

, where in three seasons he took the 49ers to one NIT championship game (1976) and to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

Final Four (1977). In 1977 he was named

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National Coach of the Year, the

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — d ...

Coach of the Year, and

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

's "Citizen of the Year". In three seasons Rose's record at Charlotte was 72–18 (.800). Rose left Charlotte for

in 1978 and led them to the Final Four in 1980, and is one of only ten coaches in NCAA history to take two different schools to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. Rose left Purdue after two seasons after compiling a 50–18 (.735) record and finished his coaching career at the

. He coached the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding * Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

to their first postseason appearances in team history, reaching the NIT three times.

Later career

After retiring from the college ranks in 1986 Rose served as an assistant coach for four NBA teams: the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

(1986–1988); the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

(1988–1989); the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 196 ...

(1991–1992), and the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

(1996–2001). He also served as the Bucks' vice president of player personnel in the mid-1990s. Rose and his wife resided in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

, where they attended nearly every

basketball game. On June 7, 2007, Rose was hired by the Charlotte Bobcats to be part of head coach

Sam Vincent James Samuel Vincent (born May 18, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Vincent won the State of Michigan "Mr. Basketball" award in 1981, the first year the award was given. He attended Lansing's Eastern High Sch ...

's staff. He has four grandchildren, Lee Rose; Kristi Rose; James Rose; and Alexzander Rose. Rose died on April 5, 2022, at age 85.

Head coaching record

Basketball

References

External links