William Oscar Hodges (born March 9, 1943) is 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 (appro ...

coach. He was the head basketball coach at

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

from 1978 to 1982, at Georgia College and State University from 1986 to 1991 and at

Mercer University Mercer University is a Private university, private Research university, research university in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the s ...

from 1991 to 1997.

Career

As an assistant basketball coach at

, he recruited

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded a ...

after Bird had dropped out of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. Before the start of the 1978–79 season, Hodges was hired as Head Coach at Indiana State University after head coach Bob King suffered a brain aneurysm. Hodges proceeded to lead Indiana State with

to an undefeated regular season and a second-place finish in the

1979 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9 and ended with the championship game on M ...

, losing to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

in the NCAA Final. During that year, after a 33–1 record, Hodges won several coach of the year awards, including the

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

's and AP's. The Sycamores were selected as the United Press International Collegiate Champions. His later Indiana State teams would never reach the same heights, leading to his resignation from Indiana State after the 1982 season. Hodges is currently #7 in coaching wins at Indiana State with a record of 67–48 (.583) and #5 in wins at Mercer with a record of 62–107 (.367). His record at Georgia College was 110–53 (.675). His overall collegiate head coaching record is 239–208 (.535). Hodges is a graduate of Purdue University. Moving to live near his daughter, Hodges returned to high school teaching and coaching to keep busy and coach his granddaughter. He coached the boys basketball teams Roanoke Catholic High School and North Cross School in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

from 2011 to 2013, where he led North Cross to the VISAA state tournament where they upset Carlisle School in the semifinals and went on to play for the state title, but came up just short. He then coached the girls team at The Villages Charter High School in

The Villages, Florida The Villages is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sumter, Marion, and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Florida. It forms the core of a broader master-planned, age-restricted community of the same name. Located in central Florida, approxi ...

as of the 2016–17 season.

Personal

Hodges also coached golf at Armstrong Atlantic State University before moving to Indiana State. He is a Vietnam-era veteran of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. Inducted in 1999, Hodges is a member of the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the 1978–79 men's basketball team. In 2019, Hodges was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame individually.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Bill 1943 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Indiana College golf coaches in the United States Georgia College Bobcats men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Florida High school basketball coaches in Virginia Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball coaches Long Beach State Beach men's basketball coaches People from Zionsville, Indiana Mercer Bears men's basketball coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches

Career

Personal

Head coaching record

See also

References