Frederick Appleton Schaus (June 30, 1925 – February 10, 2010) 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 (appro ...

player, head coach and athletic director for the West Virginia University Mountaineers, player for the

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

's Fort Wayne Pistons and

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, general manager and head coach for the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, head coach of

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

basketball, and a member of the NCAA Basketball Committee. He was born in

Newark, Ohio Newark ( ) is a city in Licking County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located east of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus at the junction of the forks of the Licking River (Ohio), Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 United ...

College career

Schaus was recruited from out of state (Ohio) by the legendary coach Lee Patton in 1946 to play at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. Under Patton, Fred developed into a top star among stars during that golden age of Mountaineer basketball. Among Schaus' many accomplishments was that he was the first to score 1,000 career points (1,009) at WVU. He was also selected to the All-American team in 1949.

Professional career

Schaus left West Virginia to join the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1949–1950 season. He scored 14.3 points a game and a year later scored a career-best 15.3 points a game. He was selected to play in the first NBA All-Star Game and scored eight points for the West. However, he only averaged 14.1 points per game in 1952, and then in 1953 it dropped to 10.1 points per game. He was traded to the

halfway through the 1954 season and ended his NBA career that season with 7.1 points per game average.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

College coaching career

West Virginia

After his retirement from the NBA, Schaus returned to his alma mater to coach the Mountaineers. In his first season, he led the Mountaineers to a 19–11 mark and an NCAA tournament appearance. In the next five seasons, he posted an amazing 127–26 (.831) record, which included five consecutive NCAA tournament berths. The recruitment of Schaus for Jerry West (a native of Chelyan, West Virginia) to play for the Mountaineers was a key factor, with West calling Schaus his "mentor"; West played on the freshmen team in 1957 before playing with Schaus and the varsity team from 1958 to 1960. He led WVU to the NCAA finals in 1959, but lost to Pete Newell's

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

team, 71–70.

Purdue

After leaving NBA coaching and management in 1972, he returned to the college ranks to coach at

, taking over for George King. He held a 104–60 overall record as the Boilermaker's head coach, while leading them to the 1974 NIT Championship and a berth in the 1977 NCAA tournament. He then owned the distinction of being the only coach to reach the NIT finals, NCAA finals, and the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

. At Purdue, Schaus was the successor to George King, who was Schaus' successor at West Virginia. After 1981, Schaus returned to WVU to serve as the athletic director.

Professional coaching/management career

Los Angeles Lakers

After the 1960 season, he left college coaching for the

and reunited with his former WVU star, Jerry West. Schaus guided the Lakers to seven consecutive playoff appearances, including 4 Western Conference Championships in 5 years (

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

). He labeled the loss in 1966 (a Game 7 loss in Boston) as the “worst disappointment of my pro coaching career....If you don’t win it all, you’re nothing.” In 1967, he moved to the front office to become the Lakers general manager. He rebuilt the Lakers, eventually winning the 1972 NBA title. Not long after, Schaus was contacted by his friend George King (who had succeeded Schaus at West Virginia in 1960) about joining him at Purdue, as King wanted to focus on being the athletic director rather than being director and coach. Schaus accepted.

Head coaching record

College

Professional

, - , style="text-align:left;", LAL , style="text-align:left;", , 79, , 36, , 43, , .456, , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Western, , 12, , 6, , 6, , .500 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Western Div. Finals , - , style="text-align:left;", LAL , style="text-align:left;", , 80, , 54, , 26, , .675, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Western, , 13, , 7, , 6, , .538 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - class="sortbottom" , - , style="text-align:left;", LAL , style="text-align:left;", , 80, , 53, , 27, , .663, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Western, , 13, , 6, , 7, , .462 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - class="sortbottom" , - , style="text-align:left;", LAL , style="text-align:left;", , 80, , 42, , 38, , .525, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Western, , 5, , 2, , 3, , .400 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Western Div. Semifinals , - class="sortbottom" , - , style="text-align:left;", LAL , style="text-align:left;", , 80, , 49, , 31, , .613, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Western, , 11, , 5, , 6, , .455 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - class="sortbottom" , - , style="text-align:left;", LAL , style="text-align:left;", , 80, , 45, , 35, , .563, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Western, , 14, , 7, , 7, , .500 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - class="sortbottom" , - , style="text-align:left;", LAL , style="text-align:left;", , 81, , 36, , 45, , .444, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Western, , 3, , 0, , 3, , .000 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Western Div. Semifinals , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , , , 560, , 315, , 245, , .563, , , , 71, , 33, , 38, , .465

Personal life

He is the father of

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Commissioner and former

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

and Wichita State University athletic director Jim Schaus. Schaus died in

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Monongahela River in North Central West Virginia and is the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2 ...

, on February 10, 2010. He was 84.Fred Schaus, Coach of Lakers in First Los Angeles Years, Dies at 84
''The New York Times''. February 13, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaus, Fred 1925 births 2010 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people of German descent Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Fort Wayne Pistons draft picks Fort Wayne Pistons players Los Angeles Lakers head coaches Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball NBA All-Stars NBA executives New York Knicks players Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball coaches Small forwards Sportspeople from Newark, Ohio West Virginia Mountaineers athletic directors West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball coaches West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen