Thomas Sydnor Asbury (born July 14, 1945) is an American former men's
college basketball
College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
coach. He spent two separate terms as head coach at
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...
, retiring from that position in 2011. He was also a head coach for
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...
and served as an assistant coach at Pepperdine, the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...
(his alma mater), and the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
.
Career
Pepperdine
Asbury was an assistant coach at Pepperdine for nine seasons before succeeding
Jim Harrick as head coach. Asbury was very successful in his first stint at Pepperdine, becoming the conference coach of the year twice and compiling a 125–59 record in his first six years. He took the Waves to the NCAA Tournament in 1991, 1992, and 1994, as well as two NIT appearances, three regular-season WCC titles, and three WCC Tournament championships.
Kansas State and Alabama
His success landed him the head coaching job at
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...
. He coached the Wildcats for six seasons, making the
NCAA tournament once and the
NIT tournament twice. However, his final season ended in 1999–2000 at Kansas State with a 9–19 record and a 2–14 conference record. He was fired and later returned to coaching as an assistant at the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
under former pupil
Mark Gottfried
Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach, basketball podcaster, and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketba ...
.
Mark Fox, the head coach at the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
, is another former Asbury assistant, having coached with him at Kansas State.
Return to Pepperdine and retirement
Asbury came out of retirement to coach Pepperdine for a second time prior to the 2008–09 season. After three more seasons, on March 11, 2011, Asbury announced his retirement, turning the Pepperdine program over to assistant
Marty Wilson. In October 2012, Asbury was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame.
Pepperdine Inducts Four Into Hall of Fame
accessed Oct. 22, 2012
Head coaching record
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asbury, Tom
1945 births
Living people
Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from Colorado
Basketball players from Denver
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
Forwards (basketball)
Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball coaches
Pepperdine Waves men's basketball coaches
Wyoming Cowboys basketball coaches
Wyoming Cowboys basketball players
20th-century American sportsmen