James E. Snyder (June 29, 1919 – April 27, 1994) was a

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 ...

head coach and former player. He attended

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 ...

where he played

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 ...

under head coach

Dutch Trautwein William "Dutch" Trautwein was an American former college basketball coach. He was a American football, football and basketball player at Wittenberg University, Wittenberg where he is a member of the school's athletics hall of fame. He was an as ...

. He was an assistant coach under Trautwein for three seasons beginning in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

. After Trautwein's retirement he became the head coach of the

Ohio Bobcats The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946 ...

men's 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 ...

team where he remained for 26 years (1949–1974). He amassed 20 winning seasons and led his teams to 7 NCAA tournament appearances (

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

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 ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

) and one

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

appearance (

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

). Snyder's teams compiled a 355-255 record, good for a .581 winning percentage. He is the all time leader in coaching wins at Ohio. He was also an Ohio graduate (Class of 1941), and was a football and basketball star as an undergraduate in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He played for and was an assistant under

. He was inducted the Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame in 1967 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. One of his most memorable wins came against the University of Kentucky in the 1964 NCAA tournament, advancing the Ohio Bobcats to the Elite 8. One interesting aspect of this game was that Ohio had an integrated team while Kentucky had one of its last all white teams. Snyder was widely admired throughout the college basketball coaching fraternity as being a coach with great integrity and an engaging personality; he was often referred to as "Gentleman Jim." When he retired he was replaced by his long time assistant

Dale Bandy Dale Bandy is a former American basketball player and coach. Playing for coach Jim Snyder at Ohio University, he was team captain of the 1960 team that made the Sweet Sixteen in the 1960 NCAA tournament. He was an assistant under Snyder, who l ...

Head coaching record

Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Jim 1919 births 1994 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Canton, Ohio Ohio Bobcats football players Ohio Bobcats men's basketball coaches Ohio Bobcats men's basketball players Ohio University alumni Sportspeople from Athens County, Ohio Sportspeople from Canton, Ohio 20th-century American sportsmen