Lee Patton

Lee Lafayette Patton (April 3, 1904 – March 8, 1950) was a highly successful coach from his start in Ash Fork, Arizona in 1927 until his untimely death in 1950. In between, he became a revered figure in Princeton, West Virginia as a teacher, coach and community leader. Patton then served as head basketball coach at West Virginia University from 1946 to 1950. There, he is credited for launching WVU's Golden Age of Basketball. His 77.8% win loss record at WVU is exceeded by just one coach, and his record of 57 successive home wins remains unbroken. No coach has coached more basketball players who are in the WVU Sports Hall of Fame than Lee Patton.

Lee Patton was born in the small town of Carbon, Texas. After several years in various rural Texas railroad construction camps, his parents divorced. Lee, his sister, and his mother moved to what is now known as Old East Dallas, a neighborhood located adjacent to downtown Dallas. While living in Old East Dallas, Lee attended Dallas High School, then moved in with his sister and graduated from Main Avenue High School in San Antonio. Lee was a studious youngster and a gifted musician, but the stigma of poverty limited his access to high school sports. This was also a time when the YMCA was promoting intercity basketball as part it
humanics
agenda. Both were a perfect fit for the restless teen. The YMCA in Dallas and the YMCA in San Antonio both afforded Lee with access to well-trained coaches and opportunities to play sports. Upon graduating from high school, Patton received an athletic scholarship and became a standout in football, basketball, and baseball at Sul Ross State Teachers College (now Sul Ross University), then at Northern Arizona State Teachers College (now Northern Arizona University). In 1927, Patton landed his first coaching position at Ash Fork High School in Arizona.

After two highly successful years in Ash Fork, and two post graduate summers in Flagstaff (jointly sponsored by the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona Teachers College), Patton married his college sweetheart, Agnes Britton, and left Arizona to pursue a master's degree at the YMCA College in Springfield, Massachusetts - the birthplace of basketball and the original home base for its inventor, Dr. James Naismith. There, Patton studied under Naismith's protege, Dr. Forrest "Phog" Allen.(head basketball coach at the University of Kansas) and  Knute Rockne (head football coach at Notre Dame). The school (now Springfield College) was nationally recognized for its coaching school for basketball and other sports, yet the school's core mission was to educate all of its students in spirit, mind and body for leadership in service to humanity - a holistic approach generally known a
humantics

Upon receiving a Masters of Culture and Athletics in August of 1930, Patton deliberately passed up opportunities to coach at several prestigious schools, and accepted the position of athletic director, physical education instructor, and head coach of all sports at Princeton High School (Princeton, West Virginia). There he taught and coached from 1930 to 1944. Throughout the Great Depression and most of WW2, Patton's teams dominated the state in football and basketball, and his overall win/loss record at Princeton High School remains unbroken. For several summers, Patton served as an instructor at Springfield College with his close friend, Dr. Phog Allen. Other summers, Patton participated in coaching clinics (as a student and instructor) at Duke University, the University of North Carolina, Bluefield College, Davis & Elkins College, Utah State University, and the University of Oklahoma. In 1944, Patton left Princeton High School to coach at Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle, NY where he enjoyed similar success.

In 1945, Patton was recruited by West Virginia University as head basketball coach. Today, his record of 57 consecutive home wins remains unbroken, and his overall win/loss percentage of 77.8% remains unmatched by any WVU coach except for Fred Schaus - a former Patton player who achieved a 79.8% record during his six year coaching tenure at WVU.

In basketball, Patton was admired for his motivational skills, withering defense, clean game, and early use of fast break basketball. He is also credited with launching WVU's Golden Age of Basketball, with such WVU Sports Hall of Fame players as Leland Byrd, Clyde Green, Bobby Carroll, Fred Schaus, Eddie Beach, Jim Walthall, and Mark Workman. Within and beyond sports, Patton is remembered for his wit, his modesty, his vast appetite for knowledge, and his ability to bring out the very best in others.

Lee Patton was in his prime, just 45 years of age when he died at home in Morgantown on March 8,1950. He was taken by a stroke, the result of injuries sustained in a car crash that occurred while travelling to play Penn State on Valentines Day. WVU's Golden Age of Basketball continued after his death with such stars as Mark Workman, Hot Rod Hundley, Jerry West, and Rod Thorn. Lee Patton was much beloved by his players, sports fans, students, fellow coaches, and sportswriters, especially at WVU and in his adopted home town of Princeton, West Virginia.

References

1904 births
1950 deaths
American men's basketball coaches
West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball coaches
Road incident deaths in West Virginia
Sportspeople from Princeton, West Virginia

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