Alexander G. Severance Sr. (June 3, 1905 – April 1, 1985) 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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach. Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Severance graduated from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

in 1929 and received his J.D. from

Temple University Beasley School of Law The James E. Beasley School of Law (known as Temple Law) is the law school of Temple University, a public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 650 students. Student body Admission for the ...

in 1932. In addition to coaching basketball for Villanova, Severance was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

business law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and organizations engaged in ...

at the university. Severance coached the

Villanova Wildcats men's basketball The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball program represent Villanova University in men's college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. Their first season was the 1920–21 season. Named the Wildcats, Villanova is a ...

team for 25 seasons (1936–1961), compiling a 413–201 (.673) record. Among his former players is

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

member

Paul Arizin Paul Joseph Arizin (April 9, 1928 – December 12, 2006), nicknamed "'Pitchin Paul", was an American basketball player who spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Philadelphia Warriors from 1950 to 1962. He retired ...

. Severance coached his team to the first

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

of the NCAA tournament in 1939. His teams also played in the NCAA Tournament in 1949 and 1955. Under his leadership, Villanova was selected for the

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 ...

(NIT) in 1959 and 1960. Severance died on the morning of April 1, 1985, in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, on the day Villanova won the

1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. This was the first year the field was expanded to 64 te ...

. The championship game was played at

Rupp Arena Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Central Bank Center (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility ...

in Lexington.

Head coaching record

Basketball

References

1905 births 1985 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City Temple University alumni Villanova University faculty Villanova Wildcats baseball coaches Villanova Wildcats men's basketball coaches Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players Eastern Basketball Association coaches {{US-basketball-coach-stub

Head coaching record

Basketball

See also

References