Burl Rush Friddle (May 27, 1900 – October 11, 1978) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a member of the

Franklin Wonder Five The Franklin Wonder Five was a 1920s basketball team from Indiana's " Hoosier Hysteria" era. With basketball king in Indiana, the team from Franklin was dubbed the "Wonder Five". This small town about 20 miles south of Indianapolis produced a t ...

that won the Indiana high school boys basketball championship and went undefeated during the 1922–23 college basketball season. As a coach, he won two Indiana state championships and led a team of freshmen to the finals of 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 ...

Playing

Friddle played center on the Franklin High School basketball team that won the 1920 Indiana high school boys basketball championship. He then attended Franklin College, where, in 1922, he was joined by his high school coach, Ernest "Griz" Wagner, and many of his Franklin High teammates. During the next three seasons, Franklin College lost only two games and won two state collegiate championships (1923 and 1924).

Coaching

In 1925, Friddle was an assistant coach for the Washington High School basketball team. As Friddle was still a student at Franklin College, this was a violation of

Indiana High School Athletic Association The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private high schools in the U.S. state of Indiana. Member schools are classified into four classes based on enrollment, ranging ...

rules and led to the team being suspended for that year's state basketball tournament. After graduating, Friddle became Washington's head coach and led the school to the state championship in 1930. In 1935, he became the head coach at South Side High School in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

, where he compiled a record of 106–40 and won a second state championship in 1938. In 1942, Friddle became head men's basketball coach at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

. Due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Toledo was forced to play an all-freshman team consisting of players Friddle recruited from his home state of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Despite this, the Rockets, led by

Dave Minor Davage T. Minor (February 23, 1922 – March 14, 1998) was a player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played with the Baltimore Bullets before being traded along with Stan Miasek to the Milwaukee Hawks for Don Boven, Pete Darce ...

Chuck Harmon Charles Byron Harmon (April 23, 1924 – March 19, 2019) was an American professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1954–1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1957), and Philadelphi ...

, Art Grove, and Dal Zuber, won 22 of 24 regular season games and made it to the 1943 National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and Washington & Jefferson before losing to St. John's in the championship game. On May 20, 1943, Friddle was named Toledo's athletic director. After the 1943–44 season, Friddle returned to Franklin to become an insurance agent. In 1948, he was named head coach of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

Indianapolis Jets The Indianapolis Jets were a Basketball Association of America (BAA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded as the Indianapolis Kautskys and used that name until the team joined the BAA. They played for one year in the BAA and then ceased o ...

after the team traded away player-coach

Bruce Hale William Bruce Hale (August 30, 1918 – December 30, 1980) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A 6'1" guard/forward from Medford, Oregon, Hale played college basketball for the Santa Clara Broncos, then played professi ...

. He led the Jets to a 14–29 record and the team folded at the end of the season. From 1951 to 1952, he was the head coach at

Pike High School Pike High School is a public high school on the northwest side of Indianapolis, Indiana. Athletics Conference History Varsity Sports * Baseball (boys) * Basketball (girls and boys) * Cross country (girls and boys) * Football (boys) * Golf (g ...

Later life

Friddle continued to sell insurance until his retirement in the early 1970s. He died on October 11, 1978, at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife and three children.

Head coaching record

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Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friddle, Burl 1900 births 1978 deaths Basketball players from Franklin, Indiana Franklin Grizzlies men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in Indiana Indianapolis Jets coaches Toledo Rockets athletic directors Toledo Rockets men's basketball coaches