Harold G. Olsen (May 12, 1895 – October 29, 1953) was a college men's basketball coach. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was the head coach of the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

from 1922 to 1946. That year, he became the first head coach of the BAA's Chicago Stags, where he coached almost three seasons before being replaced by Philip Brownstein. Olsen also coached at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

(1950–1952). While playing at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

(1914–1917), Olsen was named to the All-Big Ten twice for basketball. After graduating from Wisconsin, he began his coaching career at Bradley University and Ripon College. In 1922, Olsen followed George Trautman as head coach of the Ohio State University. In 24 years he guided the Buckeyes to a 259–197 record, as well as five Big Ten championships (1925, 1933, 1939, 1944, 1946). He served as a chair on the NCAA Basketball Committee. Olsen helped initiate the 10-second rule in 1937, which requires teams to advance the ball over the center line within 10 seconds of gaining possession. In 1939, Olsen spearheaded efforts to create the NCAA postseason national playoffs, now known as the NCAA tournament, one that could compete with the National Invitational Tournament, which started play in 1938 with games hosted at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

in New York. The first NCAA tournament in 1939 saw

host eight teams. Oregon beat Ohio State to become the first tournament champion in a format that has expanded several times to go with its popularity as the premier tournament for college basketball. In 1959, he was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.

Head coaching record

College football

College basketball

Professional basketball

, - , style="text-align:left;", CHS , style="text-align:left;", , 61, , 39, , 22, , .639, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Western, , 11, , 5, , 6, , .455 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in BAA Finals , - , style="text-align:left;", CHS , style="text-align:left;", , 48, , 28, , 20, , .583, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Western, , 5, , 2, , 3, , .400 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in BAA Semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;", CHS , style="text-align:left;", , 49, , 28, , 21, , .571, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Western, , 2, , 0, , 2, , .000 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in BAA Div. Semifinals , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , , , 158, , 95, , 63, , .601, , , , 18, , 7, , 11, , .389

References

External links