Lawrence J. "Jay" McCreary (February 6, 1918 – April 17, 1995) 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 ...

player and coach. He won championships as a player in both high school and college, and as a high school coach in

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 ...

. McCreary also served as head coach at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Playing career

Jay McCreary was an Indiana state All-Star as a guard at Frankfort High School, where he led the team to a State championship in 1936. Following his prep career, McCreary went to play for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

and was a key player on the 1939–40 Indiana Hoosiers national championship team.

Coaching career

After serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

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 ...

, McCreary returned to his alma mater as an assistant to his former coach,

Branch McCracken Emmett B. "Branch" McCracken (June 9, 1908 – June 4, 1970) was an American basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Ball State University from 1930 to 1938 and at Indiana University Bloomington from 1938 to 1943 ...

. After two years he moved to

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

, then to Muncie Central High School, where he led the Bearcats to the 1952 state title. Two seasons later (1953–54), the Mighty Bearcats would fall to Milan High; later this loss would inspire the movie Hoosiers. From Muncie Central, McCreary was named head coach at LSU. In eight seasons (1957–1965), McCreary's teams went 82–115 (.416). He was succeeded in 1965 by Frank Truitt, but returned to Baton Rouge as an assistant in 1966, he served in this capacity for Truitt and

Press Maravich Peter "Press" Maravich (August 29, 1915 – April 15, 1987) was an American college and professional basketball coach. He received the nickname "Press" as a boy, when one of his jobs was selling the '' Pittsburgh Press'' on the streets of his hom ...

until Maravich's firing in 1972.

Personal life

Jay McCreary died on April 17, 1995.

References

1918 births 1995 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players United States Army personnel of World War II Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana College men's basketball head coaches in the United States DePauw Tigers men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players LSU Tigers men's basketball coaches People from Clinton County, Indiana Guards (basketball) 20th-century American sportsmen {{1910s-US-basketball-bio-stub