Larry Farmer (born January 31, 1951) is 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 ...

coach and former player. Farmer served as the head basketball coach at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) from 1981 to 1984,

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

from 1985 to 1988, and

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

from 1998 to 2004. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at UCLA, where he was a member of three national championships-winning teams for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

under head coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

in the early 1970s. In 2018, Farmer was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.

High school career

Farmer played high school basketball at Manual High School in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, from 1966 to 1969. He nearly quit the sport as a sophomore, but as a senior he helped the Thunderbolts reach the state championship game and was named First Team Denver Post All-State. During his senior campaign he was named First Team All-State, All-Metropolitan and All-City by both the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post newspaper. In January 2017, Farmer was inducted into the

Colorado High School Activities Association The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) is a governing body for high school activities in Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners reg ...

's Hall of Fame.

College career

Farmer played at UCLA during the early 1970s under legendary coach

. He was a teammate of

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...

during the era when the Bruins won seven consecutive NCAA men's titles. He was the only player that participated in all the games for the UCLA teams that went 89–1 (), the best winning percentage in NCAA men's basketball history.

Coaching career

Farmer was drafted by both the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) and

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA). He did not play, but instead returned to UCLA to where he was an assistant basketball coach under Wooden,

Gene Bartow Bobby Gene Bartow (August 18, 1930 January 3, 2012) was an American men's college basketball coach. The Browning, Missouri, native coached 36 years at six universities after coaching two high schools in Missouri for six years. In 1972 Bartow coa ...

Gary Cunningham Gary Cunningham (born c. 1940/1941) is an American former basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1977 to 1979, guiding ...

and Larry Brown from 1973 to 1981. His stint was interrupted in 1974–75, when Farmer played professionally for ADB Koblenz in the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

. When Brown resigned prior to the 1981–82 season, Farmer was elevated to head coach of the UCLA basketball team. While Farmer was an assistant at UCLA under Brown in 1979, he made a TV appearance in '' The White Shadow'' and a movie appearance in ''

Fast Break Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball and handball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. The ...

'' as player named Benton.

UCLA head basketball coach

Farmer was the head coach of the

from 1981 to 1984, guiding them to a 61–23 () record.

Weber State basketball coach

In 1985, Farmer became the head coach for

and was the successor to Neil McCarthy. Farmer coached Weber for three seasons (1985–88) and compiled a record of 34–54 ().

Loyola (Chicago) head basketball coach

Farmer coached at

from 1998 to 2004. Farmer had a 30–51 () record over his first three seasons before finally breaking through in 2001. In that year, Farmer compiled a 17–13 record, 9–7 in the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

. Farmer took the Ramblers to the brink of the NCAA Tournament before losing to rival University of Illinois Chicago. For his efforts, Farmer was lauded with Horizon League Coach of the Year honors by CollegeInsider.com. Loyola under Farmer was the only team to defeat each of the top three teams in the Horizon League in 2001–02 (Butler, Detroit and Wisconsin-Milwaukee). During the 2001 season, Farmer got the Ramblers off to a 6–0 Horizon League start, the best in school history.

Other coaching jobs

Farmer has also coached at the professional level serving as head coach of the Qadsia Sporting Club in Kuwait (1988–90) and as an assistant with the NBA's Golden State Warriors (1990–91). He also served as a coach for the Kuwaiti National Team from 1992–97. His college coaching experience also includes a stint as an assistant at Rhode Island (1997–98), where he helped the Rams reach the Elite Eight. He spent three years on the bench at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

under Bob Nash from 2007–10. Farmer spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Western Michigan from 2010–12. In the 2012 season, Farmer was the director of player development for men's basketball at

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. Farmer and NC State head coach

Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach, basketball podcaster, and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketba ...

were both UCLA assistant coaches. He returned to the WMU staff for the 2013 season and retired after the 2017–18 season.

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
Western Michigan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Larry 1951 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American basketball coaches American men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks College basketball announcers in the United States College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Denver Rockets draft picks Golden State Warriors assistant coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball coaches Loyola Ramblers men's basketball coaches Place of birth missing (living people) Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Weber State Wildcats men's basketball coaches Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball coaches