Henry Lee Prather (October 10, 1886 – September 23, 1964) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

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. He served as the head football coach at the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute for one season in 1912, compiling a record of 3–4. He is best known, however, for his tenures as the head football and men's basketball coach at

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville, Louisiana, Leesville/Fort Jo ...

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; , ), officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the city's population was ...

. Prather coached the

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including fiction, comics, film, t ...

' football team between 1913 and 1917, and again from 1919 through 1933. The 1918 season was canceled because of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 20 seasons as coach at NSU, Prather compiled an overall record of 80–55–15. Including his one season at SLII, his overall football record was 83–45–15. As the head basketball coach at NSU, Prather's tenure was very interrupted. He was the on-again, off-again coach seven different times. Basketball had not quite become as established as a sport as football in the United States, so he alternated many of the years with having no program at all. In his 35 total years as the school's coach, Prather accumulated an overall record of 473–169. He stepped down in 1950 to become Northwestern State University's president in 1951. He is still the all-time leader in victories for men's basketball by more than 300 wins to the second-closest coach, Red Thomas, who compiled 138 between 1950 and 1957. Northwestern State's basketball arena,

Prather Coliseum Prather Coliseum is a 3,900-seat multi-purpose arena in Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States. It opened in 1964 and is home to the Northwestern State University Demons basketball team.

, is named in his honor.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prather, H. Lee 1886 births 1964 deaths Basketball coaches from Louisiana Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football coaches Northwestern State Demons and Lady Demons athletic directors Northwestern State Demons basketball coaches Northwestern State Demons football coaches Presidents of Northwestern State University People from Odessa, Missouri Sportspeople from Lafayette, Louisiana Sportspeople from Natchitoches, Louisiana 20th-century American academics