Murry Linn Bartow (born August 18, 1961) is an American former

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 ...

coach. As the head coach of the

East Tennessee State Buccaneers The East Tennessee State Buccaneers are the 17 intercollegiate athletics teams that represent East Tennessee State University (ETSU), located in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU's teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, socce ...

, he was twice named the conference coach of the year, first in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

in 2004 and later in the

Atlantic Sun Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

in 2007. He was later an interim head coach with the South Florida Bulls and

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 ...

Career

UAB

Bartow served as the head coach for his alma mater

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

(UAB) from 1996 to 2002, succeeding his father

Gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

, the creator of the

UAB Blazers men's basketball The UAB Blazers men's basketball team represents the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in NCAA Division I men's college basketball, with the 2023–24 season being the Blazers' first as members of the American Athletic Conference. The Blaz ...

program. At UAB, he compiled a 103–83 overall record with a conference mark of 48–46 and one NCAA Tournament appearance.

East Tennessee State

Bartow was the men's head basketball coach at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

(ETSU) from 2003 to 2015. Bartow's first season at ETSU brought division and conference regular season titles and the

(SoCon) Tournament championship. The team finished 27–6 (15–1 conference) and ended their season in an 80–77 NCAA tournament opening round loss to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Bartow was named the SoCon Coach of the Year. Bartow led the Buccaneers to the regular season

title in 2006–07 with a 24–10 overall record, despite the graduation of three starters. Bartow was named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year. The Buccaneers earned NCAA tournament appearances for winning A-Sun Conference tournament championships in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons. Overall, Bartow led the Bucs to three

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

appearances in his tenure at ETSU. After a change in the school president and athletic director, Bartow was released at the end of 2015.

University of South Florida

Bartow was hired as an assistant coach at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

(USF) in August 2016. He was named interim head coach on January 3, 2017 following the firing of head coach

Orlando Antigua Orlando Radhames Antigua Fernández (born February 20, 1973), nicknamed "Hurricane", is a Dominican-American basketball coach and former player who is currently the associate head coach at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was also an ...

. Bartow led the team to a 1–16 record during his time as interim head coach.

UCLA

In April 2018, Bartow was hired by

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

head coach

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). ...

as an assistant coach to replace the fired David Grace. On December 31, 2018, Bartow was named the interim head coach after Alford was fired in the middle of the 2018–19 season. The Bruins had begun the season 4–0 and ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll, but they lost six of the next nine and finished with a 7–6 record in nonconference play, closing it out with four straight losses. Under Bartow, UCLA opened conference play 2–0 at home against

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

schools

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Emphasizing the team's speed and athleticism, he had the Bruins play more aggressive, trapping and applying pressure on defense and attacking on offense by running on both missed and made baskets. Six Bruins scored in double figures against Cal after five reached the threshold against the Cardinal. In their 13 non-conference games under Alford, UCLA never had more than four double-figure scorers. Bartow compiled a 10–10 record as interim head coach at UCLA, including a 9–9 record in regular season Pac-12 games. The Bruins defeated Stanford in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament before losing to

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

in the quarterfinals. Afterwards, Bartow stated that he was not interested in having his interim tag removed, and expressed optimism that UCLA would "hire a very good coach".

Personal life

Born in

Warrensburg, Missouri Warrensburg is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Missouri, United States. Its population was 20,313 at the 2020 census. The Warrensburg micropolitan statistical area consists of Johnson County. The city is a college town, as it is ...

, Bartow holds a B.A. from

and a master's degree from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. He is married to his wife Tammy (née Earley), and they have 3 children together. His father,

, was a Hall of Fame college basketball coach, coaching UCLA and UAB, among other schools.

Head coaching record

References

External links

East Tennessee State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartow, Murry 1961 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from Missouri Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama College men's basketball head coaches in the United States East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches People from Warrensburg, Missouri Sports coaches from Birmingham, Alabama Truman State University alumni UAB Blazers men's basketball coaches UAB Blazers men's basketball players UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches William & Mary Tribe men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen