Ned W. Wulk (August 14, 1920 – November 15, 2003) 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 ...

and baseball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at

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

from 1958 to 1982, compiling a record of 406–272. His 406 wins are the most of any head coach history of the

Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball The Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big 12 Conference. The Arizona State Sun Devils hav ...

program. Wells Fargo Arena's basketball court was named after him in 1999. At the time of his 400th victory, he was one of only four active coaches to win 400 or more games at one school. He led Arizona State to 17 winning seasons in his 25 years and a record of 39–15 against rival

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Early life and career

Wulk graduated from the La Crosse State Teachers College (now UW La Crosse) in 1942. There, he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. After working as a high school

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher for several years, he was hired by

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

in fall 1948 to serve as an assistant football coach, assistant basketball coach, and head baseball coach. He was promoted to head basketball coach after three seasons as an assistant.

Arizona State

Under Wulk, Arizona State reached 9 NCAA tournaments, and 3 Elite Eight appearances in 1961, 1963, and 1975. In the 1963 NCAA tournament at Provo, the Sun Devils routed UCLA in a second-round game, 93–79. The Bruins were on the brink of back-to-back national titles in ‘64 and ‘65. And in 1981, Wulk's ASU Sun Devils went to Corvallis on the final day of the regular season and defeated #1 ranked Oregon State by a score of 87–67. Wulk's 1963 team still has the school record for most wins in a season at 26. In the previous season, he set the ASU school record for longest winning streak at 18 games. He led the 1981 ASU Sun Devils of the Pac-10 to the highest national ranking in school history at #3, finishing with a record of 24–4. He was selected as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1980, when ASU finished 21–6, including 15–3 in conference play. He was fired in 1982 after one mediocre season. Wulk was inducted into the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Hall of Fame in 2003.

Head coaching record

Basketball

Baseball

Wulk spent eight seasons as Xavier's baseball coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wulk, Ned 1920 births 2003 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin College men's basketball head coaches in the United States People from Marion, Wisconsin Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles baseball players Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles football players Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles men's basketball players Xavier Musketeers baseball coaches Xavier Musketeers men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen