Ron Abegglen (August 19, 1937 – December 19, 2018) was a

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.

Professional career

Abegglen was head coach of the

Weber State Wildcats The Weber State Wildcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Weber State University in Ogden, Utah in intercollegiate athletics, sponsoring 16 teams. The Wildcats compete in NCAA Division I FCS and are charter members (1963) of the Big ...

team from 1991 to 1999 and at the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves from 1986 to 1991. At Weber State, he led the Wildcats to an upset of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the first round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament. As of the end of the 2019–20 season, Abegglen is the only coach since the NCAA eliminated first-round byes in 1980 to defeat the Tar Heels in the first round. The Wildcats then pushed

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to overtime before losing 82–74. Four years earlier, Abegglen's Wildcats, a 14-seed, upset

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

79–72 and came within two points of upsetting Georgetown. The 1995 and 1999 upsets the deepest runs by a Big Sky team since

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

reached the Sweet 16 in 1982. In August—just months before the upset of the Tar Heels—Abegglen got in a fight with his then-wife, Nedra, that resulted in Nedra getting a broken wrist. Abegglen was charged with domestic violence. Combined with Weber State already being on NCAA probation after Abegglen was caught giving improper benefits to his players, school president Paul Thompson forced Abegglen to resign at the end of the season regardless of how the Wildcats did on the court. Even after the Wildcats upset North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament, Thompson would not consider allowing Abegglen to return for the 1999–2000 season. Abegglen is the all-time coaching winning percentage leader of the UAA Seawolves with a lifetime record of 109–45 for a .708 winning percentage. His tenure at UAA was highlighted by a 1989 win over the eventual national champion Michigan Wolverines, 70–66. He died on December 19, 2018, aged 81.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1937 births 2018 deaths Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's basketball coaches American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Utah Basketball players from Utah BYU Cougars men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in Utah People from Vernal, Utah Snow Badgers men's basketball coaches Weber State Wildcats men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-basketball-coach-stub