Ralph Underhill (August 8, 1941 - September 8, 2011) was an American basketball coach, known for leading Wright State Basketball.[1]
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Erlanger, Kentucky | August 12, 1941
Died | September 8, 2011 | (aged 70)
Alma mater | Tennessee Tech |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1978–1996 | Wright State University |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 356–162 (.687) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
1983 NCAA Division II National Champions | |
Bildung
Underhill graduated from Lloyd High School in Erlanger, Kentucky, where he lettered four times each in basketball, football, track and baseball. He then played collegiate basketball and ran track for Tennessee Tech. As a junior, he was a member of the Tech team that won the Ohio Valley Conference championship.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education from Tennessee Tech in 1964 and earned a Master of Arts degree in guidance and education in 1965 from Western Kentucky, where he worked as a graduate assistant basketball coach.[2]
Early Career
Ralph Underhill was the head coach at Ohio County High School in Hartford, Kentucky and at Louisville Manual High School.
His first collegiate coaching job was as an assistant coach under Ron Shumate at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. [3]
Wright State
Ralph Underhill was the most successful coach in Wright State history, with a career total of 356 wins, including leading the team to a NCAA Division II National Championship in the 1982-83 season.
Hired as head coach for the 1978-79 season, Underhill led the Raiders for 18 season. Including the National Championship, his squads earned a total of 7 Division II regional appearances before taking Wright State up to the Division I level in 1987-88.
He was recognized with three Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year awards and one Division II Coach of the Year award. As good a recruiter as a coach, he had several All-Americans: Roman Welch (1980), Rodney Benson (1981) Gary Monroe (1983), Fred Moore (1984), Mark Vest (1985 and 1986), Grant Marion (1986) and Andy Warner (1986), and one player selected in the NBA draft: Vitaly Potapenko (1996).
His 1993 Wright State Raiders Squad, led by star Bill Edwards, won the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as a 16 seed paired against Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers at the Hoosier Dome.[4]
Hall of Fame
- Mary and Al Schwarz Wright State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003
- Cincinnati Area Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997[5]
Record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wright State University (NCAA Division II) (1978–1987) | |||||||||
1978–79 | Wright State | 20–8 | NCAA Division II Regionals--Second Place | ||||||
1979–80 | Wright State | 25–3 | NCAA Division II Regionals--Third Place | ||||||
1980–81 | Wright State | 25–4 | NCAA Division II Regionals--Third Place | ||||||
1981–82 | Wright State | 22–7 | NCAA Division II Regionals--Third Place | ||||||
1982–83 | Wright State | 28–4 | NCAA Division II National Champions | ||||||
1983–84 | Wright State | 19–9 | |||||||
1984–85 | Wright State | 22–7 | NCAA Division II Regionals--Second Place | ||||||
1985–86 | Wright State | 28–3 | NCAA Division II Regional Champions | ||||||
1986-87 | Wright State | 20–8 | |||||||
Wright State University (NCAA Division I) (1987–1996) | |||||||||
1987–88 | Wright State | 16–11 | Independent | ||||||
1988–89 | Wright State | 17–11 | Independent | ||||||
1989–90 | Wright State | 21–7 | Independent | ||||||
1990–91 | Wright State | 19–9 | Independent | ||||||
1991–92 | Wright State | 15–13 | Mid-Continent Conference | ||||||
1992–93 | Wright State | 20–10 | Mid-Continent Conference | NCAA D-I Tournament | |||||
1993–94 | Wright State | 12–18 | Mid-Continent Conference | ||||||
1994–95 | Wright State | 13–17 | Midwestern Collegiate Conference | MCC Tournament Runner-Up | |||||
1995–96 | Wright State | 14–13 | Midwestern Collegiate Conference | ||||||
Total: | 356–162 (.687) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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References
- ^ "Raiders basketball: Rise to prominence". http://www.xeniagazette.com. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
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"WSU Coaching Great Passes Away". http://wsuraiders.com/news. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
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- ^
"WSU Coaching Great Passes Away". http://wsuraiders.com/news. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
{{cite web}}
: External link in
(help)|publisher=
- ^
"WSU Coaching Great Passes Away". http://wsuraiders.com/news. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
{{cite web}}
: External link in
(help)|publisher=
- ^
"WSU Coaching Great Passes Away". http://wsuraiders.com/news. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
{{cite web}}
: External link in
(help)|publisher=
- ^ "Wright State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Wright State Athletics. 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ^
"WSU Coaching Great Passes Away". http://wsuraiders.com/news. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
{{cite web}}
: External link in
(help)|publisher=