Hall Of Fame Bio

Henry P. “Hank” Iba is considered one of the best basketball coaches of all time. As a three-time leader of the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team, Iba is the only coach in history to win two Olympic gold medals. He also led Oklahoma State University’s men’s basketball team for 36 years, where he won back-to-back national championships in 1945 and 1946, as well as 15 conference titles. Born in Easton, Missouri, Iba played baseball, basketball, football and track growing up. He began coaching a high school basketball team, then took over the program at his alma mater, Maryville Teachers College. Iba not only served as basketball coach for OSU, but was also the baseball coach and athletic director. As the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball head coach, Iba led his teams to gold at the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 and the Mexico City 1968 Games. In his third Games, Iba and the Americans lost to the Soviet team in a highly controversial game where the clock was reset multiple times in the final seconds. The U.S. team refused to accept its silver medals. In 1959, the United States Basketball Writers Association established the annual Henry Iba Award to recognize the country’s best college basketball coach. Iba passed away on Jan. 15, 1993, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, due to heart failure.

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