Marv Harshman obit

Legendary Washington basketball coach Marv Harshman dead at 95

 

He was not on the list.

Marv Harshman, a hall of fame basketball coach who led the Huskies and the Cougars in his 40-year career, died Friday morning. He was 95.

A Northwest legend, Harshman started as a multi-sport coach at Pacific Lutheran University before moving on to Washington State and the University of Washington, where he found fame and acclaim.

It was at UW that Harshman coached current Husky coach Lorenzo Romar, NBA standout Detlef Schremf and more than a dozen other NBA draftees before being forced into retirement in 1985. His career ended with repeat Pac-10 Championships, and he was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1984.

"We lost a great one this morning," Romar wrote on Twitter.

At 90, Harshman traveled to Springfield, Mass., where he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. For years he also was a regular at college games and the annual state high school basketball tournaments. Harshman was longtime friends with UCLA coaching legend John Wooden, who died in 2010 at age 99.

Born Oct. 4, 1917, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Harshman moved to the Northwest as a child and graduated from Lake Stevens High School, according to a UW statement. He lettered 13 times in four sports while at PLU, graduating in 1942. He served the next three years for the U.S. Navy before returning to PLU to coach.

Harshman coached at PLU from 1946 until 1958, when he moved to Wazzu. He left WSU in 1971 for UW, where he earned a 246-146 record before retiring.

In that time, Harshman also led the United States to a gold medal in the 1975 Pan American Games, and was named Seattle’s sportsman of the year for the achievement. He served on the U.S. Olympic Committee for five years.

Harshman was 68 when he was forced to retire by UW President William Gerberding, after the 1985 season when the Huskies were 22-10. In his final five seasons in Seattle, Harshman's teams compiled a 95-55 record.

In a statement Friday, Romar said Harshman has a national reputation and legacy.

"You're talking about coaching at PLU, Washington State and Washington, and his own background as an athlete - he was just a household name," Romar said, according to a UW statement.

"I've gone to many banquets and award shows where he was being honored and he just was revered by so many people; everyone from Bobby Knight to Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and on and on and on. I could always say I played for Marv Harshman and right away those great ones know who he is -- not just in the state of Washington."

After retirement, Harshman wrote an autobiography, called high school games for KOMO/4 and stumped for Romar, whom Harshman supported publicly even before he was hired on at UW in 2002.

Speaking with the Seattle P-I in 2007, Harshman said he preferred to coach football, as he did along with basketball in his early days at PLU. A transfer to Washington State University in 1958 saw Harshman focus solely on basketball, but the former All-America fullback still missed the gridiron.

"I really like football the best, liked to coach it the best," Harshman said. "My first major job was with Washington State in basketball. Somebody said I should have waited to see if I could get a job in football."

In January 2008, "Marv Harshman Court" was unveiled at UW. In addition to the naming of Harshman Court, a committee of former players, chaired by Steve Hawes, raised more than a half million dollars to endow a scholarship in Harshman's name.

"This is such an honor. I am humbled and proud," Harshman said during that 2008 ceremony. "I have been fortunate to have been touched by so many great people, from former players to my fellow coaches and so many great friends over the years."

Harshman remained healthy well into his 80s, suffering a heart problem at 83. Near his 90th birthday, he guessed he had another 10 years left.

On Friday, SportsPressNW.com reported Harshman had been in failing health prior to his death at a Tacoma assisted living home.

Details of a memorial were not yet available Friday afternoon.  Follow this link to read more about Harshman from a 2007 profile by former P-I reporter Dan Raley.

He attended Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, where he lettered thirteen times in four sports and graduated in 1942. Harshman served three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then returned to PLU to coach. A fullback, he was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the fifteenth round (134th overall) of the 1942 NFL Draft.

While at his alma mater (1945–58), Harshman was also the head football coach from 1951 to 1957, compiling a 27–26–2 (.509) record, and also led the baseball team for the last five seasons. He moved east to Washington State University in Pullman in 1958 to succeed Jack Friel and coached the Cougars for 13 seasons. When Husky head coach Tex Winter left for the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1971, Harshman moved across the state to the University of Washington in Seattle. He compiled a 637–444 (.589) overall record. Pressured by the university administration to step down, Harshman involuntarily retired from coaching at age 67 in 1985, following consecutive conference titles and NCAA tournament appearances.

“He was probably the most versatile athlete Pacific Lutheran ever enrolled,” said Jim Van Beek, who played under Harshman at PLU. “He was the best example of a multi-sport athlete that PLU ever had.”

“He was first-team All-America in football and first-team All-America in basketball,” former assistant Jud Heathcote added at the service. Heathcote joked, “But there weren’t really that many Americans back then.”

Saturday’s memorial service, which began with the sound of a bouncing basketball, a referee’s shrill whistle, and son Dave donning a funny-nose-and-glasses disguise, also included speakers Bob Houbregs, Detlef Schrempf, Hugh Campbell, Bud Norris and Steve Hawes, all of whom delivered remarks before and after video slide shows chronicling Harshman’s four-decade career.

 

Playing career

1938–1942            Pacific Lutheran

 

Coaching career (HC unless noted)

Basketball

1945–1958            Pacific Lutheran

1958–1971            Washington State

1971–1985            Washington

Football

1951–1957            Pacific Lutheran

Baseball

1954–1958            Pacific Lutheran

Head coaching record

Overall 637–444 (basketball)

27–28–2 (football)

32–60 (baseball)

Tournaments            Basketball

2–3 (NCAA Division I)

1–2 (NIT)

Accomplishments and honors

Championships

Basketball

4 Evergreen (1955–1958)

2 Pac-10 regular season (1984, 1985)

 

Football

2 Evergreen (1951–1952)

Awards

 

Basketball

Coach Wooden "Keys to Life" Award (1998)

2× Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1982, 1984)

NABC Coach of the Year (1984)

Records

 

Military career

Allegiance         United States

Service/branch  United States Navy

Years of service  1942–1945

Battles/wars            World War II

 

Basketball Hall of Fame

Inducted in 1985

College Basketball Hall of Fame

Inducted in 2006