Duane Klueh obit

Beloved ISU Legend Duane Klueh Passes Away at 98

 

He was not on the list.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State University is mourning the loss of Duane Klueh '49, a legendary alum and professor emeritus of Indiana State. He was a former basketball and tennis star, a coach, and an associate professor of Physical Education. Klueh's influence on the University, both on and off the court, will be remembered. He was 98 years old.

Born in Bottineau, North Dakota, and raised in Terre Haute, Klueh came to Indiana State University in 1946. He will be remembered as one of the all-time greatest basketball players in university history. He played for Indiana State Teachers College from 1946 to 1949 under coaches John Wooden and John Longfellow. In 1948, the Helms Foundation named him the National Player of the Year and an All-American. 

Drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1949, Klueh played two seasons in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets and Fort Wayne Pistons. In 1955, He returned to his alma mater to coach basketball and tennis, earning four Indiana Collegiate Conference "Coach of the Year" awards in basketball and serving as president of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Basketball Coaches. Klueh coached 12 seasons for Indiana State (1955-1967). 

Interim Athletic Director Angie Lansing expressed her sympathy, sharing, "We are deeply saddened to hear of Coach Klueh's passing. He was one of the finest coaches and people to have ever lived. Those who had a chance to know him were blessed beyond measure. We are thinking of his family and the Sycamore community at this time."

Duane was a charter inductee into the Indiana State University Hall of Fame (1982) and is only one of five male basketball athletes to have a jersey, #54, retired by Indiana State University. He was also a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (1988), the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame (2006), and the NAIA Hall of Fame (1955). In April, it was announced he would be inducted into the 2024 class of the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Klueh received ISU's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1990 and the March On! Award for philanthropy in 2014. He was inducted into the inaugural Indiana State University Hall of Fame class in 1982, and the Duane Klueh Tennis Complex on Indiana State's campus was named in his honor in 2003. In 2021, he established the Duane and Mary Alice Klueh Endowment to support the men's basketball program. His legacy at Indiana State University will be fondly remembered and deeply missed.

Arrangements for services are pending and will be shared at a later time.

 

Career history

As player:

1949–1950            Denver Nuggets

1950–1951            Fort Wayne Pistons

As coach:

1955–1967            Indiana State

Career highlights and awards

As player:

Consensus second-team All-American (1948)

NAIA tournament MVP (1948)

No. 54 retired by Indiana State Sycamores

As coach:

 

4× ICC Coach of the Year (1959, 1963, 1966, 1967)

2× ICC champion (1965–1966; 1966–1967)