Former Coaches Profiles

HEAD COACH BURKE HERMANN

Years: 1916, 1916-17 & 1919-32 (15) Record: 148-73 (.669)

Burke M. “Dutch” Hermann, Penn State’s first basketball coach, retired in 1956, after a nearly 50-year affiliation with the University. A 1912 Penn State graduate, Hermann guided the Nittany Lions from 1916 until 1932, with the exception of two years of service as a lieutenant during World War I. The team did not have a coach in 1918, however; Hugo Bezdek served as coach in 1919. Hermann also served as freshman football coach during those years.

Hermann, who hailed from Middleburg, Pa., lettered four years in basketball, served as captain in 1910 and lettered as a football player in 1911. He compiled a record of 148-73 during 15 seasons as head basketball coach. Hermann’s teams were especially dominating over a six-year period from the start of the 1919-20 season through the ’24-25 season. The Lions were 73-13 during that stretch and, in 1921, outscored their opponents by a two-to-one margin.

As a professor of history, Hermann served on Penn State’s Athletic Advisory Board for many years. He was awarded the Lion’s Paw Medal by that organization’s Alumni Association in 1968. Hermann died in 1977.

HEAD COACH HUGO BEZDEK

Year: 1919 (1) Record: 11-2 (.846)

Hugo Bezdek, a native of Prague, Czechoslovakia, earned numerous accolades as Penn State’s football coach from 191829. He also served as athletic director from 1918-36, and directed the basketball team for one season (1919) while thenhead coach Burke Hermann served during WWI.

Bezdek’s 1919 Penn State team went 11-2 and finished the year with eight straight wins.

As athletic director, Bezdek initiated fund raising in 1918 to build Rec Hall and 10 years later the building was constructed for $572,260.

Bezdek gained All-America status at Chicago, where he was a fullback in football and a second baseman on the baseball team. His collegiate coaching experience included head football coaching jobs at Oregon (1906, 13-17), where his team defeated Pennsylvania, 14-0, in the 1917 Rose Bowl, and Arkansas (1908-12). He also managed the Pittsburgh Pirates major league baseball club (1917-19).

Bezdek, who died in 1952, posted a 65-30-11 record during 12 seasons as head football coach at Penn State. He was named to the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 and the Helms Foundation College Hall of Fame in 1960.

HEAD COACH EARL LESLIE

Years: 1933-36 (4) Record: 29-28 (.509)

A 1922 graduate of the University of Oregon, Earl “Spike” Leslie coached the Penn State basketball team for four seasons from 1933-36. A three-year football letterman at Oregon (1919-21), he was named to the Pacific Coast Conference first team as a tackle in 1920. Leslie earned his master’s degree from Columbia.

Despite reduced schedules in 1933 and 1934, Leslie’s first two teams posted winning records. His 1934-35 outfit raced out to an 8-3 start, before dropping its final six games. In 1935-36, Penn State joined the “fast” Eastern Intercollegiate Conference and went 0-10, 6-11 overall.

Highlights during Leslie’s tenure included four straight wins over Army and a rare road win at Pennsylvania. He achieved a composite mark of 29-28.

Leslie returned to Oregon as a teacher and coach at Coquille High School, southwest of Eugene. He remained in that capacity until he died on Oct. 12, 1957. The Coquille football stadium is named in his honor.

HEAD COACH JOHN LAWTHER

Years: 1937-49 (13) Record: 150-93 (.617) NCAA tournament: 1-1

Raised on a farm in Carroll County, Ohio, John Lawther earned national recognition as one of the leading proponents of zone defenses during 23 seasons as a coach at Westminster College and Penn State.

A 1919 Westminster graduate, Dr. Lawther retired from the Penn State faculty in 1965 following a long and distinguished career in secondary and higher education. As basketball coach from 1937 until 1949, he compiled a 150-93 record. Lawther’s first team posted a 6-4 Eastern Conference mark after a 0-10 league slate the previous year. His 1942 team went 18-3 and advanced to the NCAA East Regional, defeating Big Ten champ Illinois.

Lawther had a great running feud with animated Pittsburgh coach Doc Carlson, who despised the zone which Lawther favored. When the two teams met Jan. 15, 1944, in the Steel City, Pittsburgh froze the ball and the resulting 15-12 Penn State win grabbed national headlines. Great anticipation surrounded the rematch as Carlson attacked the Lions’ zone and lost, 35-29.

In 10 seasons at Westminster, Lawther’s teams compiled an impressive 166-35 mark. His most memorable moment coaching the Titans came on Dec. 29, 1934, when he guided them to a 3733 win over undefeated St. John’s in the first college basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden.

PSU’s wartime coach, Lawther was elected to the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame in 1962 and is a member of the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame. Lawther’s winning percentage (317127, 71.4 percent) still ranks among the top 50 all-time in

HEAD COACH ELMER GROSS

Years: 1950-54 (5) Record: 80-40 (.667) NCAA Tournament: 2 (4-3) 1954 FINAL FOUR

Munhall, Pa., native Elmer Gross served as John Lawther’s assistant for four years and assumed the head coaching position from Lawther following the 1948-49 season. Captain of Penn State’s 1942 NCAA team, Gross directed the Nittany Lions to an 80-40 record and two NCAA Tournament berths. He used Lawther’s sliding-zone defense and added a fast-break offense which saw the Nittany Lions top 1,000 points for the first time in 1950.

His 1954 squad, paced by All-America center Jesse Arnelle, placed third in the NCAA Tournament, finishing No. 9 in the final AP poll. The Lions shocked eighth-ranked Louisiana State and ended Notre Dame’s 18-game winning streak to advance to Kansas City for the Final Four. Gross was praised for masterful use of his bench and a full-court press which confused tourney opponents. Penn State has had two teams finish in the nation’s Top 10 (1942: No. 10 Dunkel Index) and Gross was a key figure on both.

A World War II Purple Heart veteran, Gross was wounded in 1944, following one of the early amphibious landings on the coast of France. He returned to PSU as a graduate assistant coach in 1945 and earned his master’s degree in 1947. He was the first coach in NCAA tourney history (1952) to also have

HEAD COACH JOHN EGLI

Years: 1955-68 (14) Record: 187-135 (.581) Postseason: 2 NCAA (1-3), 1 NIT (0-1)

The all-time winningest coach in Penn State basketball history, John Egli, like his predecessor, Elmer Gross, was a John Lawther disciple. In 14 seasons at the helm, Egli guided the Nittany Lions to an overall mark of 187-135, including NCAA bids in 1955 and 1965 and an NIT berth in 1966. A native of Williamsport, Pa., Egli was a co-captain on the 1943 Penn State basketball team and was named to the NCAA East Regional all-tournament team in 1942.

Egli entered military service in 1943. He received the Purple Heart after being wounded at Bastogne on Christmas Day, 1944, and was hospitalized in England for six months. In 1947, he was appointed instructor of physical education and director of the intramural and varsity athletic programs at Penn State-DuBois.

Two years later, Egli was named assistant coach at University Park under Elmer Gross. After five seasons, he was elevated to head coach in 1954-55. His first team topped 2,000 points for the first time in school history. He was one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the tactics and strategy of the zone defense. His teams ran off a string of 15-5, 16-7, 20-4 and 18-6 records between 1963 and 1966.

In 1962, Egli presented the sliding zone defense at the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention in Louisville, Ky. Four years later, he was installed as the fourth vice president of the NABC. His book, Sliding Zone Defenses for Winning Basketball, still is used by many coaches. Egli died in 1982; he was posthumously inducted into the Pennsylvania and Clearfield County Sports Halls of Fame.

HEAD COACH JOHN BACH

Years: 1969-78 (10) Record: 122-121 (.502)

A 1948 Fordham graduate, John Bach was considered one of the giants in the coaching profession. He arrived at Penn State in 1968, after 18 seasons as head coach and 11 years as athletic director at his alma mater. A schoolboy star at St. John’s Prep in Brooklyn, N.Y., Bach’s collegiate playing career was interrupted by World War II and four years of service as a Naval officer.

He played two seasons of professional basketball with the Boston Celtics and Hartford before returning to Fordham as head coach. He guided the Rams to an overall mark of 292-193 and appearances in two NCAA Tournaments and five NITs.

At Penn State, Bach’s teams were renowned for their pressure man-to-man defense with four squads ranked in the nation’s top 20 in scoring defense. His teams posted back-to-back records of 17-8 and 15-8 in 1972 and 1973 respectively, behind Brooklyn native Ron Brown. He coached Penn State through 1977-78.

Bach served as Henry Iba’s assistant at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, when the U.S. lost the controversial title game to the Soviet Union. Following a stint as head coach of the Golden State Warriors (1983-86), he served as an assistant coach to Phil Jackson and the three-time NBA champion (1991-93) Chicago Bulls. Bach was inducted into the NIT Hall of Fame in March, 1995. He passed away in January 2016 at the age of 91.

HEAD COACH DICK HARTER

Years: 1979-83 (5) Record: 79-61 (.564) Postseason: NIT (0-1)

Dick Harter sparked a rebirth of basketball at Penn State when he was appointed head coach in 1978. He directed the Nittany Lions to the 1980 NIT, the school’s first postseason appearance in 14 years.

A native of Pottstown, Pa., Harter served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years following graduation from Pennsylvania in 1953. He was the freshman athletic director at Penn for seven years (1958-65) before a one-year stint as head basketball coach at Rider, producing a 16-9 season. Harter returned to Penn as head coach for the 1966-67 school year and in five seasons fashioned an 88-44 mark, including a 25-2 NCAA team in 1970 and a 28-1 NCAA squad in 1971.

He left Penn for Oregon in 1971 and in six seasons in Eugene guided the Ducks to a 113-81 mark and three NIT appearances. He joined the NBA coaching ranks as an assistant to Chuck Daly with the Detroit Pistons, and later became the first head coach of the Charlotte Hornets (1988-89). He passed away in March 2012 at the age of 81.

HEAD COACH BRUCE PARKHILL

Years: 1984-95 (12) Record: 181-169 (.517) Postseason: 1 NCAA (1-1); 4 NIT (9-4)

A State College native, Bruce Parkhill directed Penn State into a new era — the Big Ten Conference. His patience was rewarded between 1989-92 when his teams compiled an overall mark of 87-40 and advanced to post-season play each year. His third Big Ten team finished 21-11 in 1994-95.

He began his coaching career in 1972 as a graduate assistant at Virginia after starring in three sports at Lock Haven University. At age 28, Parkhill was named head coach at William & Mary and in six seasons registered an 89-75 mark.

He was appointed head coach at Penn State prior to the 1983-84 season. Building from the bottom, his Nittany Lion teams demonstrated steady progress, going 53-84 in his first five seasons and then improving to 20-12, 25-9, 21-11 and 218. In 1990, Parkhill was named Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year and the Lions went on to place third in the National Invitation Tournament. His 1991 club captured the Atlantic 10 championship and stunned UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. All 43 seniors who played for Parkhill at Penn State graduated. He resigned on Sept. 6, 1995. Parkhill is second in Penn State history in coaching wins.

HEAD COACH JERRY DUNN

Years: 1996-2003 (8) Record: 117-121 (.492) Postseason: 2 NCAA (2-2); 2 NIT (8-2)

Jerry Dunn became the 10th head coach in Penn State history just before the start of the 1995-96 season. A long-time assistant under Bruce Parkhill, Dunn stepped in and guided Penn State to the NCAA Tournament and its first top 10 national ranking in his first season. He was the NABC District 3 Coach of the Year that season after the Lions were 21-7 that season, finishing a school best 12-6 in Big Ten play.

In 1997-98, Dunn guided Penn State to an 8-8 Big Ten finish and a superb post-season run that culminated with a spot in the NIT final. He became the fastest coach in Penn State history to reach 50 career wins as the Lions ended the year 19-13. Two years later, Penn State advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and once again earned a trip to Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals. The Nittany Lions went 19-16 that season.

The 2000-01 season was a special and historic one for Penn State as the Nittany Lions again advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Penn State, the No. 7 seed, downed No. 10 Providence in the first round before shocking No. 2 seed North Carolina in the next round. Perhaps the biggest win in school history, the victory vaulted Penn State to its first-ever appearance in the ‘modern day’ NCAA Sweet 16. The Lions ended that campaign 21-12 and earned a postseason top-25 ranking (No. 25 Coaches Poll). He resigned on March 17, 2003.

HEAD COACH ED DeCHELLIS

Years: 2004-2011 (8) Record: 114-138 (.452) Postseason: 1 NCAA (0-1); 2 NIT (5-1) 2009 NIT CHAMPIONS

Ed DeChellis became the 11th head coach in PSU history prior to the start of the 2003-04 season after a successful sevenyear stint at East Tennessee State. An assistant coach at Penn State for 10 years under Bruce Parkhill and then Jerry Dunn, DeChellis guided the Lions to their first national tournament title (2009 NIT) and three postseason appearances, including the program’s first NCAA appearance in a decade in 2011. The 2009 Big Ten Coach of the Year led his teams in posting a schoolrecord 27 wins in 2009 and reached the program’s first Big Ten Tournament Championship game in 2011.

DeChellis recruited and coached Penn State’s first three members of the Big Ten All-Freshman team, including 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jamelle Cornley. He also brought in Talor Battle who would go on to become Penn State’s all-time leading scorer with 2,213 points and the fourth player in NCAA history to record 2,000 points, 600 rebounds and 500 assists.

A graduate of Penn State (1982), DeChellis survived a battle with bladder cancer during his tenure and was a driving force pushing Penn State’s Coaches vs. Cancer program to more than $1.5 million in funds raised by the end of his tenure. DeChellis was named the 2006 National Coaches vs. Cancer Man of the Year as he turned the Penn State program into one of the top five CVC programs in the nation. The yearly total marked more than a $100,000 increase in funds raised prior to his taking over as Penn State-CVC committee chairman. DeChellis left Penn State on May 23, 2011 to become head coach at the United States Naval Academy.

HEAD COACH PATRICK CHAMBERS

Years: 2012-2020 (9) Record: 148-150 (.492) Postseason: 1 NIT (5-0); 1 CBI (1-1) 2018 NIT CHAMPIONS

Named the 12th head coach of the Nittany Lion basketball program in June 2011, Patrick Chambers stands fifth on Penn State's all-time wins list with 148 and his 56 conference wins are the most in the program's Big Ten era.

During the 2019-20 season, Chambers directed Penn State to a 21-10 record, its second 20-win season in three years, and the senior class became the winningest class in the Big Ten era with 76 victories. The 2019-20 Nittany Lions also earned the first Associated Press poll ranking since 1996, rising as high as No. 9.

Overall, Chambers and the Nittany Lions recorded 18 wins over opponents ranked in the AP Top 25, most in program history, including three wins over top-five teams.