William Henry Blair Jr. (born May 17, 1942[1]) is an American retired basketball coach and player. Blair attended the Virginia Military Institute for college basketball. As team captain of the Keydets, he helped lead the team to their first Southern Conference championship in 1964, which saw them attend their first ever NCAA Tournament. He was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in 1964 but did not play. He became a coach in 1967 and was hired by VMI to serve on their staff in 1970 and became their head coach in 1972. After three middling seasons, he led them to a conference championship in 1976 that saw then go to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. He left for the University of Colorado after the season ended. He coached five seasons before he was fired.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 17, 1942 Hazard, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Randolph-Macon Academy (Front Royal, Virginia) |
| College | VMI (1961–1964) |
| NBA draft | 1964: 4th round, 97th overall pick |
| Selected by the St. Louis Hawks | |
| Coaching career | 1967–2001 |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1967–1969 | E.C. Glass HS (assistant) |
| 1969–1970 | George Wythe HS |
| 1970–1972 | VMI (assistant) |
| 1972–1976 | VMI |
| 1976–1981 | Colorado |
| 1981–1983 | New Jersey Nets (assistant) |
| 1983 | New Jersey Nets |
| 1983–1985 | Chicago Bulls (assistant) |
| 1986–1991 | Washington Bullets (assistant) |
| 1991–1993 | Indiana Pacers (assistant) |
| 1993–1995 | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 1996–1998 | Indiana Pacers (assistant) |
| 1999–2001 | Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant) |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Blair then worked twenty seasons in the National Basketball Association, beginning in New Jersey with the New Jersey Nets, and continuing to the Chicago Bulls, under Kevin Loughery, helping to draft Michael Jordan. He then moved to the Washington Bullets under Wes Unseld, and next the Indiana Pacers under Larry Brown—coaching spectacular teams with Reggie Miller at the helm. In 1993, he became the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, then returned to the Pacers, and finally finished his career under Randy Whitman at the Cleveland Cavaliers.[2]
Head coaching record
editCollege
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VMI Keydets (Southern Conference) (1972–1976) | |||||||||
| 1972–73 | VMI | 7–19 | 3–9 | 8th | |||||
| 1973–74 | VMI | 6–18 | 3–9 | 7th | |||||
| 1974–75 | VMI | 13–13 | 6–6 | T–4th | |||||
| 1975–76 | VMI | 22–10 | 9–3 | 1st | NCAA Elite 8 | ||||
| VMI: | 48–60 | 21–27 | |||||||
| Colorado Buffaloes (Big Eight Conference) (1976–1981) | |||||||||
| 1976–77 | Colorado | 11–16 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1977–78 | Colorado | 9–18 | 3–11 | 8th | |||||
| 1978–79 | Colorado | 14–13 | 4–10 | 8th | |||||
| 1979–80 | Colorado | 17–10 | 7–7 | 5th | |||||
| 1980–81 | Colorado | 16–12 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| Colorado: | 67–69 | 24–46 | |||||||
| Total: | 115–129 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
NBA
edit| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 1982–83 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3rd in Atlantic | – | – | – | – | L New York 0–2 |
| Minnesota | 1994–95 | 82 | 21 | 61 | .256 | 6th in Midwest | – | – | – | – | Missed playoffs |
| Minnesota | 1995–96 | 20 | 6 | 14 | .300 | (fired) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Career | 108 | 29 | 79 | .269 | – | – | – | – |
References
edit- ^ Marcus, Jeff (28 April 2003). Biographical Directory of Professional Basketball Coaches. Scarecrow press. ISBN 9781461726531.
- ^ Bill Blair – Basketball-Reference
- ^ 2013–14 VMI Basketball Fact Book
- ^ Colorado Buffaloes – All-time Results Archived 2014-07-03 at the Wayback Machine