| John L. Longfellow | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Indiana State |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 2, 1896 |
| Place of birth | Warsaw, Indiana, USA |
| Died | December 10, 1956 (aged 60) |
| Place of death | Terre Haute, Indiana, USA |
| Playing career | |
| 1916–1920 | Manchester |
| Position(s) | Unknown |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1948–1954 | Indiana State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 120-59 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1949 Mid-West Tournament 1950 NAIA State (Indiana) Title 1950 NAIA National Title 1951 Pan-American Games Gold Medal 1952 NAIA Regional Title 1953 NAIA District 21 Title 1954 NAIA District 21 Title |
|
John L. Longfellow (born circa 1896 in Warsaw, Indiana) is a former American basketball player. He was the head men's basketball coach at Indiana State University.
He was an outstanding Indiana high school coach at Hartford City, Leesburg and Nappanee. However, his greatest success came at Elkhart. All told, his teams won over 375 games and 24 state tourney titles in 19 years of coaching.
He moved to Indiana State University, replacing the legendary John Wooden. In his first season, he led the Sycamores to the NAIA National Tournament, finishing 4th. In 1950, the Sycamores won the NAIA National Title. Based on their finish, the eligible (those returning for the next season) Sycamores and Coach Longfellow were invited to represent the United States in the 1951 Pan-American Games. Longfellow served as Co-Head Coach and led the American squad to the Gold Medal, the first of many basketball Gold Medals in the Pan-American Games.
While at Indiana State, he coached some of their most successful players; Duane Klueh, Dick Atha, Don McDonald, Sam Richardson, Clemens "Lenny" Rzeszewski, and Rob Royer. He remains 5th all-time in coaching victories. Heart problems led to his retirement from coaching early in the 1954-55 season, he moved into Athletic Adminstration at Indiana State.
He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1960;[1] the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1967; the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.[2] In 2000, his 1949-50 NAIA National Title Team was inducted into the Indiana State University Hall of Fame in 1984.[2]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana State (IIC, ICC) (1948–1954) | |||||||||
| 1948–1949 | Indiana State | 24-8 | 7-1 | unknown | 1949 NAIA National Semi-finals | ||||
| 1949–1950 | Indiana State | 27-8 | 7-2 | unknown | 1950 NAIA NATIONAL TITLE | ||||
| 1950–1951 | Indiana State | 15-10 | 8-4 | unknown | none | ||||
| 1951–1952 | Indiana State | 19-10 | 7-5 | unknown | 1952 NAIA 2nd Round | ||||
| 1952–1953 | Indiana State | 23-8 | 8-4 | unknown | 1953 NAIA National Semi-finals | ||||
| 1953–1954 | Indiana State | 12-15 | 5-7 | unknown | 1954 NAIA 1st Round | ||||
| 1954–1955 | Indiana State | 2-5 | 1-1 | unknown | none | ||||
| Indiana State: | 122-64 (.656) | 43-24 (.642) | |||||||
| Total: | 122-64 (.656) | ||||||||
|
National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
|||||||||
|
|||||