| Johnny Orr | |
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| Orr from 1975 Michiganensian
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| Sport(s) | Basketball |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | June 10, 1927 |
| Place of birth | Yale, Kansas |
| Playing career | |
| 1944–1950 | University of Illinois Beloit College St. Louis Bombers Waterloo Hawks |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1950s–1994 | Dubuque Senior High School University of Wisconsin (Assistant) University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Michigan (Assistant and Head) Iowa State University |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | (466–346) (57.11%) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Big Ten Coach of the Year (1974) National Coach of the Year (1976) 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament (2007) |
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John M. "Johnny" Orr (born June 10, 1927) is a retired American basketball player and coach, best known as the head coach of men's basketball at the University of Michigan and at Iowa State University.
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Orr was born in Yale, Kansas. He grew up in the central Illinois town of Taylorville during the Great Depression. Orr attended Taylorville High School under coach Dolph Stanley and in his senior year (1944) led the Tornadoes to a state championship and a 45–0 record, the first team to ever finish a season undefeated in the Illinois High School Association's history.[1] In 2007, Orr was voted one of the "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament," recognizing his superior performance in his appearance in the tournament.[2] After high school Orr went to the University of Illinois and was the youngest freshman to compete in three sports. After joining the United States Navy for the end of World War II, Orr returned to the college game at Beloit College. This reunited him with his high school Dolph Stanley, who had came to Beloit College as athletic director, head basketball and football coach.
Orr was initially drafted in 1948 BAA draft by the Minneapolis Lakers of the Basketball Association of America, the precursor to the NBA. Orr did not play for the Lakers, and was again drafted the next year in the 2nd round by the St. Louis Bombers. In 1950, Orr played 21 games for the Bombers before moving to the Waterloo Hawks for 13 more games.
During the 1950s, Orr was the head coach at Dubuque Senior High School in Dubuque, Iowa.
After a long time as an assistant coach, including at Wisconsin, Orr attained a head coaching position in 1963 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, commonly known as UMass, and guided the team to 15–9 record in 1963–64.
Shortly afterward, Orr moved to the University of Michigan as an assistant under Dave Strack, and was named head coach in 1969. His 1973–74 team made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament and Orr was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. In 1976, Michigan was the NCAA tournament runner-up (to the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers) and Orr was named National Coach of the Year. Orr remains the winningest coach in Michigan history with 209 wins and only 113 losses.
Orr joined the Iowa State Cyclones in 1980. The move came about when the Iowa State Athletic Director called him to inquire about Orr's assistant, Bill Frieder. When Orr learned how much Iowa State was willing to pay Frieder, Orr negotiated the job for himself (Frieder then succeeded Orr at Michigan). In Orr's fifth season in Ames, he led the Cyclones to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 40 years. The following season, Orr's Cyclones reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament with a second round victory over the number five ranked team in the nation, Michigan. Orr claims this was the greatest victory of his career. Orr led Iowa State to four more NCAA tournament berths before retiring from Iowa State in 1994. He remains the winningest coach in Iowa State history with 218 wins and 200 losses.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UMass Minutemen (Yankee Conference) (1963–1966) | |||||||||
| 1963–1964 | UMass | 15–9 | 5–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1964–1965 | UMass | 13–11 | 8–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1965–1966 | UMass | 11–13 | 5–5 | 3rd | |||||
| UMass: | 39–33 | 18–12 | |||||||
| Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Conference) (1968–1980) | |||||||||
| 1968–1969 | Michigan | 13–11 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 1969–1970 | Michigan | 10–14 | 5–9 | T-6th | |||||
| 1970–1971 | Michigan | 19–7 | 12–2 | 2nd | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1971–1972 | Michigan | 14–10 | 9–5 | T-3rd | |||||
| 1972–1973 | Michigan | 13–11 | 6–8 | T-6th | |||||
| 1973–1974 | Michigan | 22–5 | 12–2 | T-1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 1974–1975 | Michigan | 19–8 | 12–6 | 2nd | |||||
| 1975–1976 | Michigan | 25–7 | 14–4 | 2nd | NCAA Runner-Up | ||||
| 1976–1977 | Michigan | 26–4 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 1977–1978 | Michigan | 16–11 | 11–7 | T-4th | |||||
| 1978–1979 | Michigan | 15–12 | 8–10 | 6th | |||||
| 1979–1980 | Michigan | 17–13 | 8–10 | T-6th | NIT 3rd Round | ||||
| Michigan: | 209–113 | 120–72 | |||||||
| Iowa State Cyclones (Big Eight Conference) (1980–1994) | |||||||||
| 1980–1981 | Iowa State | 9–18 | 2–12 | 8th | |||||
| 1981–1982 | Iowa State | 10–17 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1982–1983 | Iowa State | 13–15 | 5–9 | 5th | |||||
| 1983–1984 | Iowa State | 16–13 | 6–8 | T-4th | NIT 1st Round | ||||
| 1984–1985 | Iowa State | 21–13 | 7–7 | T-3rd | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 1985–1986 | Iowa State | 22–11 | 9–5 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1986–1987 | Iowa State | 13–15 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1987–1988 | Iowa State | 20–12 | 6–8 | 5th | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 1988–1989 | Iowa State | 17–12 | 7–7 | T-4th | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 1989–1990 | Iowa State | 10–18 | 4–10 | 6th | |||||
| 1990–1991 | Iowa State | 12–19 | 6–8 | 5th | |||||
| 1991–1992 | Iowa State | 21–13 | 5–9 | T-6th | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
| 1992–1993 | Iowa State | 20–11 | 8–6 | T-2nd | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 1993–1994 | Iowa State | 14–13 | 4–10 | T-6th | |||||
| Iowa State: | 218–200 | 79–117 | |||||||
| Total: | 466–346 | ||||||||
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National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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