John Powless

John D. Powless (born August 24, 1932) is a retired American basketball and tennis coach at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a current player on the international senior tennis circuit.

Background

Powless was born and raised in Flora, Illinois,^[1] and played on the Flora High School basketball, tennis and football teams. He graduated from Murray State University in 1957 after playing basketball and tennis and still ranks among the school’s all-time greats in both sports. He was one of five charter members in Murray State’s Hall of Fame, which was originated in 1957.^[1]

As a 6'5" sophomore forward in 1955, he led his team to the Kentucky Invitational title. As a tennis player, Powless never lost a tennis match in three years of varsity competition and was the Ohio Valley Conference singles champion all three seasons. He also shared the conference doubles championship all three years and later served six years as captain and coach of the United States Junior Davis Cup team.^[1] Powless lost in the first round of the 1955, 1956, 1962, and 1963 U.S. National Championships, but reached the second round in 1959 and 1964. He defeated US #1 Barry MacKay in the 1960 Atlanta tournament, and won the event.

Career

After graduation, Powless coached at the high school level at Paducah, Kentucky for a year and joined Bud Kennedy as an assistant basketball coach at Florida State University the following year. In 1960, he became freshman coach at the University of Cincinnati and compiled a 36-9 three-year record and a 15–0 record during the 1962–63 season.^[1] Working with head coach Ed Jucker and assistant (and later head) coach Tay Baker, Powless helped the Bearcats post a 78–6 record over three years. During the three years that Powless was at Cincinnati, the Bearcats won two NCAA titles by defeating Ohio State in 1961 and 1962 and finished second to Loyola University Chicago in 1963.^[1]

Powless came to Wisconsin as an assistant under John Erickson in May 1963 and also was Wisconsin's head tennis coach for five seasons, compiling a 52–39 dual meet record. On April 27, 1968, Powless became head basketball coach on the same day that Army head coach Bob Knight declined the offer. During his eight years at Wisconsin, he compiled a record of 88–108.^[2] His best team was his 1973–74 team, which posted a record of 16–8 and had future NBA center Kim Hughes on its roster.

After his career at Wisconsin, Powless owned and operated the John Powless Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin.^[3] He was a basketball and tennis TV analyst and played tennis on the international senior circuit. He also won numerous national and international tennis competitions, including a 1999 U.S. Senior Open singles title. He was the first U.S. senior player to win five consecutive national clay court doubles titles. He has also earned a number one ranking in singles and doubles for men age 55 and older. John is currently ranked the as the world's number one singles player for 75 and over, despite the fact that he has had both knees replaced; one in 2007 and the other in 2008.

Awards

In addition to induction into the Murray State University Hall of Fame (1957), Powless is a member of the University of Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame (2002) as well as the State of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame (2009). He is a 2000 inductee into the USTA/Midwest Tennis Hall of Fame. He is an honorary member of 22 different nations’ tennis associations and was named U.S. “Senior Tennis Player of the Millennium” in 1999.^[3] He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.

Head coaching record

References