Bill Blair (basketball)

Bill Blair
Personal information
Born	May 17, 1942 Hazard, Kentucky
Nationality	American
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 / Round: 4
Selected by the St. Louis Hawks
Coaching career	1967–2001
Career history
As coach:
1967–1969	EC Glass (Assistant)
1969–1970	Wythe (Head Coach)
1970–1972	VMI (assistant)
1972–1976	VMI (Head Coach)
1976–1981	Colorado (Head Coach)
1981–1983	New Jersey Nets (assistant)
1983	New Jersey Nets (Head Coach)
1983–1985	Chicago Bulls (assistant)
1986–1991	Washington Bullets (assistant)
1991–1993	Indiana Pacers (assistant)
1993-1995	Minnesota Timberwolves (Head Coach)
1996–1998	Indiana Pacers (assistant)
1999–2001	Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)

William Henry "Bill" Blair, Jr. (born May 17, 1942^[1]) is an American retired basketball coach. Blair 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 went back to the Pacers, and finally finished his career under Randy Whitman (current Washington Wizards coach) at the Cleveland Cavaliers. ^[2]

Blair is a 1960 graduate of Randolph-Macon Academy where he starred on the best basketball team the school ever had. He made the starting 5 as a sophomore and was the high scorer his senior year in a season when they lost only one game which he and three other starters missed. When next they played the same school they doubled their opponent's point total. He scored 49 points in one game which is the school record. He played college ball at VMI where he led them to their first NCAA appearance in 32 years as their high scorer. In 1964 Blair was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in the 4th round.^[3] While in the Army serving in Korea, he played AND coached the 8th Army Division team which won the Korean championship and the Asian-Pacific Championship in Okinawa. He toured with the Army All Star team.

After two stints at VA high schools, he went back to VMI as an assistant, then a head coach. Blair led the Keydets to an NCAA tournament berth and an Elite 8 appearance.^[4] After a five-year stint with the Colorado Buffaloes, he moved on to the NBA. He is now retired and enjoying life with his family.

Head coaching record

College

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 Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

^[4]^[5]

NBA

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss %
Post season	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	–	–	–	–	Missed playoffs
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

↑ Marcus, Jeff (28 April 2003). Biographical Directory of Professional Basketball Coaches. Scarecrow press. ISBN 9781461726531. |accessdate= requires |url= (help)
↑ Bill Blair – Basketball-Reference
↑ 1964 NBA Draft
↑ 4.0 4.1 2013–14 VMI Basketball Fact Book
↑ Colorado Buffaloes – All-time Results

VMI Keydets basketball head coaches

Pete Krebs (1908–1909)
F. J. Pratt (1909–1910)
J. Mitchell (1910–1911)
Alpha Brummage (1911–1913)
W. C. Raftery (1913–1914)
Frank Gorton (1914–1917)
Earl Abell (1917–1919)
Pinky Spruhan (1919–1922)
W. C. Raftery (1922–1934)
Frank Summers (1934–1936)
Allison Hubert (1936–1937)
Albert Elmore (1937–1938)
Jimmy Walker (1938–1942)
Allison Hubert (1942–1943)
Joe Daher (1943–1945)
Jay McWilliams (1945–1946)
Lloyd Roberts (1946–1947)
Frank Summers (1947–1949)
Bill O'Hara (1949–1952)
Chuck Noe (1952–1955)
Jack Null (1955–1958)
Weenie Miller (1958–1964)
Gary McPherson (1964–1969)
Mike Schuler (1969–1972)
Bill Blair (1972–1976)
Charlie Schmaus (1976–1982)
Marty Fletcher (1982–1986)
Joe Cantafio (1986–1994)
Bart Bellairs (1994–2005)
Duggar Baucom (2005–2015)
Dan Earl (2015– )

Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball head coaches

No coach (1901–1906)
Frank Castleman (1906–1912)
John McFadden (1912–1914)
James N. Ashmore (1914–1917)
Bob Evans (1917–1918)
Enoch J. Mills (1918–1924)
Howard Beresford (1924–1933)
Henry Iba (1933–1934)
Dutch Clark (1934–1935)
Frosty Cox (1935–1942)
No team (1942–1944)
Frosty Cox (1944–1950)
Bebe Lee (1950–1956)
Sox Walseth (1956–1976)
Bill Blair (1976–1981)
Tom Apke (1981–1986)
Tom Miller (1986–1990)
Joe Harrington (1990–1996)
Ricardo Patton (1996–2007)
Jeff Bzdelik (2007–2010)
Tad Boyle (2010– )

Brooklyn Nets head coaches

Max Zaslofsky (1967–1969)
York Larese (1969–1970)
Lou Carnesecca (1970–1973)
Kevin Loughery (1973–1980)
Bob MacKinnon # (1980–1981)
Larry Brown (1981–1983)
Bill Blair # (1983)
Stan Albeck (1983–1985)
Dave Wohl (1985–1987)
Bob MacKinnon (1987–1988)
Willis Reed (1988–1989)
Bill Fitch (1989–1992)
Chuck Daly (1992–1994)
Butch Beard (1994–1996)
John Calipari (1996–1999)
Don Casey (1999–2000)
Byron Scott (2000–2004)
Lawrence Frank (2004–2009)
Tom Barrise # (2009)
Kiki Vandeweghe # (2009–2010)
Avery Johnson (2010–2012)
P. J. Carlesimo # (2012–2013)
Jason Kidd (2013–2014)
Lionel Hollins (2014–)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Minnesota Timberwolves head coaches

Bill Musselman (1989–1991) Jimmy Rodgers (1991–1993) Sidney Lowe (1993–1994) Bill Blair (1994–1995) Flip Saunders (1995–2005) Kevin McHale # (2005) Dwane Casey (2005–2007) Randy Wittman (2007–2008) Kevin McHale # (2008–2009) Kurt Rambis (2009–2011) Rick Adelman (2011–2014) Flip Saunders (2014– ) Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.