Hec Edmundson
Clarence "Hec" Edmundson | |
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Sport(s) | Basketball, Track & Field |
Biographical details | |
Born |
Moscow, Idaho, U.S. | August 3, 1886
Died |
August 6, 1964 78) Seattle, Washington | (aged
Alma mater |
University of Idaho, B.S. (agriculture), 1910 [1] |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Basketball 1916β18 1920β47 Track & Field 1913-15 1916 1917-18 1919 1920-54 |
Idaho Washington Idaho Whitman Idaho Texas A&M Washington |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 879β254 (.776) |
Clarence Sinclair "Hec" Edmundson (August 3, 1886 β August 6, 1964) was a college basketball and track head coach.
A native of Moscow, Idaho, and a 1910 graduate of the University of Idaho,[1] Edmundson coached at his alma mater (1916β18) and the University of Washington (1920β47), compiling a 508β204 (.713) overall record in 29 seasons.[2]
Edmundson also coached the track teams and served on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee from 1941-46. The University of Washington hosted the national basketball finals in 1949 and 1952 in the arena that bears his name.[2]
Nickname
Edmundson gained his nickname from his mother: as a child he often muttered, "Oh, heck."[3][4]
Collegiate and Olympic career
One of the first great athletes at the fledgling University of Idaho in Moscow, Edmundson competed in track for his hometown university, and launched the team onto the national stage when he and two other athletes traveled to the Lewis and Clark Exposition Games against the top schools in the Northwest.[5] While still in high school at the UI prep school, he lowered the Northwest record for the half-mile in June 1905.[6][7]
Newspapers wrote that Edmundson "impressed with his graceful form and unfaltering determination." He is responsible for organizing the Idaho cross country team in 1908, which set the foundation for a team that would win nine Pacific Coast Conference titles. In 1908, Edmundson traveled to Stanford for the western U.S. Olympic trials, where he won the 800 meters and finished second in the 400 meters,[8] but did not make the Olympic team. He later held the title of top half-miler in the country through 1912. Edmundson became the first Idahoan to compete in the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912.[9] He finished seventh in the 800 meters and sixth in the 400 meters.[10]
Edmundson attended the UI prep school and was a charter member of the new chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity as an undergraduate.[11] He earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Idaho in 1910,[1][12] and then taught and coached at the high school level, one year each at Coeur d'Alene and Broadway High School in Seattle. He returned to Moscow to coach the UI track team in 1913.[13]
Coaching career
After several seasons as track coach at Idaho, he left after a salary dispute and coached at Whitman College in Walla Walla for a season.[13] He returned to Idaho as both track and basketball coach in 1916 and his basketball teams compiled a 20-9 record in two seasons. It was these basketball teams which were the first UI teams referred to as the Vandals;[14] the nickname was eventually applied to all of the university's athletic teams by the early 1920s.[15] After a track season at Texas A&M, he headed to Seattle to coach the Washington Huskies, where he is credited with the creation of the fast-break offense style, which he attributed to his track background. He coached basketball through March 1947, and continued as track coach for another seven years.
Hec Ed Pavilion
The UW Pavilion, a multi-purpose field house opened in December 1927, was renamed "Hec Edmundson Pavilion" in his honor in January 1948. In March 1999, "Hec Ed" underwent a major interior renovation for 19 months and re-opened in November 2000.[16]
Grave
Edmundson died of a stroke in August 1964 at the age of 78, and was interred in Calvary Cemetery in northeast Seattle, about a mile (1.6 km) north-northeast of the Hec Edmundson Pavilion. He is buried next to his wife Mary Zona Schultz (1887β1980), son James (1924β2000), and infant child (1921) (47Β°40β²02β³N 122Β°17β²40β³Wο»Ώ / ο»Ώ47.66733Β°N 122.29431Β°W).[17][18] Edmundson was posthumously inducted into the Big W Club, the UW athletics hall of fame, in the first class of 1979.[19]
Edmundson's parents were Thomas Sinclair Edmundson (1854β1898) and Emma Jeannette Rowley (1858β1930),[4] both buried in Moscow. His younger brother was Wilbur Clifford Edmundson.[20] who taught horticulture at the UI and later worked for the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.[21]
Head coaching record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
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Idaho Vandals (Independent) (1916β1918) | |||||||||
1916β17 | Idaho | 8-8 | |||||||
1917β18 | Idaho | 12-1 | |||||||
Idaho: | 20β9 (.690) | ||||||||
Washington Huskies (Pacific Coast Conference) (1920β1947) | |||||||||
1920β21 | Washington | 18-4 | 10-4 | 3rd | |||||
1921β22 | Washington | 13-5 | 11-5 | 4th | |||||
1922β23 | Washington | 12-4 | 5-3 | 2nd | |||||
1923β24 | Washington | 12-4 | 7-2 | 1st | |||||
1924β25 | Washington | 14-7 | 5-5 | T-3rd | |||||
1925β26 | Washington | 10β6 | 5-5 | 4th | |||||
1926β27 | Washington | 15-4 | 7-3 | Tβ2nd | |||||
1927β28 | Washington | 22-6 | 9-1 | 1st | |||||
1928β29 | Washington | 18-2 | 10-0 | 1st | |||||
1929β30 | Washington | 21-7 | 12-4 | 1st | |||||
1930β31 | Washington | 25-3 | 14-2 | 1st | |||||
1931β32 | Washington | 19-6 | 12-4 | 1st | |||||
1932β33 | Washington | 22-6 | 10-6 | 2nd | |||||
1933β34 | Washington | 20-5 | 14-2 | 1st | |||||
1934β35 | Washington | 16-8 | 11-5 | 2nd | |||||
1935β36 | Washington | 25-7 | 13-3 | 1st | |||||
1936β37 | Washington | 15-11 | 11-5 | T-2nd | |||||
1937β38 | Washington | 29-7 | 13-7 | 2nd | |||||
1938β39 | Washington | 20-5 | 11-5 | 2nd | |||||
1939β40 | Washington | 10-15 | 6-10 | 4th | |||||
1940β41 | Washington | 12-13 | 7-9 | T-3rd | |||||
1941β42 | Washington | 18-7 | 10-6 | 2nd | |||||
1942β43 | Washington | 24-7 | 12-4 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
1943β44 | Washington | 26-6 | 15-1 | 1st | |||||
1944β45 | Washington | 22-18 | 5-11 | 4th | |||||
1945β46 | Washington | 14-14 | 6-10 | 4th | |||||
1946β47 | Washington | 16-8 | 8-8 | 3rd | |||||
Washington: | 488β195 (.714) | 259β130 (.666) | |||||||
Total: | 508β204 (.713) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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References
- β 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Seniors". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. May 1910. p. 31.
- β 2.0 2.1 Eskenazi, David. "Wayback Machine: Ace Coach Hec Edmundson". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- β "'Hec' to the Future". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. March 3, 1999. p. D-1.
- β 4.0 4.1 Capace, Nancy (2000). "Encyclopedia of Idaho". Google Books. p. 158.
- β βHall of Famers Arrive on Campus: Clarence βHecβ Edmundson,β University of Idaho news release (Sept 6, 2007).
- β "Idaho at the Lewis and Clark Exposition". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. May 1906. p. 119.
- β "Edmundson sets new record". Spokesman-Review. June 18, 1905. p. 3.
- β Hymans, Richard (2008). "History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field. pp. 41, 45.
- β "Idaho Vandals Hall of Fame". University of Idaho Atletics. 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
- β Sports Reference.com β Hec Edmundson - 1912 Olympics - accessed 2011-10-01
- β "Juniors". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. May 1909. p. 41.
- β Basketball: a biographical dictionary - compiled by David L. Porter, 2005, p.128, ISBN 0-313-30952-3
- β 13.0 13.1 "UI gave famous UW coach his big push in athletics". Lewiston Morning Tribune. University of Idaho news bureau. September 3, 1989. p. 1D.
- β "Basketball". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. May 1918. p. 111.
- β "What is a Vandal?". University of Idaho Athletics. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- β UW basketball game day magazine, vol V, no. 7, (2000-11-25), "Welcome to the New Dawghouse", p.2
- β findagrave.com - Hec Edmundson
- β "Edmundson's grave location in Calvary Cemetery". Google Maps. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- β Go Huskies.com - Big W Club - first class of 1979
- β "Seniors". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. May 1911. p. 30.
- β "Edmundson takes U.S. position". Washington State University Libraries. Spokesman-Review. January 23, 1918. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
External links
- University of Idaho - Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame - Hec Edmundson
- Washington Sports Hall of Fame - coaches
- Sports Press NW - Wayback machine: Ace coach Hec Edmundson
- Hec Edmundson at Sports Reference β Olympic results
- Hec Edmundson at Find a Grave
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