Clarence Victor Iba (April 20, 1909[1] – April 21, 1997) was the head basketball coach at the University of Tulsa. Iba coached the Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team for eleven seasons, from 1949 to 1960. He is the brother of former Oklahoma State coach Henry Iba.[2]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 20, 1909 |
| Died | April 21, 1997 (aged 88) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1929–1933 | Northwest Missouri State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1936–1937 | Oklahoma Panhandle A&M |
| 1949–1960 | Tulsa |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 151–153 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| MVC regular season (1955) | |
| Awards | |
| MVC Coach of the Year (1955) | |
When Iba was hired in 1949, he became Tulsa's first full-time basketball coach.[3] Iba led the team to a NIT appearance in 1953, the first postseason appearance for Tulsa in the modern era. Tulsa also made the Associated Press college basketball rankings for the first time in the 1952–53 season, reaching as high as #8 in the poll.[4] The 1954–55 season was Iba's best at the school. Tulsa won the Missouri Valley Conference with a 21–7 record, including 8–2 in conference.[5] This was the first twenty-win season in school history. Tulsa advanced to the 1955 NCAA Tournament, its first appearance in that tourney. After being eliminated in the first round, Tulsa won the consolation bracket.[6] Additionally, Tulsa's first all-American, Bob Patterson, was from that same 1954–55 campaign.
Iba's last few years at Tulsa were not as successful as the 1954–55 campaign. He does, however, have the longest coaching tenure in school history, and his 137 wins were the most in Tulsa history until Doug Wojcik passed him in 2012. Following his career as a coach, he worked as a marketing executive in Fort Worth, Texas.[7] Iba was inducted into the University of Tulsa Hall of Fame in 1994.[8]
Iba died on April 21, 1997, of an aortic aneurysm.
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panhandle A&M Aggies () (1936–1937) | |||||||||
| 1936–37 | Panhandle A&M | 14–6 | |||||||
| Panhandle A&M: | 14–6 (.700) | ||||||||
| Tulsa Golden Hurricane (Missouri Valley Conference) (1949–1960) | |||||||||
| 1949–50 | Tulsa | 12–11 | 3–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1950–51 | Tulsa | 10–17 | 4–10 | T–6th | |||||
| 1951–52 | Tulsa | 14–10 | 5–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1952–53 | Tulsa | 15–10 | 5–5 | T–2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1953–54 | Tulsa | 15–14 | 5–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1954–55 | Tulsa | 20–8 | 8–2 | T–1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1955–56 | Tulsa | 10–16 | 4–8 | 5th | |||||
| 1956–57 | Tulsa | 8–17 | 5–9 | T–4th | |||||
| 1957–58 | Tulsa | 7–19 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| 1958–59 | Tulsa | 10–15 | 2–12 | T–7th | |||||
| 1959–60 | Tulsa | 9–17 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| Tulsa: | 137–147 (.482) | 50–84 (.373) | |||||||
| Total: | 151–153 (.497) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Clarence V Iba United States Social Security Death Index". United States Government. 1997. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ "Ex-Tulsa Coach Clarence Iba Dies". The Oklahoman. April 24, 1997. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
- ^ Logsdon, Guy Williams. The University of Tulsa: A History from 1882 to 1972, Doctoral Dissertation at the University of Tulsa, 1975, pg. 262
- ^ Bonham, Chad. Golden Hurricane Basketball at the University of Tulsa. Chicago: Arcadia, 2004, pg. 22
- ^ University of Tulsa Media Guide, pg. 152
- ^ Logsdon, pg. 262
- ^ Associated Press. "Ex-Tulsa basketball coach dies." Abilene Reporter-News. http://www.texnews.com/texsports97/death042497.html Archived 2007-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Clarence Iba." University of Tulsa Hall of Fame. http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/genrel/iba_clarence00.html