- Hec Edmundson
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Clarence "Hec" Edmundson Sport(s) Basketball, Track & Field Biographical details Born August 3, 1886 Place of birth Moscow, Idaho, U.S. Died August 6, 1964 (aged 78) Place of death Seattle, Washington Coaching career (HC unless noted) 1916–18
1920–47
1919-54Idaho
Washington
Washington (track)Head coaching record Overall 879-254 (.796) Clarence Sinclair "Hec" Edmundson (August 3, 1886 – August 6, 1964) was a college basketball head coach. A native of Moscow, Idaho, and a 1910 graduate of the University of Idaho, Edmundson coached at his alma mater (1916-18) and the University of Washington (1920-47), compiling a 508-204 (.713) overall record in 29 seasons.
Hec 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.
Contents
Nickname
Edmundson gained his nickname from his mother: as a child he often muttered, "Oh, heck.".[1]
Collegiate and Olympic career
One of the first great athletes at the fledgling University of Idaho, Edmundson competed in track for his hometown Vandals, where he 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.[2]
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. Also in 1908, Edmundson traveled to Stanford for the U.S. Olympic trials, where he won the 800 meters and finished second in the 400 meters. Edmundson held the title of top half-miler in the country through 1912. He became the first Idahoan to compete in the Olympic Games, in London in 1908 and in Stockholm in 1912. [3] In Stockholm, he finished seventh in the 800 meters and sixth in the 400 meters. [4]
Edmundson earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Idaho in 1910. [5]
Coaching career
After his athletic success, Edmundson returned to UI as a coach for both track and basketball. His basketball teams compiled a 20-9 record in two seasons. It was his basketball teams that led to Idaho’s athletic teams being nicknamed the Vandals.[6] He then headed west 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.
Hec Ed Pavilion
The UW Pavilion, a 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.[7]
Grave
Hec Edmundson died of a stroke in August 1964 at the age of 78, and was interred in the 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 (1887-1980), son James (1924-2000), and infant child (1921).[8] Edmundson was posthumously inducted into the Big W Club, the UW athletics hall of fame, in the first class of 1979.[9]
References
- ^ Seattle Post-Intelligencer - 1999-03-03, " 'Hec' to the Future," p.D-1
- ^ “Hall of Famers Arrive on Campus: Clarence ‘Hec’ Edmundson,” University of Idaho news release (Sept 6, 2007).
- ^ GoVandals.com - Idaho Vandals Hall of Fame - 2007
- ^ Sports Reference.com – Hec Edmundson - 1912 Olympics - accessed 2011-10-01
- ^ Basketball: a biographical dictionary - compiled by David L. Porter, 2005, p.128, ISBN: 0-313-30952-3
- ^ University of Idaho - History ... How the University of Idaho Became the Vandals - accessed 2011-09-30
- ^ UW basketball game day magazine, vol V, no. 7, (2000-11-25), "Welcome to the New Dawghouse", p.2
- ^ findagrave.com - Hec Edmundson
- ^ Go Huskies.com - Big W Club - first class of 1979
External links
- University of Idaho - Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame - Hec Edmundson
- Washington Sports Hall of Fame - coaches
- South Fork Companion - Athlete and Coach "Hec" Edmundson - 2011-08-03 - accessed 2011-10-01
Idaho Vandals men's basketball head coaches John G. Griffith (1905–1907) • George Wyman (1907–1908) • John S. Grogan (1908–1910) • John G. Griffith (1910–1915) • Charles M. Rademacher (1915–1916) • Hec Edmundson (1916–1918) • Wilfred C. Bleamaster (1918–1919) • Ralph Hutchinson (1919–1920) • David MacMillan (1920–1927) • Richard Fox (1927–1936) • Forrest Twogood (1936–1941) • Guy Wicks (1941–1942) • J. A. Brown (1942–1946) • Guy Wicks (1946–1947) • Charles Finley (1947–1954) • Harlan Hodges (1954–1959) • Dave Strack (1959–1960) • Joe Cipriano (1960–1963) • Jim Goddard (1963–1966) • Wayne Anderson (1966–1974) • Jim Jarvis (1974–1978) • Don Monson (1978–1983) • Bill Trumbo (1983–1986) • Tim Floyd (1986–1988) • Kermit Davis (1988–1990) • Larry Eustachy (1990–1993) • Joe Cravens (1993–1996) • Kermit Davis (1996–1997) • David Farrar (1997–2001) • Leonard Perry (2001–2006) • George Pfeifer (2006–2008) • Don Verlin (2008– )
Washington Huskies men's basketball head coaches No coach (1896) • No team (1896–1898) • No coach (1899) • No team (1900–1901) • No coach (1901–1905) • No team (1905–1908) • David C. Hall (1909–1910) • Warner Williams (1911) • Oscar Olson (1912–1913) • Tony Savage (1914–1915) • John Davidson (1916–1917) • Claude J. Hunt (1918–1919) • Stub Allison (1919–1920) • Hec Edmundson (1920–1947) • Art McLarney (1947–1950) • Tippy Dye (1950–1959) • John Grayson (1959–1963) • Mac Duckworth (1963–1968) • Tex Winter (1968–1971) • Marv Harshman (1971–1985) • Andy Russo (1985–1989) • Lynn Nance (1989–1993) • Bob Bender (1993–2002) • Lorenzo Romar (2002– )
Categories:- People from Moscow, Idaho
- 1886 births
- 1964 deaths
- Idaho Vandals men's basketball coaches
- Idaho Vandals men's basketball players
- College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
- Washington Huskies men's basketball coaches
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