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Henry Iba

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Basketball Coach

The Resume

    (August 6, 1904-January 15, 1993)
    Born in Easton, Missouri
    Basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State (1929-33), University of Colorado (1933-34) and Oklahoma State University (1934-70)
    751-340 win-loss record
    Athletic director at OSU (1935-70)
    Was also baseball coach at OSU (1934-41)
    90-41 win-loss record
    Coached three US Olympic basketball teams (1964-72)
    26-1 win-loss record
    Namesake for the US Basketball Writers Association's Henry Iba Award for college coach of the year
    Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (1969)

Why he might be annoying:

    He would get so impatient with errors by a player that he would tear the warm-up jacket off the reserve he sent in as a replacement.
    He specialized in low-scoring stall tactics.
    He continued to promote a slowdown game well after it was out of fashion.
    Despite his many successes, the most famous game he coached is probably the loss in the 1972 Olympic gold medal match against the Soviets.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He said about his low-scoring tactics, 'I'm not against shooting. I am against bad shooting.'
    Commenting on his abhorrence of sloppy play, an assistant said, 'I've seen Mr. Iba cringe when the other team makes a mistake.'
    He was the first coach to win consecutive NCAA titles (1945-46).
    He coached two gold medal winning Olympic teams (1964,1968).
    The 1972 Olympic loss required officials to reset the clock three times after apparent US victories.
    As if having the game stolen wasn't bad enough, while he was protesting at courtside, someone picked his pocket, making off with his wallet containing $370.
    Bobby Knight said, 'I think anybody that played for him would have to say he was the greatest teacher of life that they ever encountered.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 90.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying