O. B. Cowles
Encyclopedia
Osborne Bryan "Ozzie" or "Ossie" Cowles (August 25, 1899 – August 29, 1997) was an American
basketball
player and coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at Carleton College
(1924–1930), River Falls State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin-River Falls
) (1932–1936), Dartmouth College
(1936–1946), University of Michigan
(1946–1948), and University of Minnesota
(1948–1959). He was also the head baseball
coach and assistant basketball and football
coach at Iowa State Teachers College, now the University of Northern Iowa
during 1923–24. In 30 seasons as a collegiate head basketball coach, Cowles compiled a record of 416–189 . His teams competed in the NCAA basketball tournament six times. At the time of his retirement in 1959, Cowles ranked among the top 15 winningest college basketball coaches of all-time. He has been inducted into the Helms Foundation
Hall of Fame, the Dartmouth "Wearers of the Green," the University of Minnesota "M" Club Hall of Fame, the Carleton College Hall of Fame, and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Athletics Hall of Fame.
, Minnesota
. He was the son of Augustus and Elizabeth (Fowler) Cowles. His father was a druggist and farmer in Traverse County, Minnesota
, near the South Dakota border. In his draft registration card completed in September 1918, Cowles indicated that he was living at Browns Valley and working for his father as a farm laborer.
, Minnesota
. While at Carleton, Cowles played basketball, baseball and football, winning a total of 11 varsity letters. He was an All-State guard for the basketball team and was selected as the team captain during the 1920-21 and 1921-22 seasons. After Cowles scored 21 points against Coe College
in 1921, The Coe College Cosmos praised his "whirlwind tactics in handling the ball" and noted, "Cowles is quick as a cat, powerful and heady—the personification of speed." During the two years in which Cowles was the captain, the Carleton basketball team compiled records of 13–4 and 14–2. He was also selected as an All-State halfback while playing for the Carleton football team.
during the 1922-1923 season. In his first year as a coach, his Rochester team advanced to the semi-finals of the Minnesota state high school basketball tournament. Interviewed in January 1923, Cowles declared that basketball was the greatest sport in America because more take part in the game than any other game. As proof, Cowles noted that 175 men and boys and about 60 women were regularly playing basketball in Rochester.
championships in three of Cowles' six seasons as head coach. At one point, Cowles' Carleton teams won 32 consecutive games on their home court and 48 out of 52 games overall.
In April 1930, Cowles quit his coaching position at Carleton to accept a position with a Minneapolis bond firm. At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Osborne was living in Northfield, Minnesota and listed his occupation as bond salesman.
. Cowles was the athletic director and head baseball, football and basketball coach at River Falls from 1932 to 1936. His 1936 River Falls basketball team won a conference title. He compiled a 32-28 record in three years as the basketball coach at River Falls.
. Fritz Crisler
, who was the football and basketball coach at Princeton University
at the time, had seen Cowles' teams at Carleton College and recommended Cowles for the coaching position at Dartmouth. (Ten years later, Crisler hired Cowles as Michigan's basketball coach.) Cowles was also the head coach of the freshman football team at Dartmouth.
Cowles was the head coach of the Dartmouth basketball team from 1936 to 1943 and 1944 to 1946. In his eight seasons as head coach, Dartmouth's basketball teams won the Ivy League
championship seven times and finished in second place the other year. He compiled a record of 144-47 (.754) at Dartmouth. Dartmouth also advanced to the NCAA basketball tournament four consecutive years during his tenure from 1941 to 1944.
In March 1942, Cowles led Dartmouth to a 47-28 victory over Kentucky
to win the East Championship, and the team advanced to the NCAA Basketball Championship
game against Stanford
at Kansas City, Missouri
. The championship game pitted Cowles against Stanford coach, Everett Dean
, who had coached Cowles at Carleton College. Dean recalled prior to the championship game that Cowles was "one of the best guards to play under me." Dartmouth lost to Stanford in the championship game 53-38.
In March 1943, Cowles stepped down from his coaching position due to service in the United States Navy
. He held the rank of lieutenant during World War II
, serving with the Naval Aviation Selection Board. In March 1944, while Cowles was fulfilling his military obligation, his Dartmouth basketball team returned to the NCAA championship game, losing a close game to Utah, 42-40, in overtime.
After 22 months of service, Cowles received his honorable discharge from the Navy in December 1944 and returned to his head coaching duties at Dartmouth in January 1945. In February 1946, Cowles led Dartmouth to its eight Ivy League basketball championship in nine years with a 47-27 victory over Columbia.
. He succeeded Bennie Oosterbaan
as Michigan's basketball coach. Upon hiring Cowles, Michigan's athletic director Fritz Crisler
said, "In recommending Mr. Cowles, I feel that we are very fortunate. He is absolutely in my estimation the best possible man for the position we could select." In his first year at Michigan, he led the team to a 12–8 record. The following year, he led the 1947-48 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team to a 16–6 (.727) record. The team won the 1947-48 Big Ten Conference
championship. In February 1948, as Cowles led the Wolverines to a turnaround season, the press focused on Cowles' success in Ann Arbor. The Toledo Blade sports editor wrote:
Following the 1947-48 season, Cowles received the Coach of the Year award at Michigan.
At Minnesota, Cowles had a defensive focus, taught "control basketball" and was "often criticized by Big Ten opponents for using a deliberate style of play." In 1957, he was in the minority in opposing the introduction of a 30- or 24-second rule to college basketball, arguing that "it makes teams take shots they shouldn't take." When Cowles introduced his control-oriented game at Minnesota in 1949, the style was deemed anachronistic and became "the main topic of conversation among net fans in the midlands." In February 1949, the Long Beach Press Telegram ran a lengthy feature story on Cowles' strategy. The article noted:
Earlier, Cowles had been an outspoken opponent of a 1950 rule limiting a fouled player to one free-throw if he was not fouled in the act of shooting. Believing the odds were better, Cowles ordered his team to refuse all free-throws (and instead opt for a jump ball as was permitted under the rules at that time) in a game against Michigan State. Despite losing to Michigan State and being "hooted" by fans, Cowles ordered his players to follow the same strategy in several additional games.
In his final two seasons at Minnesota, the program had losing records of 9-12 in 1957-58 and 8-14 in 1958-1959. In March 1959, "amid growing anti-Cowles talk among Gopher fans," Cowles resigned his head coaching job at Minnesota. He was age 57 when he retired.
In 30 seasons as a collegiate head basketball coach, Cowles compiled a record of 416–189 . At the time of his retirement, he ranked among the top 15 coaches in college basketball history, trailing only Adolph Rupp
, Phog Allen
, Edgar Diddle
, Henry Iba
, Slats Gill
, Fred Enke
, Tony Hinkle, Harold Anderson
, Jack Friel
, Taps Gallagher and Nibs Price
.
After retiring from coaching, Cowles moved to El Paso, Texas
where he lived throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He was a member of Quinn and Co. in El Paso and was active in the exploration and production of natural gas. He also became a regular at Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso
) basketball games.
Cowles has been induced into the Helms Foundation
Hall of Fame, the Darmouth "Wearers of the Green," the University of Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame, the Carleton College Hall of Fame, and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches
as the fifth recipient of the Hillyard Golden Anniversary Award in 1983, and with the Metropolitan Award in 1993.
In August 1997, Cowles died at Gainesville, Florida
at age 98. He was preceded in death by wives, Louella and Edris, and his son, David. He was survived by his third wife, Georgia, daughter, Roxanne, and step-daughter, Janet Gharrity.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player and coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at Carleton College
Carleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
(1924–1930), River Falls State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin-River Falls
University of Wisconsin-River Falls
The University of Wisconsin–River Falls is a liberal arts undergraduate and graduate university and a member of the University of Wisconsin System. UW–River Falls is located in River Falls, Wisconsin on the famed trout fishing Kinnickinnic River. The campus consists of 32 major buildings, ten of...
) (1932–1936), Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
(1936–1946), University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
(1946–1948), and University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
(1948–1959). He was also the head baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
coach and assistant basketball and football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach at Iowa State Teachers College, now the University of Northern Iowa
University of Northern Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa is a college located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college.UNI has...
during 1923–24. In 30 seasons as a collegiate head basketball coach, Cowles compiled a record of 416–189 . His teams competed in the NCAA basketball tournament six times. At the time of his retirement in 1959, Cowles ranked among the top 15 winningest college basketball coaches of all-time. He has been inducted into the Helms Foundation
Helms Athletic Foundation
The Helms Athletic Foundation was an athletic foundation based in Los Angeles, founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms. It put together a panel of experts to select National Champion teams and make All-America team selections in a number of college sports including football and basketball...
Hall of Fame, the Dartmouth "Wearers of the Green," the University of Minnesota "M" Club Hall of Fame, the Carleton College Hall of Fame, and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Athletics Hall of Fame.
Early years
Cowles was born in Browns ValleyBrowns Valley, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 690 people, 285 households, and 171 families residing in the city. The population density was 878.5 people per square mile . There were 317 housing units at an average density of 403.6 per square mile...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. He was the son of Augustus and Elizabeth (Fowler) Cowles. His father was a druggist and farmer in Traverse County, Minnesota
Traverse County, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,134 people, 1,717 households, and 1,129 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile . There were 2,199 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile...
, near the South Dakota border. In his draft registration card completed in September 1918, Cowles indicated that he was living at Browns Valley and working for his father as a farm laborer.
Carleton College
Cowles attended Carleton College in NorthfieldNorthfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. While at Carleton, Cowles played basketball, baseball and football, winning a total of 11 varsity letters. He was an All-State guard for the basketball team and was selected as the team captain during the 1920-21 and 1921-22 seasons. After Cowles scored 21 points against Coe College
Coe College
Coe College is a private, four-year, liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founded in 1851, the institution is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . Its current president is James R. Phifer. It is one of the smaller universities to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa...
in 1921, The Coe College Cosmos praised his "whirlwind tactics in handling the ball" and noted, "Cowles is quick as a cat, powerful and heady—the personification of speed." During the two years in which Cowles was the captain, the Carleton basketball team compiled records of 13–4 and 14–2. He was also selected as an All-State halfback while playing for the Carleton football team.
Rochester High School
After graduating from Carleton in 1922, Cowles began a coaching career that would last nearly 40 years. He began his coaching career as a high school coach in Rochester, MinnesotaRochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...
during the 1922-1923 season. In his first year as a coach, his Rochester team advanced to the semi-finals of the Minnesota state high school basketball tournament. Interviewed in January 1923, Cowles declared that basketball was the greatest sport in America because more take part in the game than any other game. As proof, Cowles noted that 175 men and boys and about 60 women were regularly playing basketball in Rochester.
Northern Iowa
During the 1923-1924 academic year, Cowles coached football, baseball and basketball at Iowa State Teachers College (now known as Northern Iowa University). He was an assistant coach to the L. L. Mendenhall for the football and basketball teams and the head coach of the baseball team. In his one year as head baseball coach, he "turned out a team that won the Iowa conference championship" in 1924.Carleton College
In September 1924, Cowles accepted a position as the head basketball and baseball coach at his alma mater, Carleton College. He served as the head basketball and baseball coach from 1924 to 1930. In six years as head basketball coach, Cowles' teams compiled a 67–24 record for a .720 winning percentage. They won Midwest ConferenceMidwest Conference
The Midwest Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the Midwestern United States in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin...
championships in three of Cowles' six seasons as head coach. At one point, Cowles' Carleton teams won 32 consecutive games on their home court and 48 out of 52 games overall.
In April 1930, Cowles quit his coaching position at Carleton to accept a position with a Minneapolis bond firm. At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Osborne was living in Northfield, Minnesota and listed his occupation as bond salesman.
Wisconsin-River Falls
In November 1932, Cowles was hired by the River Falls State Teachers College, now known as the University of Wisconsin-River FallsUniversity of Wisconsin-River Falls
The University of Wisconsin–River Falls is a liberal arts undergraduate and graduate university and a member of the University of Wisconsin System. UW–River Falls is located in River Falls, Wisconsin on the famed trout fishing Kinnickinnic River. The campus consists of 32 major buildings, ten of...
. Cowles was the athletic director and head baseball, football and basketball coach at River Falls from 1932 to 1936. His 1936 River Falls basketball team won a conference title. He compiled a 32-28 record in three years as the basketball coach at River Falls.
Dartmouth and Navy
In March 1936, Cowles was hired as the head basketball coach at Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
, who was the football and basketball coach at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
at the time, had seen Cowles' teams at Carleton College and recommended Cowles for the coaching position at Dartmouth. (Ten years later, Crisler hired Cowles as Michigan's basketball coach.) Cowles was also the head coach of the freshman football team at Dartmouth.
Cowles was the head coach of the Dartmouth basketball team from 1936 to 1943 and 1944 to 1946. In his eight seasons as head coach, Dartmouth's basketball teams won the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
championship seven times and finished in second place the other year. He compiled a record of 144-47 (.754) at Dartmouth. Dartmouth also advanced to the NCAA basketball tournament four consecutive years during his tenure from 1941 to 1944.
In March 1942, Cowles led Dartmouth to a 47-28 victory over Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
to win the East Championship, and the team advanced to the NCAA Basketball Championship
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
game against Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
at Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. The championship game pitted Cowles against Stanford coach, Everett Dean
Everett Dean
Everett S. Dean was a college men's basketball and baseball coach.Born in Livonia, Indiana, Dean was the head baseball and basketball coach at his alma mater, Indiana University, from 1924 to 1938. In 1938, Dean was named head basketball coach at Stanford University, where he coached the team to...
, who had coached Cowles at Carleton College. Dean recalled prior to the championship game that Cowles was "one of the best guards to play under me." Dartmouth lost to Stanford in the championship game 53-38.
In March 1943, Cowles stepped down from his coaching position due to service in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. He held the rank of lieutenant during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, serving with the Naval Aviation Selection Board. In March 1944, while Cowles was fulfilling his military obligation, his Dartmouth basketball team returned to the NCAA championship game, losing a close game to Utah, 42-40, in overtime.
After 22 months of service, Cowles received his honorable discharge from the Navy in December 1944 and returned to his head coaching duties at Dartmouth in January 1945. In February 1946, Cowles led Dartmouth to its eight Ivy League basketball championship in nine years with a 47-27 victory over Columbia.
Michigan
In August 1946, Cowles was hired as the head basketball coach at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. He succeeded Bennie Oosterbaan
Bennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
as Michigan's basketball coach. Upon hiring Cowles, Michigan's athletic director Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
said, "In recommending Mr. Cowles, I feel that we are very fortunate. He is absolutely in my estimation the best possible man for the position we could select." In his first year at Michigan, he led the team to a 12–8 record. The following year, he led the 1947-48 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team to a 16–6 (.727) record. The team won the 1947-48 Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
championship. In February 1948, as Cowles led the Wolverines to a turnaround season, the press focused on Cowles' success in Ann Arbor. The Toledo Blade sports editor wrote:
"Win, lose or draw in the red hot scramble for the Western Conference basketball title, the University of Michigan team has done so surprisingly well this season that Coach Ozzie Cowles is getting as much applause on the Ann Arbor campus as came to Fritz Crisler after the football season. Michigan for years has prided itself on its well rounded athletic program. ... But until Cowles was lured away from Dartmouth to take charge of the Wolverine cagers, basketball wasn't going too well at Michigan. ... Those who should know what they are talking about say that Michigan is winning this year, not because of any great supply of sterling cage performers, but because of the personality and coaching finesse of Cowles."
Following the 1947-48 season, Cowles received the Coach of the Year award at Michigan.
Minnesota
In May 1948, Minnesota hired Cowles away from Michigan. He coached the Gophers from 1948 through 1959. In his first season at Minnesota, Cowles led the basketball team to an 18-3 record (.857) and a No. 6 ranking in the final AP poll. He compiled a 148-93 record at Minnesota, though "he was never able to find the championship touch that he worked at Dartmouth, Michigan and earlier at Carleton College." Despite the lack of championships, his tenure at Minnesota has been described by some as the "golden age" of the program.At Minnesota, Cowles had a defensive focus, taught "control basketball" and was "often criticized by Big Ten opponents for using a deliberate style of play." In 1957, he was in the minority in opposing the introduction of a 30- or 24-second rule to college basketball, arguing that "it makes teams take shots they shouldn't take." When Cowles introduced his control-oriented game at Minnesota in 1949, the style was deemed anachronistic and became "the main topic of conversation among net fans in the midlands." In February 1949, the Long Beach Press Telegram ran a lengthy feature story on Cowles' strategy. The article noted:
"Ossie Cowles has put the brakes on basketball in the Western Conference, and speculation is rife over whether the hardwood sport has seen the limit, for the time being at least, of the 'fire department' style which sent scores soaring and left fans, players and coaches breathless. Coach Cowles finds himself in a storm center."
Earlier, Cowles had been an outspoken opponent of a 1950 rule limiting a fouled player to one free-throw if he was not fouled in the act of shooting. Believing the odds were better, Cowles ordered his team to refuse all free-throws (and instead opt for a jump ball as was permitted under the rules at that time) in a game against Michigan State. Despite losing to Michigan State and being "hooted" by fans, Cowles ordered his players to follow the same strategy in several additional games.
In his final two seasons at Minnesota, the program had losing records of 9-12 in 1957-58 and 8-14 in 1958-1959. In March 1959, "amid growing anti-Cowles talk among Gopher fans," Cowles resigned his head coaching job at Minnesota. He was age 57 when he retired.
In 30 seasons as a collegiate head basketball coach, Cowles compiled a record of 416–189 . At the time of his retirement, he ranked among the top 15 coaches in college basketball history, trailing only Adolph Rupp
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
, Phog Allen
Phog Allen
Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen was an American basketball and baseball player, coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, college athletics administrator, and osteopathic physician...
, Edgar Diddle
Edgar Diddle
Edgar Allen Diddle was a college men's basketball coach. He is known for coaching at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky from 1922 to 1964. Diddle became the first coach in history to coach 1,000 games at one school...
, Henry Iba
Henry Iba
Henry Payne "Hank" Iba was an American basketball and baseball coach.-Early life:Iba was born and raised in Easton, Missouri...
, Slats Gill
Slats Gill
Amory Tingle "Slats" Gill was a men's basketball and baseball coach at Oregon State University.-Early life:Gill was born in Salem, Oregon, the youngest of eight children. His father died when he was a child. His nickname "Slats" was given to him at age 12. Gill was swimming in a local pond one...
, Fred Enke
Fred Enke
-External links:...
, Tony Hinkle, Harold Anderson
Harold Anderson
W. Harold Anderson was a college men's basketball coach at Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo. As a player, he played at Otterbein College, a small liberal arts college outside of Columbus, Ohio. As a coach, he was one of the first to win more than 500 games on the...
, Jack Friel
Jack Friel
John B. "Jack" Friel was an American basketball coach who was the head coach of the Washington State University men's basketball team from 1928 to 1958...
, Taps Gallagher and Nibs Price
Nibs Price
-External links:* at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com...
.
Family, honors and later years
Cowles was married to Luella Elizabeth Kaus. They had two children, Roxanne and David Cowles. Following the death of his first wife, Cowles was remarried to Edris Cowles. Cowles reportedly "built up considerable wealth" through business interests outside basketball, including a large farm in western Minnesota and an ownership interest in a chain of formal wear stores.After retiring from coaching, Cowles moved to El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
where he lived throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He was a member of Quinn and Co. in El Paso and was active in the exploration and production of natural gas. He also became a regular at Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...
) basketball games.
Cowles has been induced into the Helms Foundation
Helms Athletic Foundation
The Helms Athletic Foundation was an athletic foundation based in Los Angeles, founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms. It put together a panel of experts to select National Champion teams and make All-America team selections in a number of college sports including football and basketball...
Hall of Fame, the Darmouth "Wearers of the Green," the University of Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame, the Carleton College Hall of Fame, and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches
National Association of Basketball Coaches
The National Association of Basketball Coaches , headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of college men's basketball coaches...
as the fifth recipient of the Hillyard Golden Anniversary Award in 1983, and with the Metropolitan Award in 1993.
In August 1997, Cowles died at Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
at age 98. He was preceded in death by wives, Louella and Edris, and his son, David. He was survived by his third wife, Georgia, daughter, Roxanne, and step-daughter, Janet Gharrity.