Johnny Orr (basketball, born 1927)

For other people named John Orr, see John Orr (disambiguation).

Johnny Orr

File:Johnny Orr.png Orr from 1975 Michiganensian
Sport(s)	Basketball
Biographical details
Born	(1927-06-10)June 10, 1927 uncertain, see article for details
Died	Des Moines, Iowa
Playing career
1944–1945	Illinois
1946–1949	Beloit
1949–1950	St. Louis Bombers
1949–1950	Waterloo Hawks
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1951–1959	Dubuque HS
1959–1963	Wisconsin (Assistant)
1963–1966	UMass
1967–1968	Michigan (Assistant)
1968–1980	Michigan
1980–1994	Iowa State
Head coaching record
Overall	466–346 (.571)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Big Ten Coach of the Year (1974) National Coach of the Year (1976) 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament (2007)

John Michael "Johnny" Orr (June 10, 1927 – December 30, 2013) was an American basketball player and coach, best known as the head coach of men's basketball at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Michigan, and at Iowa State University.

Life as a player

Orr was born in Taylorville, Illinois or Yale, Kansas and grew up in Taylorville during the Great Depression. Orr attended Taylorville High School under coach Dolph Stanley and in his senior year (1944) led the Tornadoes to a state championship and a 45–0 record, the first team to ever finish a season undefeated in the Illinois High School Association's history. In 2007, Orr was voted one of the "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament," recognizing his superior performance in his appearance in the tournament. After high school Orr went to the University of Illinois and was the youngest freshman to compete in three sports. After joining the United States Navy for the end of World War II, Orr returned to the college game at Beloit College. This reunited him with his high school coach Dolph Stanley, who had come to Beloit College as athletic director, head basketball and football coach.

Orr was initially drafted in 1948 BAA draft by the Minneapolis Lakers of the Basketball Association of America, the precursor to the NBA. Orr did not play for the Lakers, and was again drafted the next year in the 2nd round by the St. Louis Bombers. In 1950, Orr played 21 games for the Bombers before moving to the Waterloo Hawks for 13 more games.

Early coaching career

In 1951, Orr was the head coach at Dubuque Senior High School in Dubuque, Iowa. He later became an assistant coach at Wisconsin.

University of Massachusetts

Orr attained his first head coaching position in 1963 at the University of Massachusetts, commonly known as UMass, and guided the team to 15–9 record in 1963–64.

University of Michigan

Shortly afterward, Orr moved to the University of Michigan as an assistant under Dave Strack, and was named head coach in 1969. His 1973–74 team made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament and Orr was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. In 1976, Michigan was the NCAA tournament runner-up (to the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers) and Orr was named National Coach of the Year. Orr remains the winningest coach in Michigan history with 209 wins and 113 losses.

Iowa State University

Orr joined the Iowa State Cyclones in 1980. The move came about when the Iowa State Athletic Director called him to inquire about Orr's assistant, Bill Frieder. When Orr learned how much Iowa State was willing to pay Frieder, Orr negotiated the job for himself (Frieder then succeeded Orr at Michigan). In Orr's fifth season in Ames, he led the Cyclones to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 40 years. The following season, Orr's Cyclones reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament with a second round victory over the number five ranked team in the nation, Michigan. Orr claims this was the greatest victory of his career. Orr led Iowa State to four more NCAA tournament berths before retiring from Iowa State in 1994. He remains the winningest coach in Iowa State history with 218 wins and 200 losses.

Death

Orr died on December 30, 2013 at the age of 86 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. Orr's death came from complications of a head injury suffered during a fall at his residence.

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
UMass Redmen (Yankee Conference) (1963–1966)
1963–64	UMass	15–9	5–5	3rd
1964–65	UMass	13–11	8–2	2nd
1965–66	UMass	11–13	5–5	3rd
UMass:		39–33	18–12
Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Conference) (1968–1980)
1968–69	Michigan	13–11	7–7	4th
1969–70	Michigan	10–14	5–9	T-6th
1970–71	Michigan	19–7	12–2	2nd	NIT Quarterfinals
1971–72	Michigan	14–10	9–5	T-3rd
1972–73	Michigan	13–11	6–8	T-6th
1973–74	Michigan	22–5	12–2	T-1st	NCAA Elite Eight
1974–75	Michigan	19–8	12–6	2nd
1975–76	Michigan	25–7	14–4	2nd	NCAA Runner-Up
1976–77	Michigan	26–4	16–2	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
1977–78	Michigan	16–11	11–7	T-4th
1978–79	Michigan	15–12	8–10	6th
1979–80	Michigan	17–13	8–10	T-6th	NIT 3rd Round
Michigan:		209–113	120–72
Iowa State Cyclones (Big Eight Conference) (1980–1994)
1980–81	Iowa State	9–18	2–12	8th
1981–82	Iowa State	10–17	5–9	6th
1982–83	Iowa State	13–15	5–9	5th
1983–84	Iowa State	16–13	6–8	T-4th	NIT 1st Round
1984–85	Iowa State	21–13	7–7	T-3rd	NCAA 1st Round
1985–86	Iowa State	22–11	9–5	2nd	NCAA Sweet 16
1986–87	Iowa State	13–15	5–9	6th
1987–88	Iowa State	20–12	6–8	5th	NCAA 1st Round
1988–89	Iowa State	17–12	7–7	T-4th	NCAA 1st Round
1989–90	Iowa State	10–18	4–10	6th
1990–91	Iowa State	12–19	6–8	5th
1991–92	Iowa State	21–13	5–9	T-6th	NCAA 2nd Round
1992–93	Iowa State	20–11	8–6	T-2nd	NCAA 1st Round
1993–94	Iowa State	14–13	4–10	T-6th
Iowa State:		218–200	79–117
Total:		466–346
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

External links

• player bio at databaseBasketball.com
• Where's Coach Now?
• Here's Johnny Orr. ISBN 0-8138-1291-7
• LEGEND LOST: Coach Johnny Orr Dies