Branch McCracken
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
June 9, 1908 Monrovia, Indiana |
| Died | June 4, 1970 (aged 61) |
| Playing career | |
| 1928–1930 | Indiana |
| Position(s) | Center, forward, guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1930–1938 | Ball State |
| 1938–1943 | Indiana |
| 1946–1965 | Indiana |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 450–231 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
|
NCAA Division I Tournament Championship (2) (1953,1954,1957,1958) |
|
| Awards | |
| NCAA All-American (1930) | |
|
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1960 (profile) |
|
|
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 |
|
NCAA Division I Tournament Championship (2)
(1940 and 1953)
Emmett B. "Branch" McCracken (June 9, 1908 – June 4, 1970) was an American basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Ball State University from 1930 to 1938 and at Indiana University Bloomington from 1938 to 1943 and again from 1946 to 1965. McCracken's Indiana Hoosiers teams twice won the NCAA Championship, in 1940 and 1953. McCracken was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1960.
As a player at Indiana, McCracken was a three-year letter winner. At 6'4" and 200 lb (91 kg), McCracken played center, forward and guard, pacing the Hoosiers in scoring for three years. His coach and predecessor, Hall of Fame coach Everett Dean, called McCracken "rough and tough." McCracken never missed a game. Once, when slowed by injuries, he planted himself near the foul line, back to the basket, from there passing off to players cutting by him or keeping the ball and rolling to the basket himself. "Once we saw what he could do, we let him go," Dean said. "He was one of the first college centers who played the pivot the way it's played today."
McCracken scored 32.3 percent of the points his three Hoosier teams scored. He led the Big Ten Conference with a 12.3 average his senior year and graduated as the league's career scoring record holder.
McCracken was a consensus All-American in 1930. Upon his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960, he was the first man ever voted there for his performance as an Indiana player.
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