Gale Catlett
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 31, 1940 Hedgesville, West Virginia |
| Playing career | |
| 1960–1963 | West Virginia |
| Position(s) | Forward |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1963–1965 | Richmond (asst.) |
| 1965–1967 | Davidson (asst.) |
| 1967–1971 | Kansas (asst.) |
| 1971–1972 | Kentucky (asst.) |
| 1972–1978 | Cincinnati |
| 1978–2002 | West Virginia |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 565–325 |
| Tournaments | 7–11 (NCAA) 8–8 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
|
|
Wendell Gale Catlett (born October 31, 1940) is a retired American basketball coach who was head coach at the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University.
Born in Hedgesville, West Virginia, Catlett played for West Virginia from 1958 to 1963. He played on the freshman team in 1958-59, but missed the 1959-60 season with a broken wrist. During his three varsity seasons (1960-61 through 1962-63), he helped the Mountaineers to two NCAA tournament berths. West Virginia went 24-4, 24-6 and 23-8 during Catlett's varsity seasons and won the Southern Conference title every season. The 6-foot-5 forward totaled 407 points and 275 rebounds on Coach George King's guard-oriented teams.
After he graduated in 1963, he began his coaching career. He started out in 1963 assistant coaching jobs at the University of Richmond under head coach Lew Mills, then at Davidson College in 1965 under Lefty Driesell, Kansas from 1967 to 1971 under Ted Owens, and finally Kentucky under Adolph Rupp in the 1971–72 season.
In 1972, Catlett was named head coach of University of Cincinnati, succeeding Tay Baker, whose team had gone 17-9 the year before. In Catlett's first season, 1972–73, the Bearcats were also 17-9, and they improved to 19-8 the following year. It was the 1974-75 season that Catlett and the Bearcats reached national prominence. Led by a crop of highly touted recruits including Pat Cummings, Brian Williams, Robert Miller, Mike Jones, Gary Yoder and Steve Collier, the Bearcats were 23-6 and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional Finals. By 1975-76, the team won the Metro Conference, posted a 25-6 record and were expected to make a deep run into the tournament, but the Bearcats were upset in the first round on a last-second tip-in by Notre Dame. During the three seasons from 1975-76 through 1977-78, the Bearcats were consistently ranked in the AP Poll, including a season-end #2 ranking in 1976-77. That season, the Bearcats were 25-5 and again won the Metro Conference, but they were again ousted in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
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