Hec Edmundson
| Sport(s) | Basketball, Track & Field |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
August 3, 1886 Moscow, Idaho |
| Died | August 6, 1964 (aged 78) Seattle, Washington |
| Alma mater |
University of Idaho, B.S. (agriculture), 1910 |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Basketball | |
| 1916–1918 | Idaho |
| 1920–1947 | Washington |
| Track & Field | |
| 1913–1915 | Idaho |
| 1916 | Whitman |
| 1917–1918 | Idaho |
| 1919 | Texas A&M |
| 1920–1954 | Washington |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 879–254 (.776) |
Clarence Sinclair "Hec" Edmundson (August 3, 1886 – August 6, 1964) was a college basketball and track head coach.
A native of Moscow, Idaho, and a 1910 graduate of the University of Idaho, Edmundson coached at his alma mater (1916–18) and the University of Washington (1920–47), compiling a 508–204 (.713) overall record in 29 seasons.
Edmundson also coached the track teams and served on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee from 1941-46. The University of Washington hosted the national basketball finals in 1949 and 1952 in the arena that bears his name.
Edmundson gained his nickname from his mother: as a child he often muttered, "Oh, heck."
One of the first great athletes at the fledgling University of Idaho in Moscow, Edmundson competed in track for his hometown university, and launched the team onto the national stage when he and two other athletes traveled to the Lewis and Clark Exposition Games against the top schools in the Northwest. While still in high school at the UI prep school, he lowered the Northwest record for the half-mile in June 1905.
Newspapers wrote that Edmundson "impressed with his graceful form and unfaltering determination." He is responsible for organizing the Idaho cross country team in 1908, which set the foundation for a team that would win nine Pacific Coast Conference titles. In 1908, Edmundson traveled to Stanford for the western U.S. Olympic trials, where he won the 800 meters and finished second in the 400 meters, but did not make the Olympic team. He later held the title of top half-miler in the country through 1912. Edmundson became the first Idahoan to compete in the Olympic Games in in 1912. He finished seventh in the 800 meters and sixth in the 400 meters.
...
Wikipedia