 Haskins as a senior at WKU | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1943-07-11)July 11, 1943 (age 81) Campbellsville, Kentucky, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Taylor County (Campbellsville, Kentucky) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Western Kentucky (1964–1967) | ||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1967: 1st round, 3rd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Selected by theChicago Bulls | |||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1967–1976 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 11, 14 | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1977–1999 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| As player: | |||||||||||||||
| 1967–1970 | Chicago Bulls | ||||||||||||||
| 1970–1974 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||||||||||
| 1974–1976 | Washington Bullets | ||||||||||||||
| As coach: | |||||||||||||||
| 1977–1980 | Western Kentucky (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 1980–1986 | Western Kentucky | ||||||||||||||
| 1986–1999 | Minnesota | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Points | 8,743 (12.8 ppg) | ||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 2,087 (3.1 rpg) | ||||||||||||||
| Assists | 2,382 (3.5 apg) | ||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com  | |||||||||||||||
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
| |||||||||||||||
Clem Smith Haskins (born August 11, 1943) is an American former college and professionalbasketball player andcollege basketball coach. In the fall of 1963, he and fellow star player Dwight Smith became the first black athletes to integrate theWestern Kentucky University (WKU) basketball program.[1] This put Western Kentucky at the forefront to integrate college basketball in the South.[2]
Haskins served 13 years (1986–1999) as head coach of theUniversity of Minnesota's men's basketball team, but was forced to resign due to his part in theUniversity of Minnesota basketball scandal.[3] Due to his actions in the scandal, he was given a seven-yearshow-cause penalty which effectively ended his coaching career.[4]
Haskins was born and grew up inCampbellsville, Kentucky, the county seat. He is the fifth of eleven children of Charles Columbus and Lucy Edna Haskins, who weresharecroppers. During his freshman and sophomore seasons, he attended the all-black Durham High School (public schools were frequently in those years still segregated in the South, years after the practice was declared illegal). In 1961 Haskins attended Taylor County High School, the first African American to do so in the previously segregated system. His younger brother, Merion, was a standout player at theUniversity of Kentucky, graduating in 1977.[5]
Haskins and teammate Dwight Smith were heavily recruited by Western Kentucky Hilltoppers coachEdgar Diddle and joined the team in 1963.[citation needed] They became the first African-American athletes to play for Western Kentucky. They won theOhio Valley Conference two years in a row under the direction of the popular WKU head coachJohn Oldham, who succeeded Diddle their sophomore year. Haskins was the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in 1966. In the1966 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Hilltoppers were 2 points away from defeating Michigan and meeting the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the Mideast regional final. A controversial foul called against Smith during a jump ball putCazzie Russell on the free throw line for Michigan, where he scored the tying and winning baskets.[6] In 1967, Haskins had broken his wrist in a game against Murray State on February 6. His team still won the Ohio Valley Conference again. In the1967 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the #3-ranked Hilltoppers lost to eventual national runner-up Dayton in overtime in the Mideast quarterfinals.
After a successful college career, Haskins was selected by theChicago Bulls in the first round of the 1967NBA draft and by theKentucky Colonels in theAmerican Basketball Association draft.[7] Haskins played nine years in theNBA with three teams (the Bulls, thePhoenix Suns, and theWashington Bullets). He retired in 1976 due to knee injuries, having tallied 8,743 career points.
After his NBA career, Haskins returned toWestern Kentucky University, first as an assistant coach in 1977 and then as head coach in 1980.[8] As head coach, he led Western Kentucky to two NCAA appearances and one NIT appearance.
In 1986, Haskins was hired by theUniversity of Minnesota to rebuild the school's men's basketball program.[9] He led theGophers to a school-record 31 wins and theFinal Four in 1997, winning theClair Bee Coach of the Year Award in the same year. He also led Minnesota toNIT titles in 1993 and 1998. He joinedLenny Wilkens' staff to coach the United States men's basketball team to the gold medal in the1996 Summer Olympics.
Haskins was known for sitting on a four-legged bar stool at Minnesota home games.Williams Arena has a raised floor which was hard on his knees, and ordinarily the team sits off the floor.
On the day before the1999 NCAA tournament, theSt. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Jan Gangelhoff, the manager of the school's academic counseling office, claimed to have written more than 400 pieces of coursework (including theme papers, homework assignments and take-home tests) for 18 Golden Gophers players from 1994 to 1998, including the Gophers' run to the Final Four. The Gophers suspended four then-current players, including two starters, for the school's first-round game againstGonzaga; the Gophers lost that game.[10] At the time, it was not known whether Haskins was involved. ThePioneer Press was harshly criticized for the timing of the report.[11] Minnesota forced Haskins to resign after the season for his part in the violations. The school subsequently withdrew from postseason consideration for the1999–2000 season, docked itself 11 scholarships from 2000 to 2004, and imposed other sanctions on the basketball program.
Initially, the university bought out Haskins's contract for $1.5 million. However, it sought to recover funds after learning more about Haskins' activities and, in 2002, a state judge ordered Haskins to return $815,000 of the buyout money. The decision was based on an arbitrator's recommendation and the university's conclusion that Haskins had lied to NCAA investigators and committed fraud by accepting the buyout.[12]
The university had learned during its internal investigation that Haskins had paid Gangelhoff $3,000 to write papers for the players. Haskins had initially denied making the payment during an interview in June 1999, but acknowledged it a month later. In October 2000, the NCAA placed the Golden Gophers program on four years' probation, and stripped the school of its wins in the1994,1995, and1997 NCAA Tournaments, as well as its NIT wins in1996 and1998. The Gophers were docked an additional five scholarships over three seasons.[13] A few days later, the Big Ten Conference stripped Minnesota of the 1997 conference title and forced it to vacate every regular season game it played from 1993–94 to 1998–99. Officially, Minnesota's record for those years is 0–0. If not for these vacated games, Haskins' 242 wins would rank second on the Golden Gophers' wins list.
The NCAA imposed a seven-year "show-cause" order on Haskins. This meant that he would have to accept sanctions from the NCAA if he ever returned to coaching before the 2007–08 season unless his new employer could convince the NCAA that he'd served his punishment. The penalty was made so severe because Haskins had not only lied about the $3,500 payment, but advised several of the players involved to lie to the NCAA.[14] Since most schools will not even consider hiring a coach with an outstanding "show-cause" on his record, Haskins was effectively blackballed from collegiate basketball until 2007.
Haskins did not return to coaching when his show-cause expired. He retired to his 750-acre (3.0 km2) ranch nearCampbellsville, Kentucky, where he raises cattle.[15] He has also worked as a color commentator for Western Kentucky basketball home games.[3]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| * | Led the league |
Source[16]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | STL | BLK | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967–68 | Chicago | 76 | 19.4 | .420 | .658 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 8.9 | ||
| 1968–69 | Chicago | 79 | 36.4 | .421 | .781 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 17.2 | ||
| 1969–70 | Chicago | 82* | 39.2 | .450 | .783 | 4.6 | 7.6 | 20.3 | ||
| 1970–71 | Phoenix | 82 | 33.7 | .440 | .784 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 17.8 | ||
| 1971–72 | Phoenix | 79 | 31.1 | .483 | .853 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 15.7 | ||
| 1972–73 | Phoenix | 77 | 20.5 | .464 | .833 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 10.5 | ||
| 1973–74 | Phoenix | 81 | 22.5 | .460 | .842 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 1.0 | .2 | 11.1 |
| 1974–75 | Washington | 70 | 10.0 | .397 | .841 | 1.1 | 1.1 | .3 | .1 | 4.0 |
| 1975–76 | Washington | 55 | 13.4 | .550 | .831 | 1.0 | 1.3 | .4 | .1 | 6.4 |
| Career | 681 | 25.9 | .449 | .792 | 3.1 | 3.5 | .6 | .1 | 12.8 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Chicago | 5 | 10.6 | .393 | .667 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 5.2 | ||
| 1970 | Chicago | 5 | 30.8 | .471 | .895 | 3.2 | 5.0 | 16.2 | ||
| 1975 | Washington | 13 | 5.8 | .536 | .625 | .5 | .3 | .2 | .1 | 2.7 |
| 1976 | Washington | 5 | 8.0 | .476 | .400 | 1.0 | .4 | .0 | .0 | 4.4 |
| Career | 28 | 11.5 | .469 | .737 | 1.3 | 1.4 | .1 | .1 | 5.9 | |
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers(Ohio Valley Conference)(1980–1982) | |||||||||
| 1980–81 | Western Kentucky | 21–8 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1981–82 | Western Kentucky | 19–10 | 13–3 | T–1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers(Sun Belt Conference)(1982–1986) | |||||||||
| 1982–83 | Western Kentucky | 12–16 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| 1983–84 | Western Kentucky | 12–17 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1984–85 | Western Kentucky | 14–14 | 5–9 | 7th | |||||
| 1985–86 | Western Kentucky | 23–8 | 10–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| Western Kentucky: | 101–73 (.580) | 49–37 (.570) | |||||||
| Minnesota Golden Gophers(Big Ten Conference)(1986–1999) | |||||||||
| 1986–87 | Minnesota | 9–19 | 2–16 | 9th | |||||
| 1987–88 | Minnesota | 10–18 | 4–14 | 9th | |||||
| 1988–89 | Minnesota | 19–12 | 9–9 | 5th | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1989–90 | Minnesota | 23–9 | 11–7 | 4th | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 1990–91 | Minnesota | 12–16 | 5–13 | 9th | |||||
| 1991–92 | Minnesota | 16–16 | 8–10 | 6th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1992–93 | Minnesota | 23–9 | 11–7 | 4th | NIT Champion | ||||
| 1993–94 | Minnesota | 22–13[Note A] | 10–8 | 4th | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| 1994–95 | Minnesota | 19–13[Note A] | 10–8 | 4th | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1995–96 | Minnesota | 20–13[Note A] | 10–8 | 4th | |||||
| 1996–97 | Minnesota | 31–4[Note A] | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Final Four | ||||
| 1997–98 | Minnesota | 20–15[Note A] | 6–10 | 8th | NIT Champion | ||||
| 1998–99 | Minnesota | 17–12 | 10–8 | 6th | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| Minnesota: | 239–166, .590 (243–170, .588) | 119–120 (.498) | |||||||
| Total: | 340–239, .587 (344–243, .586) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
