| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1944-04-29)April 29, 1944 (age 80) Ford City, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1963–1966 | VMI |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1972–1976 | VMI (asst.) |
| 1976–1982 | VMI |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 75–90 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| SoCon regular season championship (1977) SoCon tournament championship (1977) NCAA Sweet Sixteen (1977) | |
Charles F. Schmaus (born April 29, 1944) is an American retiredcollege basketball coach and player. After a three-sport career at theVirginia Military Institute, Schmaus was drafted by theCincinnati Royals (now theSacramento Kings) in the fourth round of the1966 NBA draft. Following a brief stint in theAir Force, Schmaus returned to VMI for six years as head basketball coach in which he most famously led the 1976–77 team to a 26–4 season which included aSouthern Conference regular season and tournament championship as well as a trip to theNCAA Sweet Sixteen.[1]
Schmaus was born on April 29, 1944, inFord City, Pennsylvania, to his parents Charles and Hedwig. Schmaus picked up basketball at an early age, and first played for his middle school in the sixth grade.[2] By his junior year in high school he was playing on the school's varsity team, and in his senior year, Schmaus led the team to aWPIAL finals appearance and was named the MVP of the section.[2]
Coming out of high school, Schmaus was recruited by many colleges, includingMaryland,William & Mary,Florida State, and most Pennsylvania schools. Ultimately, Schmaus chose VMI, and in his sophomore season he was part of the 1963–64 team that won theSouthern Conference tournament, captained by former VMI head coachBill Blair. He led the team in scoring in 1965 and 1966 and is currently in the top twenty on the school's all-time scoring list.[1] Schmaus graduated in 1966 with a degree in biology after returning for a fifth year to complete two courses, at which time he earned a football scholarship as awide receiver.[2] He also played on the school's baseball team.
After graduation, Schmaus joined theAir Force in hopes of becoming a pilot.[3] His plans did not work out, though he did stay to play basketball for the Air Force and traveled around the world.
Schmaus was drafted as the 36th pick in the fourth round in the1966 NBA draft by theCincinnati Royals, but he never played in an NBA game.[4]
Schmaus' first and only coaching job came with his alma mater at VMI. He was originally hired as an assistant coach to Bill Blair in 1972. The team had two losing seasons in 1973 and 1974 but showed significant progress with a 13–13 record the following year. In 1976, Blair led theKeydets to their secondNCAA tournament appearance in school history which culminated in an Elite Eight berth.[1] VMI slipped through the Southern Conference tournament and went on to defeatTennessee andDePaul in theNCAA's before falling toRutgers.
Blair left following the season and went on to coach the NBA'sNew Jersey Nets andMinnesota Timberwolves. Schmaus then took over the head coachingreins, and continued VMI's success with a 26–4 campaign and another SoCon regular-season and tournament title. At the core of the team were forwardsRon Carter and Will Bynum, who led the team in scoring, with Carter averaging over 20 points per game.[5] Dave Montgomery, the starting center, was among the top players in the nation in field goal percentage, having shot 65% the year before. VMI earned its firstAP Poll ranking, finishing the year at number 20.[6] The team's 26 wins are still the most in school history.
The next season, VMI went 21–7, and 7–3 in the SoCon, but lost some of the firepower they had from the past two years. They were eliminated in the tournament semifinals. The program then took a downhill turn, as Schmaus failed to have a winning season the final four years of his tenure as coach, culminating in a 1–25 campaign in 1981–82, after which he was dismissed by the school.[7] Schmaus' career record at VMI is 75–90, which at the time was a program record for most wins by any Keydet head coach.
He never coached again and became a realtor.[8]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VMI Keydets(Southern Conference)(1976–1982) | |||||||||
| 1976–77 | VMI | 26–4 | 8–2 | T–1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1977–78 | VMI | 21–7 | 7–3 | 2nd | |||||
| 1978–79 | VMI | 12–15 | 2–8 | 8th | |||||
| 1979–80 | VMI | 11–16 | 6–10 | T–6th | |||||
| 1980–81 | VMI | 4–23 | 3–13 | 8th | |||||
| 1981–82 | VMI | 1–25 | 1–15 | 9th | |||||
| VMI: | 75–90 | 27–51 | |||||||
| Total: | 75–90 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||