| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1940-11-05)November 5, 1940 Joplin, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | September 22, 2025(2025-09-22) (aged 84) |
| Playing career | |
| 1958–1961 | Tulsa |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1966–1968 | Oklahoma A&M (GA) |
| 1969–1972 | Roosevelt HS |
| 1972–1977 | UTEP (assistant) |
| 1977–1985 | Houston Baptist |
| 1985–1992 | Baylor |
| 1995–2010 | Pittsburg State |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1968–1969 | Cleveland HS |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 487–374 |
| Tournaments | 0–2 (NCAA Division I) 4–5 (NCAA Division II) 0–1 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| TAAC tournament (1984) 2TAAC regular season (1981, 1984) MIAA regular season (1999) | |
| Awards | |
| TAAC Coach of the Year (1981) MIAA Coach of the Year (1999) | |
Clarence Eugene Iba (November 5, 1940 – September 22, 2025) was an Americancollege basketball coach. He was previously thePittsburg State Gorillas men's basketball coach until 2010. Iba was head coach atHouston Baptist from 1977 to 1985,Baylor from 1985 to 1992, andPittsburg State from 1995 to 2010. He was the son of college basketball coachClarence Iba and nephew of college basketball coachHank Iba.
Born inJoplin, Missouri, Clarence Eugene Iba attended theUniversity of Tulsa, where he played basketball from 1958 to 1961 under his father, head coachClarence Victor Iba.[1][2] After graduating in 1963, Gene Iba went to theNavy Supply Corps School and coached its basketball team.[1] Iba then attended Oklahoma A&M (nowOklahoma State University) and served as a graduate assistant for the basketball team under his uncleHenry Iba while completing his master's degree in business education.[3]
Iba died on September 22, 2025, at the age of 84.[4]
In 1968, Iba became athletic director atCleveland High School inSt. Louis. He then became head varsity basketball coach atRoosevelt High School in St. Louis in 1969 and led Roosevelt to the city championship in 1972.[3]
Iba moved up to the college rankings in 1972 as an assistant coach atUTEP underDon Haskins and remained for five seasons, during which UTEP made the1975 NCAA Tournament.[3]
After UTEP, Iba became head coach atHouston Baptist in 1977. Iba turned around a program that went 11–44 in the past two years to a 14–13 record in 1979–80 and 18–10 record in 1980–81. The Trans American Athletic Conference (nowAtlantic Sun Conference) named Iba the Coach of the Year in 1981. Houston Baptist improved further, making the1984 NCAA Tournament.[3]
Iba moved toBaylor as head coach in 1985 and led Baylor to post-season appearances in the1987 NIT and1988 NCAA Tournament.[3] However, Baylor fell to 5–22 in the 1988–89 season and never made another postseason tournament. After the 1991–92 season, Baylor decided not to renew Iba's contract.[5]
Iba became head coach atDivision IIPittsburg State in 1995. By Iba's second season, Pittsburg State earned its first national ranking in five years and first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. On February 15, 1999, Pittsburg State was ranked #1 in Division II men's basketball.[3] and Iba was named MIAA Coach of the Year 1999. In 15 seasons as head coach, Iba had a 261–172 record with five NCAA Tournament appearances.[3][6]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Baptist Huskies(NCAA Division I independent)(1977–1978) | |||||||||
| 1977–78 | Houston Baptist | 7–19 | |||||||
| Houston Baptist Huskies(Trans American Athletic Conference)(1978–1985) | |||||||||
| 1978–79 | Houston Baptist | 11–16 | 1–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1979–80 | Houston Baptist | 14–13 | 2–4 | 6th | |||||
| 1980–81 | Houston Baptist | 18–10 | 9–3 | 1st | |||||
| 1981–82 | Houston Baptist | 13–14 | 8–8 | T–5th | |||||
| 1982–83 | Houston Baptist | 20–9 | 10–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1983–84 | Houston Baptist | 24–7 | 11–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Preliminary Round | ||||
| 1984–85 | Houston Baptist | 21–8 | 10–4 | T–2nd | |||||
| Houston Baptist: | 128–96 | 51–30 | |||||||
| Baylor Bears(Southwest Conference)(1985–1992) | |||||||||
| 1985–86 | Baylor | 11–16 | 3–13 | 8th | |||||
| 1986–87 | Baylor | 18–14 | 10–6 | 2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1987–88 | Baylor | 23–11 | 11–5 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1988–89 | Baylor | 5–22 | 1–15 | 9th | |||||
| 1989–90 | Baylor | 16–14 | 7–9 | T–5th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1990–91 | Baylor | 12–15 | 4–12 | T–7th | |||||
| 1991–92 | Baylor | 13–15 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| Baylor: | 98–106 | 41–69 | |||||||
| Pittsburg State Gorillas(Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association)(1995–2010) | |||||||||
| 1995–96 | Pittsburg State | 14–14 | 9–7 | ||||||
| 1996–97 | Pittsburg State | 24–8 | 14–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1997–98 | Pittsburg State | 24–6 | 12–4 | 3rd[7] | NCAA Division II Second Round | ||||
| 1998–99 | Pittsburg State | 24–5 | 14–2 | T–1st[8] | NCAA Division II Second Round | ||||
| 1999–2000 | Pittsburg State | 16–13 | 9–9 | T–5th[9] | |||||
| 2000–01 | Pittsburg State | 21–9 | 13–5 | ||||||
| 2001–02 | Pittsburg State | 17–10 | 11–7 | ||||||
| 2002–03 | Pittsburg State | 16–12 | 8–10 | 6th[10] | |||||
| 2003–04 | Pittsburg State | 18–11 | 9–9 | 5th[11] | |||||
| 2004–05 | Pittsburg State | 23–7 | 13–5 | 3rd[12] | NCAA Division II Second Round | ||||
| 2005–06 | Pittsburg State | 9–19 | 5–11 | T–7th[13] | |||||
| 2006–07 | Pittsburg State | 18–13 | 9–9 | T–5th[14] | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| 2007–08 | Pittsburg State | 18–10 | 9–9 | T–6th[15] | |||||
| 2008–09 | Pittsburg State | 10–17 | 5–15 | 10th[16] | |||||
| 2009–10 | Pittsburg State | 9–18 | 3–13 | T–10th[17] | |||||
| Pittsburg State: | 261–172 | 143–119 | |||||||
| Total: | 487–374 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||