Nelson Norgren

Norgren in 1917
Biographical details
Born	(1891-09-10)September 10, 1891
Died	December 31, 1974(1974-12-31) (aged 83) Mill Valley, California, U.S.
Playing career
1910–1914	Chicago
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1914–1917	Utah
1921–?	Chicago (assistant)
Basketball
1914–1917	Utah
1921–1942	Chicago
1944–1957	Chicago
Baseball
1915–1916	Utah
1922–1926	Chicago
1930	Chicago
Head coaching record
Overall	13–11 (football) 209–440 (basketball) 33–60–1 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
2× Second-teamAll-American (1912,1913) First-teamAll-Western (1913)

Nelson H. Norgren (September 10, 1891 – December 31, 1974) was an Americanfootball,basketball, andbaseball player and coach. As a coach, he led theUniversity of Utah to a nationalAAU basketball championship in 1916. He later served as the basketball coach at theUniversity of Chicago from 1921 to 1957.

A native ofChicago, Illinois, Norgren graduated from North Division High School in 1910. He attended the University of Chicago, where he played football, basketball, track, and baseball, winning 12 letters. He played football forAmos Alonzo Stagg. He was named toWalter Camp'sCollege Football All-America Teams in 1912 (second-team) and 1913 (third-team).

Norgren was the head coach of football atUtah from1914 through1917. While there, he accumulated a record of 13–11 (.542).^[1]

In 1914, Nelson became the athletic director and basketball coach at the University of Utah. His team won the 1916 AAU national championship. In 1917, he coachedBrigham Young University to a second-place finish in the 1917 AAU tournament.^{[citation needed]}

In 1921, Norgren was hired by his former coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg, as the University of Chicago's assistant football coach and head basketball coach. He also coached the school's baseball team from 1922 to 1926. In 1942, Norgren was elected president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He retired as Chicago's basketball coach in 1957. In his 34 seasons as the head basketball coach at Chicago, his teams had a winning record in only three seasons: 1924, 1948, and 1949. His teams had back-to-back winless seasons in 1951 (0–18) and 1952 (0–15) and had a combined record of 1–49 from 1951–1953.

Norgren was inducted into the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame and the University of Chicago Hall of Fame.

Norgren retired in 1957 and moved toMill Valley, California.^[2][3][4] He died there in 1975 at age 83 after a long illness.^[2]

Norgren's record as basketball coach at the University of Chicago was as follows:

• 1921–22 — 15–15
• 1922–23 — 6–9
• 1923–24 — 11–6
• 1924–25 — 3–14
• 1925–26 — 5–11
• 1926–27 — 6–11
• 1927–28 — 8–9
• 1928–29 — 5–11
• 1929–30 — 5–12
• 1930–31 — 8–9
• 1931–32 — 2–15
• 1932–33 — 2–16
• 1933–34 — 5–15
• 1934–35 — 2–18
• 1935–36 — 6–14
• 1936–37 — 4–16
• 1937–38 — 6–12
• 1938–39 — 9–11
• 1939–40 — 5–14
• 1940–41 — 6–14
• 1941–42 — 2–19
• 1944–45 — 7–8
• 1945–46 — 6–14
• 1946–47 — 4–13
• 1947–48 — 2–16
• 1948–49 — 10–8
• 1949–50 — 10–8
• 1950–51 — 0–18
• 1951–52 — 0–15
• 1952–53 — 1–16
• 1953–54 — 6–9
• 1954–55 — 6–13
• 1955–56 — 7–9
• 1956–57 — 6–11
• Overall record at University of Chicago — 186–429 (.302)

• 1891 births
• 1974 deaths
• All-American college men's basketball players
• Chicago Maroons baseball coaches
• Chicago Maroons baseball players
• Chicago Maroons football coaches
• Chicago Maroons football players
• Chicago Maroons men's basketball coaches
• Chicago Maroons men's basketball players
• Utah Utes baseball coaches
• Utah Utes football coaches
• Utah Utes men's basketball coaches
• American men's basketball players
• Basketball coaches from Illinois
• Basketball players from Chicago
• Players of American football from Chicago
• Baseball players from Chicago
• 20th-century American sportsmen

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