John Lawther
American football and basketball coach and professor
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | (1899-09-19)September 19, 1899 |
Died | (1996-09-21)September 21, 1996 Southern Pines, North Carolina, U.S. |
Alma mater | Westminster (PA) |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Football | |
1926–1929 | Westminster (PA) (assistant) |
1931–1933 | Westminster (PA) |
Basketball | |
1925–1930 | Westminster (PA) |
1931–1935 | Westminster (PA) |
1936–1949 | Penn State |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 9–18 (football) 313–136 (basketball) |
Tournaments | Basketball 1–1 (NCAA) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Awards | |
NAIA Hall of Fame Helms Foundation Hall of Fame | |
John Dobson Lawther (September 19, 1899 – September 21, 1996) was an American football and basketball coach and professor. He was the head basketball coach of Westminster College from 1925 to 1930 and again from 1931 to 1936 and Pennsylvania State University from 1936 to 1949. Lawther guided Penn State to an appearance in the 1942 NCAA basketball tournament. After leaving coaching, Lawther became a professor and athletic administrator at Penn State and became a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Lawther was an alumnus of Westminster College and earned a master's degree from Columbia University.[1]
Head coaching record
Football
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Westminster Titans (Tri-State Conference) (1931–1933) | |||||||||
1931 | Westminster | 3–6 | 0–3 | 5th | |||||
1932 | Westminster | 4–6 | 2–2 | 3rd | |||||
1933 | Westminster | 2–6 | 1–2 | 4th | |||||
Westminster: | 9–18 | 3–7 | |||||||
Total: | 9–18 |
Basketball
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Westminster Titans (Independent) (1925–1930) | |||||||||
1925–26 | Westminster | 1–10[n 1] | 0–0[n 1] | ||||||
1926–27 | Westminster | 12–5 | |||||||
1927–28 | Westminster | 17–3 | |||||||
1928–29 | Westminster | 15–2 | |||||||
1929–30 | Westminster | 19–2 | |||||||
Westminster Titans (Independent) (1931–1936) | |||||||||
1931–32 | Westminster | 19–2 | |||||||
1932–33 | Westminster | 19–6 | |||||||
1933–34 | Westminster | 22–4 | |||||||
1934–35 | Westminster | 19–3 | |||||||
1934–35 | Westminster | 20–6 | |||||||
Westminster: | 163–43 (.791) | ||||||||
Penn State Nittany Lions (Eastern Intercollegiate Conference) (1936–1939) | |||||||||
1936–37 | Penn State | 10–7 | 6–4 | 3rd | |||||
1937–38 | Penn State | 13–5 | 6–4 | 2nd | |||||
1938–39 | Penn State | 13–10 | 5–5 | T–3rd | |||||
Penn State Nittany Lions (Independent) (1939–1949) | |||||||||
1939–40 | Penn State | 15–8 | |||||||
1940–41 | Penn State | 15–5 | |||||||
1941–42 | Penn State | 18–3 | NCAA Regional Third Place | ||||||
1942–43 | Penn State | 15–4 | |||||||
1943–44 | Penn State | 8–7 | |||||||
1944–45 | Penn State | 10–7 | |||||||
1945–46 | Penn State | 7–9 | |||||||
1946–47 | Penn State | 10–8 | |||||||
1947–48 | Penn State | 9–10 | |||||||
1948–49 | Penn State | 7–10 | |||||||
Penn State: | 150–93 (.617) | 17–13 (.567) | |||||||
Total: | 313–136 (.697) |
Notes
- ^ a b E. Dwight Dyer coached the first two games of the 1925–26 season before Lawther took over as head coach. Westminster finished the year with an overall record of 2–11.[2]
References
- ^ "John D. Lawther papers, 1936-1971". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ "Westminster Men's Basketball Record Book Through The 2018–19 Season" (PDF). Westminster College. 2019. pp. 5–6. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
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Westminster Titans head football coaches
- Unknown (1891–1894)
- Patterson (1895)
- Unknown (1896)
- Joseph Stannard (1897)
- Unknown (1898)
- Ziegler (1899)
- Unknown (1900)
- Joseph Donohue (1901)
- M. M. Edmundson (1902–1903)
- Roy W. Hayes (1904)
- Jack Lang (1905)
- Charles E. McMahon (1906–1909)
- Oscar D. Hollenbeck (1910)
- Willard Gildersleeve (1911–1912)
- Frank L. Tinkham (1913)
- Frank L. Tinkham & Andrew Park (1914)
- Andrew Park & Tuss McLaughry (1915)
- Tuss McLaughry (1916)
- Hugh Lambie (1917)
- Tuss McLaughry (1918)
- Byron Wimberly (1919–1920)
- Tuss McLaughry (1921)
- Daniel H. McQuiston (1922)
- Carl Brales (1923)
- E. Dwight Dyer (1924–1925)
- Dike Beede (1926–1930)
- John Lawther (1931–1933)
- Tom Gilbane & William J. Gilbane (1934)
- DiMeele & Tom Gilbane (1934–1935)
- George Roark (1936)
- Grover Washabaugh (1937–1942)
- No team (1943–1945)
- Mel Hetzler (1946–1951)
- Harold Burry (1952–1971)
- Joe Fusco (1972–1990)
- Gene Nicholson (1991–1998)
- Sean Kelly & Scott Renninger # (1999)
- Jerry Schmitt (2000–2004)
- Jeff Hand (2005–2013)
- Scott Benzel (2014– )
# denotes interim head coach