Bill Blair (basketball)

William Henry Blair Jr. (born May 17, 1942^[1]) is an American retired basketball coach. Blair worked twenty seasons in the National Basketball Association, beginning in New Jersey with the New Jersey Nets, and continuing to the Chicago Bulls, under Kevin Loughery, helping to draft Michael Jordan. He then moved to the Washington Bullets under Wes Unseld, and next the Indiana Pacers under Larry Brown—coaching spectacular teams with Reggie Miller at the helm. In 1993, he became the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, then returned to the Pacers, and finally finished his career under Randy Whitman at the Cleveland Cavaliers.^[2]

Bill Blair

Personal information
Born	(1942-05-17) May 17, 1942 (age 80) Hazard, Kentucky
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school	Randolph-Macon Academy (Front Royal, Virginia)
College	VMI (1961–1964)
NBA draft	1964 / Round: 4 / Pick: 97th overall
Selected by the St. Louis Hawks
Coaching career	1967–2001
Career history
As coach:
1967–1969	E.C. Glass HS (assistant)
1969–1970	George Wythe HS
1970–1972	VMI (assistant)
1972–1976	VMI
1976–1981	Colorado
1981–1983	New Jersey Nets (assistant)
1983	New Jersey Nets
1983–1985	Chicago Bulls (assistant)
1986–1991	Washington Bullets (assistant)
1991–1993	Indiana Pacers (assistant)
1993–1995	Minnesota Timberwolves
1996–1998	Indiana Pacers (assistant)
1999–2001	Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)

Blair is a 1960 graduate of Randolph-Macon Academy where he starred on the best basketball team the school ever had.^{[citation needed]} He made the starting five as a sophomore and was the high scorer his senior year in a season when they lost only one game which he and three other starters missed. When next they played the same school they doubled their opponent's point total.^{[citation needed]} He scored 49 points in one game which is the school record. He played college ball at VMI where he led them to their first NCAA appearance in 32 years as their high scorer. In 1964 Blair was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in the 4th round, but had to complete his military service of two years.^[3] While in the Army serving in Korea, he played AND coached the 8th Army Division team which won the Korean championship and the Asian-Pacific Championship in Okinawa. He toured with the Army All Star team and won the Armed Forces Inter-service championships in 1966.^{[citation needed]}

After two stints at Virginia high schools, he returned to VMI as an assistant, then a head coach. Blair led the Keydets to an NCAA tournament berth and an Elite 8 appearance.^[4] After a five-year stint with the Colorado Buffaloes, he moved on to the NBA. He is now retired and enjoying life with his family. Coach Bill Blair is the ONLY college coach to both play in and coach the same team to the Southern Conference Championship and the NCAA tournament. He played (and Captained) VMI in 1964 and let them to the Southern Conference Championship and into the NCAA tournament, then returned as the Head Coach and in 1976 led them to the Southern Conference Championship and to the "Elite Eight" in the NCAA Tournament.

Head coaching record

College

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
VMI Keydets (Southern Conference) (1972–1976)
1972–73	VMI	7–19	3–9	8th
1973–74	VMI	6–18	3–9	7th
1974–75	VMI	13–13	6–6	T–4th
1975–76	VMI	22–10	9–3	1st	NCAA Elite 8
VMI:		48–60	21–27
Colorado Buffaloes (Big Eight Conference) (1976–1981)
1976–77	Colorado	11–16	5–9	6th
1977–78	Colorado	9–18	3–11	8th
1978–79	Colorado	14–13	4–10	8th
1979–80	Colorado	17–10	7–7	5th
1980–81	Colorado	16–12	5–9	6th
Colorado:		67–69	24–46
Total:		115–129
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

^[4][5]

NBA

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
New Jersey	1982–83	6	2	4	.333	3rd in Atlantic	–	–	–	–	L New York 0–2
Minnesota	1994–95	82	21	61	.256	6th in Midwest	–	–	–	–	Missed playoffs
Minnesota	1995–96	20	6	14	.300	(fired)	–	–	–	–	–
Career		108	29	79	.269		–	–	–	–

References

1. Marcus, Jeff (28 April 2003). Biographical Directory of Professional Basketball Coaches. Scarecrow press. ISBN 9781461726531.
2. Bill Blair – Basketball-Reference
3. 1964 NBA Draft
4. 2013–14 VMI Basketball Fact Book
5. Colorado Buffaloes – All-time Results 2014-07-03 at the Wayback Machine