View source for Clair Bee

{{Short description|American basketball coach (1896–1983)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Clair Bee
| image = Clair Bee headshot.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1896|3|2}}
| birth_place = [[Pennsboro, West Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|5|20|1896|3|2}}
| death_place = [[Cleveland|Cleveland, Ohio]], U.S.
| player_years1 = 1922–1925
| player_team1 = [[Waynesburg Yellow Jackets|Waynesburg]] (football, baseball, tennis)
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1929?–1930?
| coach_team2 = [[Rider Roughriders football|Rider]]
| coach_years3 = 1931
| coach_team3 = [[Long Island Blackbirds football|LIU Brooklyn]]
| coach_years4 = 1939–1940
| coach_team4 = [[Long Island Blackbirds football|LIU Brooklyn]]
| coach_sport5 = Basketball
| coach_years6 = 1925–1926
| coach_team6 = High school
| coach_years7 = 1928–1931
| coach_team7 = [[Rider Broncs men's basketball|Rider]]
| coach_years8 = 1931–1943
| coach_team8 = [[LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball|LIU Brooklyn]]
| coach_years9 = 1945–1951
| coach_team9 = LIU Brooklyn
| coach_years10 = 1952–1954
| coach_team10 = [[Baltimore Bullets (1944–54)|Baltimore Bullets]]
| coach_sport11 = Baseball
| coach_years12 = 1929
| coach_team12 = [[Rider Broncs baseball|Rider]]
| coach_years13 = 1934–1938
| coach_team13 = [[LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds baseball|LIU Brooklyn]]
| admin_years1 = 1929–1931
| admin_team1 = [[Rider Broncs|Rider]]
| admin_years2 = 1954–1967
| admin_team2 = [[New York Military Academy]]
| overall_record = 
| bowl_record = 
| tournament_record = Basketball<br>6–5 ([[National Invitation Tournament|NIT]])
| championships = '''Basketball'''<br>[[Helms Athletic Foundation|Helms National]] (1939)<br>2 [[Premo-Porretta Power Poll|Premo-Porretta National]] (1936, 1941)<br>2 [[National Invitation Tournament|NIT]] ([[1939 National Invitation Tournament|1939]], [[1941 National Invitation Tournament|1941]])
| awards = 
| coaching_records = 
| BASKHOF_year = 1968
| CBBASKHOF_year = 2006
| BASKHOF_id = clair-bee
}}
'''Clair Francis Bee''' (March 2, 1896 – May 20, 1983) was an American [[basketball]] coach who led the team at [[LIU Brooklyn|Long Island University]] in [[Brooklyn, New York]] to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two [[National Invitation Tournament]] titles in 1939 and 1941.

== Biography ==
Bee was born in [[Grafton, West Virginia]] to James Edward Bee (1871–1933) and Margaret Ann Skinner. Later, Bee was a graduate of [[Waynesburg University]] (then Waynesburg College) where he played football, baseball, and tennis.

Bee's teams posted a winning record in 21 of his 23 seasons, and compiled a 43-game winning streak from 1935 to 1937.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mindspring.com/~luckyshow/basketball/LIUstreaks.htm |title=LIU streaks |access-date=2005-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041222223234/http://mindspring.com/~luckyshow/basketball/LIUstreaks.htm |archive-date=2004-12-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bee holds the Division I NCAA record for highest winning percentage, winning 83% of the games he was head coach.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/calipari_john00.html |title=Player Bio: John Calipari - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE |access-date=2009-07-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726202919/http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/calipari_john00.html |archive-date=2009-07-26 }}</ref> Bee resigned in 1951 after several of his players were implicated in the [[CCNY Point Shaving Scandal]]. LIU shut down its athletic program shortly afterward.

Bee also coached the [[American football|football]] team at LIU until it was disbanded in 1940.<ref name="PreWarLIUfb">{{cite news |last1=Luchter |first1=P.S. |title=Long Island University All-Time Football Records |url=http://www.luckyshow.org/football/LIU%20football.htm |access-date=4 February 2020 |publisher=List Of Amazing Sports Lists |date=May 21, 2010}}</ref>

He coached the [[National Basketball Association]]'s [[Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954)|Baltimore Bullets]] from 1952 to 1954, amassing a 34–119 record under his tenure.

Bee was known as the "Innovator". His contributions to the game of basketball include the 1–3–1 [[zone defense]] and the [[three-second rule]]. Bee also served as co-host of the early NBC sports-oriented television program "Campus Hoopla" on WNBT from 1946 to 1947.

His influence on the game also extended to strategies sports camps (Camp All-America), (Kutsher's Sports Academy), writing technical coaching books, and conducting coaching clinics around the world. By the time he left coaching in the 1950s, Bee had already begun writing the [[Chip Hilton]] Sports Series for younger readers.

Bee was inducted into the [[Basketball Hall of Fame]] in 1968 and was a member of the Inaugural Class inducted into the [[NYC Basketball Hall of Fame]] in 1990. The [[Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award]] is awarded every year to a coach who makes an outstanding contribution to the game of [[college]] basketball, and the [[Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award]] is awarded to a men's basketball player.

In 1968, he cofounded the [[Kutsher's Sports Academy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-clair-bee.html|title=Basketball Hall of Fame bio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071003083829/http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-clair-bee.html|archive-date=2007-10-03}}</ref>

One of Bee's grandfathers was [[Ephraim Bee]], a member of the first [[West Virginia Legislature]].

==Head coaching record==
===College===
====Football====
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Rider Roughriders football|Rider Roughriders]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1929?
 | endyear   = 1930?
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1929 college football season|1929]]
 | name         = Rider
 | overall      = 
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1930 college football season|1930]]
 | name         = Rider
 | overall      = 
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Rider
 | overall    = 
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Long Island Blackbirds football|Long Island Blackbirds]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1931
 | endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1931 college football season|1931]]
 | name         = Long Island
 | overall      = 7–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Long Island Blackbirds football|Long Island Blackbirds]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1939
 | endyear   = 1940
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1939 college football season|1939]]
 | name         = Long Island
 | overall      = 5–3
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1940 college football season|1940]]
 | name         = Long Island
 | overall      = 5–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Long Island
 | overall    = 17–5
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

====Basketball====
{{CBB yearly record start|type=coach}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
|name=[[Rider Broncs men's basketball|Rider Roughriders]]|conference=Independent|startyear=1928|endyear=1931}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1928–29 NCAA men's basketball season|1928–29]]
| name         = Rider
| overall      = 19–3
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1929–30 NCAA men's basketball season|1929–30]]
| name         = Rider
| overall      = 17–3
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1930–31 NCAA men's basketball season|1930–31]]
| name         = Rider
| overall      = 17–2
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Rider
 | overall    = {{Winning percentage|53|8|record=y}}
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead|name=[[LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball|Long Island Blackbirds]]|conference=Independent|startyear=1931|endyear=1943}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1931–32 NCAA men's basketball season|1931–32]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 16–4
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1932–33 NCAA men's basketball season|1932–33]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 6–11
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1933–34 NCAA men's basketball season|1933–34]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 26–1
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1934–35 NCAA men's basketball season|1934–35]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 24–2
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = national
| season       = [[1935–36 NCAA men's basketball season|1935–36]]
| name         = [[1935–36 Long Island Blackbirds men's basketball team|Long Island]]
| overall      = 25–0
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[Premo-Porretta Power Poll|Premo-Porretta]] National Champions<ref>{{cite book|title=ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game|editor-last=ESPN|publisher=ESPN Books|location=New York|year=2009|page=544|isbn=978-0-345-51392-2}}</ref>
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1936–37 NCAA men's basketball season|1936–37]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 28–3
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1937–38 NCAA men's basketball season|1937–38]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 23–5
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[1938 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Quarterfinals]]
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = national
| season       = [[1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season|1938–39]]
| name         = [[1938–39 Long Island Blackbirds men's basketball team|Long Island]]
| overall      = 23–0
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[Helms Athletic Foundation#National championship selections|Helms Foundation National Champions]]<br>[[1939 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Champions]]
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1939–40 NCAA men's basketball season|1939–40]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 19–4
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[1940 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Quarterfinals]]
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = national
| season       = [[1940–41 NCAA men's basketball season|1940–41]]
| name         = [[1940–41 Long Island Blackbirds men's basketball team|Long Island]]
| overall      = 25–2
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[Premo-Porretta Power Poll|Premo-Porretta]] National Champions<br>[[1941 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Champions]]
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1941–42 NCAA men's basketball season|1941–42]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 25–3
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[1942 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Quarterfinals]]
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1942–43 NCAA men's basketball season|1942–43]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 13–6
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season|1945–46]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 14–9
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1946–47 NCAA men's basketball season|1946–47]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 17–5
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[1947 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Quarterfinals]]
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1947–48 NCAA men's basketball season|1947–48]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 17–4
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1948–49 NCAA men's basketball season|1948–49]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 18–12
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1949–50 NCAA men's basketball season|1949–50]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 20–5
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = [[1950 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Quarterfinals]]
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season|1950–51]]
| name         = Long Island
| overall      = 20–4
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Long Island
 | overall    = {{Winning percentage|360|80|record=y}}
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record end|overall={{Winning percentage|413|88|record=y}}}}

====Baseball====
{{CBB yearly record start|type=coach}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead|name=[[Rider Broncs baseball|Rider Roughriders]]|conference=Independent|startyear=1929|endyear=single}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = 
| season       = [[1929 NCAA baseball season|1929]]
| name         = Rider
| overall      = 3–2
| conference   = 
| confstanding = 
| postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB yearly record subtotal|name=Rider|overall={{Winning percentage|3|2|record=y}}|confrecord=}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead|name=[[LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds baseball|Long Island Blackbirds]]|conference=Independent|startyear=1934|endyear=1939}}
{{CBB yearly record subtotal|name=Long Island|overall={{Winning percentage|75|22|4|record=y}}|confrecord=}}
{{CBB yearly record end|overall={{Winning percentage|78|24|4|record=y}}}}

=== Professional ===
==== NBA ====
{{NBA coach statistics legend}}
{{NBA coach statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1952–53 Baltimore Bullets season|BAL]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1952|trunc=y}}
| 70||16||54||.229|| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Eastern||2||0||2||.000
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1953 NBA Playoffs|Div. Semifinals]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1953–54 Baltimore Bullets season|BAL]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1953}}
| 72||16||56||.222|| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Eastern||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1954–55 Baltimore Bullets season|BAL]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1954}}
| 11||2||9||.222|| style="text-align:center;"|Fired; Unofficial Games<!--The NBA does not recognize the final 14 games played by the Bullets as a part of official history due to their early folding in history.-->|| |—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Folded
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:left;"|'''Career'''
| ||142||32||110||.225|| ||2||0||2||.000||  |
{{S-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Basketballhof|clair-bee}}

{{navboxes|list=
{{Rider Broncs men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Rider Broncs athletic director navbox}}
{{LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds baseball coach navbox}}
{{Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) coach navbox}}
{{1968 Basketball HOF}}
{{Basketball Hall of Fame contributors}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bee, Clair}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1983 deaths]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) head coaches]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from West Virginia]]
[[Category:Basketball players from West Virginia]]
[[Category:LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds baseball coaches]]
[[Category:LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Long Island Blackbirds football coaches]]
[[Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Grafton, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Rider Broncs athletic directors]]
[[Category:Rider Broncs baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Rider Broncs men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Rider Roughriders football coaches]]
[[Category:Rider University faculty]]<!--Taught accounting-->
[[Category:Waynesburg Yellow Jackets baseball players]]
[[Category:Waynesburg Yellow Jackets football players]]
[[Category:Waynesburg Yellow Jackets men's tennis players]]
<!-- NEVER PLAYED FOR THE BBALL TEAM. SEE https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/news/newsletter/2005-2014/v26n1.pdf [[Category:Waynesburg Yellow Jackets men's basketball players]]-->
[[Category:Writers from Ritchie County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Writers from Taylor County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]