View source for Dave Strack

{{Short description|American college sports coach and administrator (1923–2014)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Dave Strack
| image = Dave Strack.png
| alt = 
| caption = Strack from 1967 ''Michiganensian''
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|3|2}}
| birth_place = [[Indianapolis|Indianapolis, Indiana]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|1|25|1923|3|2}}
| death_place = [[Tucson, Arizona]], U.S.
| alma_mater = 
| player_years1 = 1943–1946
| player_team1 = [[Michigan Wolverines men's basketball|Michigan]]
| player_years2 = 1946
| player_team2 = [[Indianapolis Kautskys]]
| coach_years1 = 1948–1959
| coach_team1 = [[Michigan Wolverines men's basketball|Michigan]] (assistant)
| coach_years2 = 1959–1960
| coach_team2 = [[1959–60 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team|Idaho]]
| coach_years3 = 1960–1968
| coach_team3 = Michigan
| admin_years1 = 1970–1972
| admin_team1 = [[Michigan Wolverines|Michigan]] (associate AD)
| admin_years2 = 1972–1982
| admin_team2 = [[Arizona Wildcats|Arizona]]
| overall_record = 124–104
| bowl_record = 
| tournament_record = 7–3  ([[NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA University Division]])
| championships = 3 [[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] regular season (1964–1966)
| awards = 
| coaching_records = 
}}
'''David H. Strack''' (March 2, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American [[athletic director]] for the [[University of Arizona]] and head [[college basketball|basketball]] coach at the [[University of Michigan]]. He was inducted into the [[Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://vistosomemorialchapel.com/sitemaker/sites/vistos0/obit.cgi?user=1225046Strack|title=Google}}</ref>

==Early life==
Strack grew up in [[Indiana]] and graduated from [[Shortridge High School]] in [[Indianapolis]], where he was the basketball team's captain and MVP in 1941 and was named to the Indiana All-Star team.<ref name="HOF">{{cite web | title=Dave Strack | work=Indian Basketball Hall of Fame | publisher=hoopshall.com | url=http://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/dave-strack/?back=HallofFame | access-date=2011-10-21}}</ref> Strack played college basketball at the [[University of Michigan]] (UM), earning MVP honors in 1943 and 1946.<ref name="HOF"/>

==Basketball career==
Strack briefly played professionally for the [[Indianapolis Kautskys]] of the [[National Basketball League (United States)|NBL]].<ref>"Kautskys sign Strack". ''[[Kokomo Tribune]]''. February 20, 1946. 10.</ref> He&nbsp;returned to UM and served as an assistant coach from [[1948–49 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|1948]] to [[1958–59 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|1959]],<ref name="HOF"/> then left in June 1959 to become the head coach at the [[1959–60 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team|University of Idaho]].<ref name="HOF"/><ref name=univst>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XJlfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jTEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6484%2C310856 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=University studies 55 applications for basketball job |date=June 3, 1959 |page=11 }}</ref><ref name=masihv>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZZlfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jTEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6579%2C1889840 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Michigan aide studies Idaho hoop vacancy |date=June 12, 1959 |page=11 }}</ref><ref name=masvcp>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ff1XAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PvcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7067%2C3523493 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Michigan assistant Vandals' cage pick |date=June 16, 1959 |page=18}}</ref>

In May [[1960–61 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|1960]], Strack was hired as the head coach back at the University of Michigan,<ref name=icbtnp>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fR5YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MvcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6996%2C5065000 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Idaho cage boss takes new post |date=May 20, 1960 |page=17}}</ref><ref name=srcpnx>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ljRWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zecDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5093%2C1730708 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=Strack's move to Michigan confirmed; Cipriano next? |date=May 21, 1960 |page=10}}</ref><ref name=lmtsapos>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zr1eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EDEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4977%2C3254831 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |title=Strack accepts position at Michigan |date=May 21, 1960 |page=2}}</ref> and served from 1960 to [[1967–68 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|1968]]. He led the Wolverines to three [[Big Ten Conference]] titles ([[1963–64 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|1964]], [[1964–65 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|1965]], [[1965–66 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|1966]]) and the [[1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|1965 NCAA Tournament]] title game. Following his team's 24–4 record and runner-up finish in 1965, Strack was named the [[UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year]].<ref>{{Cite web | title = United Press International Coach of the Year winners | work = NCAA Individual Awards | publisher = Association for Professional Basketball Research | url = http://www.apbr.org/ncaaawrd.html | access-date = 19 May 2010}}</ref>

==Athletic director==
In 1968, Strack became the University of Michigan's business manager, then the associate athletic director in 1970.

Strack resigned in January 1972 to become the athletic director of the [[University of Arizona]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SnYfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4411,1246192&dq=dave-strack+arizona&hl=en|title=Michigan's Strack to go to Arizona|date=January 12, 1972|work=Milwaukee Journal|pages=8 (Section II)|access-date=21 October 2011|archive-date=26 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426084653/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SnYfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4411,1246192&dq=dave-strack+arizona&hl=en|url-status=dead}}</ref> Strack's tenure at Arizona included the hiring of the first African-American head coach of a major university (basketball coach [[Fred Snowden]])<ref name = "NYTobit">{{cite news | last = Thomas | first = Robert McG. Jr. | title = Fred Snowden, Basketball Coach And Black Pioneer, Is Dead at 57 | pages = D20 | work = New York Times | date = January 19, 1994 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/19/obituaries/fred-snowden-basketball-coach-and-black-pioneer-is-dead-at-57.html }}</ref> and the school's transition into the [[Pac-10]] athletic conference.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i88vAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5_gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6472,1929832&dq=dave-strack+arizona&hl=en|title=Arizona Seeks Schedule Help|date=December 22, 1976|work=Spokane Daily Chronicle|page=23|access-date=21 October 2011|location=Tucson, Arizona}}</ref> In 1980, Strack was criticized following a scandal involving the football program's use of an athletic slush fund for improper payments to coaches, alumni and recruits.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Patterson|first1=Margaret Jones|last2=Russell|first2=Robert H.|title=Behind the Lines: Case Studies in Investigative Reporting|date=October 15, 1986|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-06058-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/behindlinescases00patt/page/63 63 _ 93]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/behindlinescases00patt/page/63}}</ref> Strack resigned in July 1982 to become a professor of physical education.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hZZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NzEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3529,1888577&dq=dave-strack+arizona&hl=en|title=Dave Strack Leaves AD Post at Arizona|date=May 19, 1982|work=Lewiston Morning Tribune|page=2C|access-date=21 October 2011}}</ref>

In 1992, Strack was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.<ref name="HOF"/>

==Personal life==
In 1947, while attending the University of Michigan, Strack met and married Ruth Ann Mayer. They briefly lived in [[East Lansing, Michigan]] before moving to Ann Arbor to raise their five children. When he took the Arizona athletic director job, they moved to Tucson for his tenure and then to Prescott upon his retirement. They later returned to Tucson, where she died in 2011.<ref>[http://www.vistosomemorialchapel.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=368178 RUTH ANN STRACK November 6, 1925 - April 20, 2011]</ref> Strack, aged 90, died of pneumonia in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/01/dave_strack.html | title=Dave Strack, early architect of Michigan basketball, dies at 90| date=2014-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/012514aab.html |title=Former Coach Dave Strack Passes Away |access-date=2014-01-26 |archive-date=2014-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201040059/http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/012514aab.html  }}</ref>

==Head coaching record==
{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = | conference = | postseason= | poll = }}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Idaho Vandals men's basketball|Idaho Vandals]]
 | conference = Independent
 | startyear  = 1959
 | endyear    = 1960
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1959–60 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1959–60]]
 | name         = [[1959–60 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team|Idaho]]
 | overall      = 11–15
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Idaho
 | overall    = 11–15
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Michigan Wolverines men's basketball|Michigan Wolverines]]
 | conference = [[Big Ten Conference]]
 | startyear  = 1960
 | endyear    = 1968
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1960–61 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1960–61]]
 | name         = [[1960–61 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 6–18
 | conference   = 2–12
 | confstanding = 10th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1961–62 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1961–62]]
 | name         = [[1961–62 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 7–17
 | conference   = 5–9
 | confstanding = 8th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1962–63]]
 | name         = [[1962–63 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 16–8
 | conference   = 8–6
 | confstanding = T–4th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | season       = [[1963–64 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1963–64]]
 | name         = [[1963–64 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 23–5
 | conference   = 11–3
 | confstanding = T–1st
 | postseason   = [[1964 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Final Four]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | season       = [[1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1964–65]]
 | name         = [[1964–65 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 24–4
 | conference   = 13–1
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Runner-up]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | season       = [[1965–66 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1965–66]]
 | name         = [[1965–66 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 18–8
 | conference   = 11–3
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Elite Eight]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1966–67 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1966–67]]
 | name         = [[1966–67 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 8–16
 | conference   = 2–12
 | confstanding = 10th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1967–68]]
 | name         = [[1967–68 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]]
 | overall      = 11–13
 | conference   = 6–8
 | confstanding = T–7th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Michigan
 | overall    = 113–89
 | confrecord = 58–54
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 124–104
}}

==See also==
* [[List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/coaches/dave-strack-1.html Strack coaching stats]
*[http://azstarnet.com/sports/greg-hansen-story-of-ex-ua-ad-strack-a-good/article_7c9311d4-1f40-5b84-b237-6e27e34f7e04.html Strack interview] with the ''[[Arizona Daily Star]]'' (March 2013)

{{navboxes|list=
{{Idaho Vandals men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Michigan Wolverines men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Arizona Wildcats athletic director navbox}}
{{UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strack, Dave}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:American men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Arizona Wildcats athletic directors]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from Indiana]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Indianapolis]]
[[Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:Idaho Vandals men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Indianapolis Kautskys players]]
[[Category:Michigan Wolverines men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Shortridge High School alumni]]