Charles L. Finley | |
Birth Date: | 18 October 1907 |
Death Place: | Socorro, New Mexico, U.S. |
Player Sport1: | Basketball |
Player Years2: | 1930–1932 |
Coach Sport1: | Basketball |
Coach Years2: | 1944–1945 |
Coach Team2: | Texas Mines |
Coach Years3: | 1945–1947 |
Coach Team3: | New Mexico Mines |
Coach Years4: | 1947–1954 |
Coach Team4: | Idaho |
Coach Years5: | 1954–1957 |
Coach Team5: | Mississippi Southern |
Coach Sport6: | Baseball |
Coach Years7: | 1948–1953 |
Coach Team7: | Idaho |
Admin Years1: | 1945–1947 |
Admin Team1: | New Mexico Mines |
Rank: | Lieutenant |
Battles: | World War II |
Serviceyears: | 1942–1944 |
Charles L. Finley (October 18, 1907 – May 1, 1972) was an American basketball and baseball head coach, primarily at the University of Idaho in Moscow.[1]
Hired by Idaho in the summer of 1947,[2] [3] Finley led Vandal basketball for seven seasons, then a member of the Pacific Coast Conference. For the first six years, he was concurrently the head coach of the baseball team.[4] [5] [6] He succeeded Guy Wicks, who also coached both sports and moved out of athletics to an administrative position with the university.[2] With the overlap of the two seasons increasing, was hired as head baseball coach after the
As a collegian in the early 1930s, he played for legendary coach Henry Iba at Northwest Missouri State in
After seven years at Idaho, Finley left in April 1954 for Mississippi Southern,[7] [8] [9] then an independent in NAIA. He was the head coach for three seasons in Hattiesburg.