Harold Olsen Explained

Harold Olsen
Birth Date:12 May 1895
Birth Place:Rice Lake, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death Place:Rice Lake, Wisconsin, U.S.
Player Sport1:Basketball
Player Years2:1914–1917
Player Team2:Wisconsin
Coach Sport1:Basketball
Coach Years2:1918–1919
Coach Team2:Bradley
Coach Years3:1919–1922
Coach Team3:Ripon
Coach Years4:1922–1946
Coach Team4:Ohio State
Coach Years5:1946–1949
Coach Team5:Chicago Stags
Coach Years6:1950–1952
Coach Team6:Northwestern
Coach Sport7:Football
Coach Years8:1919–1921
Coach Team8:Ripon
Coach Sport9:Baseball
Coach Years10:1919
Coach Team10:Bradley
Overall Record:311–241 (college basketball)
95–63 (BAA)
13–6–1 (college football)
0–1 (college baseball)
Tournament Record:6–4
Championships:Basketball
5 Big Ten (1925, 1933, 1939, 1944, 1946)
NCAA Runner-up (1939)
3 NCAA Final Four (1944–1946)
Awards:Helms Foundation All-American (1917)
Baskhof Year:1959
Baskhof Id:harold-olsen
Cbbaskhof Year:2006

Harold G. Olsen (May 12, 1895 – October 29, 1953) was a college men's basketball coach. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was the head coach of the Ohio State University from 1922 to 1946. That year, he became the first head coach of the BAA's Chicago Stags, where he coached almost three seasons before being replaced by Philip Brownstein. Olsen also coached at Northwestern University (1950–1952).

While playing at University of Wisconsin–Madison (1914–1917), Olsen was named to the All-Big Ten twice for basketball.[1] After graduating from Wisconsin, he began his coaching career at Bradley University and Ripon College. In 1922, Olsen followed George Trautman as head coach of the Ohio State University. In 24 years he guided the Buckeyes to a 259–197 record, as well as five Big Ten championships (1925, 1933, 1939, 1944, 1946). He served as a chair on the NCAA Basketball Committee. Olsen helped initiate the 10-second rule in 1937, which requires teams to advance the ball over the center line within 10 seconds of gaining possession. In 1939, Olsen spearheaded efforts to create the NCAA postseason national playoffs, now known as the NCAA tournament, one that could compete with the National Invitational Tournament, which started play in 1938 with games hosted at Madison Square Garden in New York. The first NCAA tournament in 1939 saw Northwestern University host eight teams. Oregon beat Ohio State to become the first tournament champion in a format that has expanded several times to go with its popularity as the premier tournament for college basketball.

In 1959, he was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.

Head coaching record

Professional basketball

|-| style="text-align:left;"|CHS| style="text-align:left;"||61||39||22||.639|| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Western||11||5||6||.455| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in BAA Finals|-| style="text-align:left;"|CHS| style="text-align:left;"||48||28||20||.583|| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Western||5||2||3||.400| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in BAA Semifinals|-| style="text-align:left;"|CHS| style="text-align:left;"||49||28||21||.571|| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Western||2||0||2||.000| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in BAA Div. Semifinals|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:left;"|Career| ||158||95||63||.601|| ||18||7||11||.389

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://uwalumni.com/news/march-madness-ignited-by-uw-madison-grad-2/