Kenneth D. "Ken" Loeffler

A stickler for team play, Ken Loeffler’s colorful coaching persona included an affinity for bow ties and poetry and a 20-year career packed with achievement. Loeffler, who coached at Geneva College, Yale, Texas A&M, and in the Basketball Association of America with the Providence Steamrollers and the St. Louis Bombers, achieved his greatest success at La Salle University in Philadelphia. His Figure-8 motion offense led La Salle to six straight 20-win seasons from 1950 to 1955. Behind Hall of Famer Tom Gola, the Explorers had a four-year stretch, 1952 to 1955, where they dominated college basketball. In 1954 La Salle started slow in the NCAA Tournament before turning on the jets and blowing through the final three opponents by an average of 15 points per game to win the national championship. Loeffler also authored one of the most comprehensive books ever written on basketball, Ken Loeffler on Basketball.