The Penn State men’s basketball program has had 15 head coaches in its 129-season history. This article will highlight all 15 and give a brief overview of each guy at the helm.
No Head Coach – 1896-1915, 1917-1918; 20 Seasons – Overall Record – 131-66 – 1. Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball in 1891, invented the sport as a physical education activity, not as a serious, competitive sport needing coaches.
Burke “Dutch” Hermann – 1915-1917, 1919-1932; 15 Seasons – Overall Record – 148-73 – Considered the 1st official head coach. Was a 1912 graduate of Penn State, also served as a professor in history at PSU. Was a four-year letterwinner in basketball and also lettered in football in 1911.
Hugo Bezdek – 1919; 1 Season – Overall Record – 11-2. Was also PSU’s head football coach from 1918-1929 and head baseball coach from 1920-1930. Also served as the manager of the MLB Pittsburgh Pirates from 1917-1919.
Earl Leslie – 1933-1936; 4 Seasons – Overall Record – 29-28. Played football for Oregon from 1919-1921 and later coached football and basketball for Oregon and Montclair State in New Jersey before coming to Penn State in 1932.
John Lawther – 1937-1949; 13 Seasons – Overall Record – 150-93. Was also the head basketball coach for Westminster College of PA from 1925-1930 and from 1931-1936. Led Penn State to the 1942 NCAA Basketball Tournament and later became a professor and athletic administrator at Penn State.
Dr. Elmer Gross – 1949-1954; 5 Seasons – Overall Record – 80-40. Was also a professor of physical education at Penn State where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the university. Was part of the program’s next three NCAA tournament appearances and led Penn State to its first— and only— Final Four appearance in the 1953-1954 season.
John Egli – 1954-1968; 14 Seasons – Overall Record – 187-135. Also played basketball for Penn State and later coached PSU to two NCAA tournament appearances.
Johnny Bach – 1968-1978; 10 Seasons – Overall Record – 122-121. Played college basketball at Fordham and Brown University and was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1948. Bach reunited at Penn State with good Brown University friend Joe Paterno. Later coached for the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls.
Richard Harter – 1978-1983; 5 Seasons – Overall Record – 79-61. Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Harter served as the head coach at Oregon for 7 years and then came to Penn State for an annual salary of $41,000. From Happy Valley, spent time in the NBA as an assistant coach for the Pistons, Pacers, Knicks, Trail Blazers, Celtics, and 76ers. Was the expansion Charlotte Hornets first ever head coach.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Bruce Parkhill (Upper Right) – 1983-1995; 12 Seasons – Overall Record – 181-169. Spent 6 seasons at the helm for William & Mary before coming to Penn State. Parkhill guided PSU to 4 straight 20-win seasons while PSU played in the Atlantic 10 before moving to the Big Ten in the 1992-1993 season. Parkhill is a graduate from State College High School and lettered in 3 sports at Lock Haven University.
Jerry Dunn (Upper Left) – 1995-2003; 8 Seasons – Overall Record – 117-121. Dunn led Penn State to its first Top 10 national ranking and the 1996 NCAA Tournament. In 2001, he led 7-seed PSU to the NCAA Tournament where they upset 2-seed North Carolina to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in over half a century. Dunn reached 50 wins and 100 wins faster than any other head men’s basketball coach in Penn State history.
Ed DeChellis – 2003-2011; 8 Seasons – Overall Record – 114-138. Most noted for leading Penn State to the 2009 NIT Championship, the first national tournament title in PSU men’s basketball history. Was most recently the head coach at Navy for 14 years and just recently announced his retirement this past March.
Pat Chambers (Lower Left) – 2011-2020; 9 Seasons – Overall Record – 148-150. Chambers best season was in 2017-2018 when he led PSU to a NIT Championship with a record of 26-13. He had Penn State nationally ranked #23 in 2019 and on their way to a NCAA Tournament berth until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2019-2020 collegiate season. He is currently the head coach for the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.
Jim Ferry – 2020-2021; 1 Season – Overall Record – 11-14. Ferry served as an assistant at Penn State from 2017-2020 before becoming the interim head coach after the resignation of Chambers on October 21, 2020. He is currently the head coach for the UMBC Retrievers.
Micah Shrewsberry – 2021-2023; 2 Seasons – Overall Record – 37-31. Most noted for the 2022-2023 season when he led Penn State to the NCAA Tournament where they knocked off Texas A&M in the first round and almost defeated 2-seed Texas in the second round. Shrewsberry is currently the head coach for Notre Dame.
Mike Rhoades (Lower Right)– 2023-present; 2 Seasons – Overall Record – 40-35. Came to Penn State after head coaching stints at Randolph-Macon, Rice, and VCU. After postseason success at all 3 schools, Rhoades came to PSU and has brought in the no. 26 ranked recruiting class in the country for this season, the highest ever in Penn State history. Also, just saw one of his former players, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, get drafted #30 overall in this year’s NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.
So there you have it…a total of 15 head coaches at Penn State with 127 seasons combined and an overall, winning record of 1,585-1,277-1.
