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The Indiana
Basketball Hall of Fame is saddened to share word of the passing of
one our organization's staunchest supporters and greatest leaders, Bob
Straight.
A 1979
HOF inductee, he was noted as a coach for leading Huntington H.S. to the
1964 state championship game and state runner-up finish, along with 286
career wins and a .717 career winning percentage as head coach at Earl
Park, Rensselaer, Highland and Huntington high schools.
An
iconic figure in Huntington County, he served as head basketball coach,
athletic director and assistant principal (at one point simultaneously),
then was principal of the new Huntington North H.S. for nearly 20 years
and was assistant superintendent of Huntington North for three years
before retirement in 1986. As of November 2015, Huntington North H.S.
teams play on "Bob Straight Court" with his signature adorning on-court
graphics.
On a
statewide level, he was noted through associations including the Indiana
Basketball HOF - serving as a member of the six-person Site Selection
Committee in the late 1980's that chose New Castle as the location of a
new Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame museum and served as President of
the organization during construction and opening of that museum in June
1990 (with sitting U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle - whom Straight had
cut from the Huntington H.S. basketball team during his high school days
- the featured guest of the facility's grand opening ceremonies).
For 25
years, he was chairman of the Indiana Basketball HOF awards banquet,
involved in intricate planning and execution of the organization's
largest annual event - an event that in 2014 was named the "53rd Annual
Awards Dinner Presented in Honor of Bob Straight" and served numerous
terms on the HOF Board of Directors.
During
his career, he served five terms on the Indiana High School Athletic
Association Board and is the only person in that organization's 100+
year history to serve three terms as President of the IHSAA Board of
Control.
Additionally, he served as president of the Indiana Coaches Association
and was noted for organizing clinics for basketball coaches from across
the Midwest and beyond - including one that drew a young head coach from
the U.S. Army Academy named Bob Knight, who would become a longtime
personal friend.
For a
further look at his career, view this 2014 profile from the
Huntington County TAB.
View
his Indiana Basketball HOF inductee profile
here. |
