Winning Harry: Statham Power Reaches Summit as Career Winningest Coach
It didn't seem right to honor Coach K about this time last season without at least acknowledging Winning Harry. We're talking about Harry Statham of Lebanon, Ill.-based McKendree College. On February 6, he passed Tennessee's Pat Summitt (1,098 triumphs) as the all-time winningest coach in college history (men's or women's) at the four-year college level. Statham, who passed North Carolina's Dean Smith during the 2004-05 season, has coached more college basketball games than anyone from planet Earth since supplanting Jim Phelan (Mount St. Mary's). Going beyond 1,000 NAIA victories in 2009-10, Statham (pronounced Stay-them) compiled only one losing campaign (18-19 in 1983-84) in his first 46 seasons as a head coach until incurring sub-.500 marks each of the previous three years following McKendree moving up to the NCAA DII level. It also didn't seem right he had a five-game losing streak when Duke's Mike Krzyzewski registered career win No. 1,000.
"No, I never dreamed about (so many triumphs). I never dreamed about 100 wins," said Statham, boasting an average annual record of 22-9. "It's a good job and a good opportunity and I love what I do. I just try to do things right and everything will take care of itself."
It was not as if there was instant success for Statham, who didn't reach the NAIA Tournament until his 22nd campaign. After his first three seasons with McKendree, Statham conducted a tryout including the author of this missive for a spot on his roster. Statham never would have reached 100 victories three years later if he didn't look elsewhere and attract better players over the decades en route to assembling the following record-breaking resume:
Season Record NAIA Tourney 1966-67 13-10 DNP 1967-68 20-7 DNP 1968-69 21-6 DNP 1969-70 19-6 DNP 1970-71 15-12 DNP 1971-72 21-7 DNP 1972-73 23-6 DNP 1973-74 24-8 DNP 1974-75 17-9 DNP 1975-76 17-9 DNP 1976-77 21-5 DNP 1977-78 15-11 DNP 1978-79 20-11 DNP 1979-80 22-9 DNP 1980-81 27-7 DNP 1981-82 18-12 DNP 1982-83 20-9 DNP 1983-84 18-19 DNP 1984-85 22-11 DNP 1985-86 22-14 DNP 1986-87 30-5 DNP 1987-88 35-1 1-1 record 1988-89 17-15 DNP 1989-90 20-14 DNP 1990-91 23-9 DNP 1991-92 31-6 0-1 record 1992-93 27-9 0-1 record 1993-94 26-8 DNP 1994-95 27-6 DNP 1995-96 25-9 1-1 record 1996-97 28-9 2-1 record 1997-98 26-8 DNP 1998-99 21-11 DNP 1999-00 25-8 0-1 record 2000-01 27-9 0-1 record 2001-02 30-5 1-1 record 2002-03 34-4 3-1 record 2003-04 24-10 0-1 record 2004-05 25-8 DNP 2005-06 19-14 DNP 2006-07 22-12 1-1 record 2007-08 27-7 1-1 record 2008-09 30-6 2-1 record 2009-10 27-7 0-1 record 2010-11 21-13 1-1 record 2011-12 18-12 DNP 2012-13 7-21 moved up to NCAA DII 2013-14 9-17 moved up to NCAA DII 2014-15 11-15 moved up to NCAA DII 2015-16 11-10* moved up to NCAA DII 50 years 1,099-476 13-15 record *Record when passing Pat Summitt.