Rest in Peace: Many Head Coaching Careers Curtailed by Untimely Deaths

A couple of bench bosses died suddenly in their 50s since mid-November this season - UTRGV's Lew Hill and Tennessee-Martin's Anthony Stewart. Similar tragic tales have been told before at the NCAA Division I level. Following is an alphabetical list of active major-college head coaches who previously passed away in the prime of life:

• Marshall coach Stu Aberdeen passed away at age 43 in the offseason (mid-June) from a heart attack while vacationing in Florida after his second season with the Thundering Herd in 1978-79. He was credited with recruiting two of the premier players in Tennessee history - New York products Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King.
• Michigan State coach John Benington, 47, died of a heart attack while jogging after the 1968-69 season. He guided St. Louis to four NIT appearances in seven-year stint.
• Dayton coach Tom Blackburn, falling ill with cancer, was 58 when he died eight days after the Flyers' regular-season finale in 1963-64. He directed the Flyers to six NIT championship games in 12-year span from 1951 through 1962.
• Colgate coach John "Jack" Bruen, 48, died of pancreatic cancer just before Christmas in 1997 after guiding the Red Raiders to back-to-back NCAA playoff appearances in 1995 and 1996.
• Franklin "Cappy" Cappon was to have coached in 1961-62, but died of a heart attack at 61 while showering at fieldhouse three days before Princeton's opening game. He previously coached Michigan in the 1930s.
• Nebraska coach Joe Cipriano, 49, died after a year-long battle with cancer three days before the Cornhuskers' 1980-81 season opener. He was their all-time winningest mentor when perishing.
• Tommy Joe Eagles, hired by New Orleans after he was forced out by Auburn at the end of the previous season, died of a heart attack at age of 45 in late July 1994 during a visit to an NBA rookie camp in Utah.
• South Florida coach Bill Gibson, 47, died of a heart attack following the 1974-75 campaign after returning from a recruiting trip. He had suffered a severe heart attack before the start of his only season as coach of the Bulls.
• Hugh Greer, 60, was Connecticut's all-time winningest mentor when he died of a massive heart attack midway through the 1962-63 campaign. Interim George Wigton went on to guide the Huskies to the NCAA playoffs.
• Notre Dame's George Keogan died of a heart attack at his home on February 17, 1943, at the age of 52. In 24 seasons as a college coach (20 with the Irish), he never compiled a losing record and won 13 straight one-point games from 1924-25 to midway through 1933-34. Keogan passed away before ever appearing in the NIT or NCAA Tournament. UND was still bound by the school's ban on postseason competition.
• Paul Lambert, lured by Auburn from Southern Illinois following 1978-79 campaign, died at the age of 43 in a tragic motel fire in Columbus, Ga., while conducting a two-day clinic waiting for his family to move. The Tigers filled the coaching vacancy by hiring Sonny Smith from East Tennessee State.
• Oklahoma coach Lester Lane, a former Sooners All-American, died at the age of 41 in 1973 before ever coaching a game for them.
• Frank "Bucky" O'Connor, who coached Iowa to Final Four in 1955 and 1956, perished at age of 44 in an automobile accident after 1957-58 season. He died after swerving to avoid two guinea hens in the road, lost control of his car and skidded into path of a truck hauling 16 tons of concrete tile.
• Lee Patton, who held the second-best winning percentage in West Virginia history, died at age of 45 in an auto accident late in the 1949-50 season.
• Wake Forest coach George "Skip" Prosser, 56, died of a heart attack following the 2006-07 season after returning to his office from noon jog.
• Only three days after the end of Temple's 1938-39 campaign, James Usilton Sr. died of a heart ailment at the age of 43. Usilton won 68.1% of his games with the Owls decided by fewer than five points (49-23 in close contests).
• Bobby Watson, 35, was in his first season at Evansville when he and his Purple Aces team members were killed. Their plane incurred engine failure and crashed on December 13, 1977, leaving for flight to Nashville. Watson had survived a 31-month tour of duty in Vietnam, where he earned five Purple Hearts.