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Entering his 37th season as a collegiate head coach with more than 600 career wins and 1,000 games under his belt, Hugh Durham has stood the test of time. And in the words of renowned ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale, "...when you test time, that spells GREATNESS. Hugh has consistently shown the ability to win." Hugh Durham, one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history, has left his mark on yet another basketball program. Entering his eighth season as the head coach at Jacksonville University, Durham has already become the Dolphins' all-time winningest Division I coach (90 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools. He has also matched the longest tenure (7 seasons) of any coach in the 56-year history of Jacksonville University basketball. But to know Durham is to know that seven years into his latest - and last - rebuilding project, his competitive fire has not wavered and his will to win has not diminished. The 67-year-old hardwood legend was brought to JU to restore respectability and pride into the once-proud and storied program. Durham has done just that as the Dolphins have gone from the doormat of the Atlantic Sun Conference to one of the top programs in the league during his tenure. His signature defense and JU's home court dominance at Swisher Gymnasium have been the keys to JU's resurgence the last four seasons:
In addition to the Dolphins' success on the court, Durham has also been heavily involved in the Dolphins' work in the classroom. Since his arrival prior to the 1997-98 season, 18 players who have completed their eligibility at JU have graduated. The message is simple. If you don't perform in the classroom, you don't perform on the basketball floor. "We have always placed a great deal of emphasis on a player's responsibilities in the classroom," says Durham. "They are here to earn an education and playing basketball is just part of the educational process." Durham came to JU having already built national programs at Florida State - where he holds the record for best winning percentage with a 230-95 (.708) record in 12 years - and at Georgia - where he is also the all-time winningest coach in the 99-year history of the Bulldog program, having won 297 games in 17 seasons. His career reached new heights in 2003 when he became the 32nd coach all-time to win 600 career games and just the 17th in Division I to coach 1,000 games. The accomplishments don't end there:
Durham has also been an integral part of the success of the entire JU athletic department. He was initially hired as head basketball coach and assistant athletic director at JU on March 13, 1997. In March of 2000, Durham assumed the duties of interim athletic director and was tabbed the Dolphins' permanent A.D. in March of 2001 - becoming one of just four Division I basketball coaches (Fang Mitchell of Coppin St., Billy Tubbs of Lamar and Dave Loos of Austin Peay) to also serve as athletic director. Durham served in that role until February of 2004. JU's turnaround hit full stride in 2000-01, when Durham led the Dolphins to an 18-10 mark - their first winning season in six years - and a third-place finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference, despite being picked as low as ninth in the preseason polls. The Dolphins recorded the second-biggest turnaround in school history, winning 10 more games than the previous season, which earned Durham Atlantic Sun Coach-of-the-Year honors by collegeinsider.com. JU sported one of the best defenses in school history, allowing just 63.7 points per game, which ranked second in the A-Sun and 30th nationally, while limiting opponents to a school-record low 41 percent shooting from the field and blocking a league-best 151 shots. The Dolphins also went 12-2 at home, the most wins ever at historic Swisher Gymnasium, and opened the season 7-0, JU's best start since 1979-80. The success continued in 2001-02 when the Dolphins went 18-12, marking the most wins in consecutive seasons (36) in 15 years. JU finished 12-8 in Atlantic Sun Conference play, which tied a school record for conference wins in a season, and spent two weeks ranked in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. The Dolphins also posted the most road wins (7) and had their best start at home (6-0) since 1973-74. The defensive dominance continued as JU limited opponents to just 42 percent shooting from the floor, while ranking first in the Atlantic Sun and 26th nationally in rebounding margin (+5.5 rpg), and again blocked a league-high 152 shots. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Dolphins were the preseason favorite in the Atlantic Sun in 2002-03, but a rash of injuries and early season mishaps derailed JU's march toward a conference championship. The shorthanded Dolphins finished with a 13-16 record against one of the toughest schedules in recent history. Through it all, JU remained one of the top defensive teams in the A-Sun, allowing 69.3 points per game, while leading the league in blocked shots (159) for the third consecutive season. The challenges continued in 2003-04 when the Dolphins entered the season as the most inexperienced team in all of Division I, but JU still managed to win 13 games and qualify for the A-Sun Tournament for the sixth consecutive year. The Dolphins were led by freshman forward Haminn Quaintance, who was tabbed Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year after putting together the best freshman campaign at JU in 20 years. The Dolphins led the A-Sun in blocks for the fourth consecutive season, while also ranking fifth among all Division I schools with 6.0 rejections per game. Not only does Durham's 44-year coaching career contain just about every award and honor given in college basketball, but he has coached some of the game's best, a Who's Who list that includes nine All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, four first-round NBA draft picks and a pair of Olympians. Fifteen of his former players have gone on to play in the NBA, while he has had 31 players selected in the NBA Draft. His first recruiting class at Florida State in 1966 contained Dave Cowens, who is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and went on to a successful coaching career in the NBA. He also coached Dominique Wilkins, one of the top-10 scorers in NBA history, as well as former Olympian and NBA standout Vern Fleming, who helped Durham and the Georgia Bulldogs reach the 1983 Final Four. In 1972, Durham led Florida State to the NCAA Championship Game, eventually falling to perennial powerhouse UCLA, 81-76. Durham took over a struggling Georgia program in 1978 and proceeded to lead the Bulldogs to nearly 300 wins (297-215) over the next 17 years, becoming the school's all-time winningest coach in only his 10th season. He led Georgia to 12 postseason tournaments (UGA had never been to the postseason before) and was named SEC Coach of the Year on four occasions - 1981, 1985, 1987 and 1990. After winning the 1983 SEC Tournament championship, the Bulldogs established themselves among the nation's best by defeating Virginia Commonwealth, St. John's and North Carolina en route to the NCAA Final Four in Albuquerque, N.M. Despite a semifinal loss to eventual champion N.C. State, Durham and his Bulldogs had won a school-record 24 games and finished ranked in the Top-20 for the first time in school history. Durham also led Georgia to its first (and only) SEC championship in 1990. Durham's successful coaching career began at his alma mater, Florida State, where he enjoyed a brilliant 12-year stint as head coach from 1966-78. He posted a 230-95 record and still ranks first among all FSU coaches with a .708 winning percentage. Durham led the Seminoles to the NCAA postseason three times, including the 1972 NCAA tournament when his 27-6 team advanced to the NCAA title game against UCLA. His FSU squad played the Bruins closer (81-76) than any other team during the 12 years that UCLA held on to the NCAA Championship. On the way, FSU knocked off Eastern Kentucky, Minnesota, Kentucky and North Carolina. The 73-54 win over Kentucky was the final game of Adolph Rupp's career. Ironically enough, Durham's 89-83 win over Jacksonville in 1969 was the Dolphins' only loss before falling to UCLA in the 1970 NCAA Championship game. In 1978, the Seminoles captured the Metro Conference regular-season championship and Durham was named Metro Coach of the Year. A native of Louisville, Ky., and a four-sport prep standout at Eastern High School, Durham began his coaching career as an assistant to long-time Florida State coach Bud Kennedy in 1959. This followed an outstanding playing career at Florida State, where he earned his B.A. in business administration in 1959, and his M.B.A. in 1961. Durham's name still decorates the FSU record books in a dozen different categories after scoring 1,381 points during his three-year career. His 21.9 ppg average in 1958-59 ranks seventh all-time at FSU, while his career average of 18.9 ppg ranks ninth in the Seminole record book. Durham's 43-point performance against Stetson on Jan. 19, 1957 still ranks second all-time at Florida State for a single game. Florida State's annual Team MVP award was re-named the "Hugh Durham Most Valuable Player" award in 1999. Durham was inducted into the FSU Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Kentucky High School Hall of Fame in 1994. He was also inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Durham and his wife, Malinda, a Jacksonville native, have three sons: David (44), a Harvard and Georgia Law School graduate, and his wife, Amy; Doug (40), a Georgia Southern graduate and an assistant basketball coach at Georgia State, and his wife, Melanie; and Jim (36), a Princeton graduate and alumnus of the Georgia Law School, and his wife Leslie. Durham also has six grandchildren: Douglas, Nick, Cameron, Hugh, Julia and Teresa.
What They're Saying...
"Coach Durham's longevity and coaching record speak for themselves. He's been a credit to our coaching profession."
"Hugh Durham has great respect from coaches whose teams have competed against him. His teams play hard, they play smart and Hugh handles the late-game situations with the best."
"His basketball knowledge and teaching ability are second to none, and the combination of his sustained success and longevity are the true test of his greatness."
"Hugh has always been one of the great coaches in America. He continues to roll along."
"He is one of the best coaches in the country."
JU's Accomplishments Under Durham
NBA Pipeline Durham-coached players In the NBA
Durham's Coaching Record
*Includes forfeit from Oregon St. from NCAA sanctions.
The Durham File
Personal
Education
Coaching experience
Coach of the year
NCAA Final Four Appearances
Postseason Appearances
Conference Championships
Career Highlights
Winningest Active NCAA Div. I Coaches
Hugh Durham in The Postseason
NCAA Tournament
Florida State (4-3)
Georgia (4-5)
National Invitation Tournament
Georgia (6-7)
Milestone Wins
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