Tom Schneider (basketball)
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 14, 1946 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 17, 2015 (aged 68) Lakeland, Florida, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1966–1969 | Bucknell |
| Coaching career ( Polk State College (assistant) | |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 98–160 (college) |
| Tournaments | 0–2 (NCAA Division I) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| East Coast Conference tournament (1985) Ivy League regular season (1987) | |
Thomas O. Schneider (July 14, 1946 – March 17, 2015) was an American basketball coach and player. From 1983 to 1993, he was a men's basketball head coach at NCAA Division I Mid-Atlantic mid-majors Lehigh, Penn and Loyola, with the first two each making a national tournament appearance.
Early life
Schneider was born in
Coaching career
Schneider began his coaching career at Rockville High School for one year in 1970–71. He stayed in the Washington metropolitan area when he returned to college basketball as an assistant coach with American in 1971–72 and George Washington from 1972 to 1979.[3] His one year at American coincided with his graduate studies at Georgetown.[1] He moved to the University of Pennsylvania in a similar capacity on the staffs of Bob Weinhauer for three seasons from 1979 to 1982 and Craig Littlepage for the 1982–83 campaign.[4]
His first head coaching appointment was at
Schneider returned to Penn on September 8, 1985, succeeding Littlepage who had left for Rutgers University two days earlier.[9][10] In his second year at Penn in 1987, the Quakers captured the Ivy League championship before a 113–82 East Regional first-round loss to North Carolina at the NCAA tournament.[11][12] Prior to assistant coach Fran Dunphy being promoted to replace him, Schneider compiled a 51–54 overall record in his four years with the Red and Blue.[13]
He announced on March 15, 1989, his departure from the Quakers to succeed Mark Amatucci in a similar capacity at Loyola College in Maryland.[13] A 1–10 start to the 1992–93 season resulted in Schneider's resignation prior to the opening of conference play. Athletic director Joe Boylan replaced him on an interim basis to complete a 2–25 campaign. The most notable player during Schneider's 3+1⁄2 years with the Greyhounds was starting point guard Michael Malone.[14]
He was an assistant with
Later years and death
Schneider was a history professor at Polk State Lakeland Collegiate High School from its inception in 2005 to his death at age 68 of coronary artery disease on March 17, 2015.[16]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh Engineers (East Coast Conference) (1983–1985) | |||||||||
| 1983–84 | Lehigh | 4–23 | 3–13 | 9th (last) | |||||
| 1984–85 | Lehigh | 12–19 | 6–8 | 6th | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| Lehigh: | 16–42 (.276) | 9–21 (.300) | |||||||
| Penn Quakers (Ivy League) (1985–1989) | |||||||||
| 1985–86 | Penn | 15–11 | 9–5 | 2nd | |||||
| 1986–87 | Penn | 13–14 | 10–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| 1987–88 | Penn | 10–16 | 8–6 | 5th | |||||
| 1988–89 | Penn | 13–13 | 9–5 | 3rd | |||||
| Penn: | 51–54 (.486) | 36–20 (.643) | |||||||
| Loyola Greyhounds (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (1989–1993) | |||||||||
| 1989–90 | Loyola | 4–24 | 2–14 | 6th/MAAC South (last) | |||||
| 1990–91 | Loyola | 12–16 | 5–11 | 7th | |||||
| 1991–92 | Loyola | 14–14 | 10–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1992–93 | Loyola | 1–10 | 8th (last) | ||||||
| Loyola: | 31–64 (.326) | 17–31 (.354) | |||||||
| Total: | 98–160 (.380) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- ^ a b c Obituary of Thomas O. Schneider – Oak Ridge Funeral Care. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Bison Basketball History – Bucknell University Athletics (scroll down to page 43). Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ "Colleges," The Washington Post, Thursday, March 16, 1989. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ "Tom Schneider, Basketball" (obituary), Almanac (University of Pennsylvania), July 14, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Rosen, Ron. "Local Heroes," The Washington Post, Friday, June 17, 1983. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ "Brian Hill, head basketball coach at Lehigh for the...," United Press International (UPI), Thursday, April 14, 1983. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Johnson, Roy S. "East Regional: Lehigh Out with Pride Intact," The New York Times, Friday, March 15, 1985. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ "Fran McCaffery, an assistant basketball coach at Lehigh the...," United Press International (UPI), Saturday, September 14, 1985. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Cialini, Joe. "Tom Schneider says he never though about returning to...," United Press International (UPI), Tuesday, September 10, 1985. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ "Craig Littlepage, who spent the last three years as...," United Press International (UPI), Friday, September 6, 1985. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Troy, Ezra. "Penn men’s basketball Ivy League title look back: 1987," The Daily Pennsylvanian (University of Pennsylvania), Tuesday, November 24, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Jacobs, Barry. "East Regional: Hoyas Cruise and Syracuse Struggles," The New York Times, Saturday, March 14, 1987. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "Basketball Coach Is Leaving Penn," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday, March 16, 1989. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Keeler, Sean. "Why Nuggets coach Michael Malone 'wouldn’t back down from anybody,'" The Denver Post, Sunday, February 17, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs Men's Basketball 2021–22 Media Guide (scroll down to page 89). Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "Polk State Mourning Death of History Professor Tom Schneider," Polk State College, Thursday, March 19, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2023.