K-State Basketball: Best head coaches of all-time for Kansas State

BEST K-STATE BASKETBALL COACHES: NUMBER 1: TEX WINTER

Coached at K-State from 1953-1968 (Record: 261-118)

Ironically enough, Jack Gardner’s assistant from the late 40s and early 50s claimed the top spot over him. Tex Winter deserves the number one spot as far as K-State basketball coaches go, leading his teams to a 261-118 record over the span of 15 seasons.

Winter had an incredible amount of success as the Wildcats head coach, leading them to eight conference championships, six NCAA Tournament appearances, and two trips to the Final Four. The two Final Four seasons were in 1958 and 1964. The Cats went 22-5 and 22-7 respectively in those two seasons.

In his 15 seasons at K-State, Winter had just one losing season with the Wildcats.

That 1958 tournament saw Winter’s Wildcats defeat the number two seeded Cincinnati Bearcats in an exciting double overtime. In the 1964 season, K-State would lose to the eventual champion in the UCLA Bruins, but a Final Four was nothing to scoff at for this program.

K-State fans expected success under Tex Winter and he didn’t disappoint. In his 15 seasons at K-State, Winter had just one losing season with the Wildcats. Winter succeeded at Kansas State by implanting the famous Triangle Offense and later taught that offense to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, where Winter was an assistant for 14 seasons.

After his career ended at K-State, Winter coached at Washington, Northwestern, and Long Beach State, and also spent time in the pros. He coached the Houston Rockets for three seasons and spent time as an assistant for the Bulls and the Lakers.

Winter was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 and into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. While the competition is stiff for Kansas State basketball head coaches, Tex Winter will go down as the best in school history.