| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 5, 1905 |
| Died | December 4, 1983 (aged 77) |
| Playing career | |
| Basketball | |
| 1926–1929 | Oklahoma |
| Track and field | |
| 1927–1929 | Oklahoma |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1938–1955 | Oklahoma |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 200–182 (.524) |
| Tournaments | 4–3 (.571) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 5 Big Six Championship (1939, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1947) Big Seven Championship (1949) NCAA Runner-up (1947) NCAA Final Four (1939) | |
| Awards | |
| Helms Foundation All-American (1929) First-team All-Big Six (1929) | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1973 (profile) | |
| College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 | |
Bruce Drake (December 5, 1905 – December 4, 1983) was a college men's basketball coach. The Gentry, Texas native was head coach at the University of Oklahoma between 1938 and 1955, compiling a 200–181 record. He also coached the Air Force team to a 34–14 record in 1956.
Prior to coaching, he was also a star for Hugh McDermott's Oklahoma team. He was a 1928–29 Helms Foundation All-American. He was a multi-sport athlete at Oklahoma.[1]
As a coach, Drake led the Sooners to two Final Fours–the first one in 1939, here they lost to Oregon 55–37; the second in 1947, where he lost in the Championship Game to Holy Cross 58–47. He made only one additional NCAA tournament appearance, in 1943. However, he coached at a time when only eight teams made the tournament. He won or shared six (Big Six/Big Seven conference titles. At the time of his retirement, he was the winningest coach in OU history, but is now third behind Billy Tubbs and Kelvin Sampson.
He coached 5 Olympic (Wayne Glasgow and Marcus Freiberger of University of Oklahoma, 1952; Bill Evans, Ron Tomsic and Gib Ford of Air Force team, 1956) and three All-Americans (Jimmy McNatt, 1940; Gerald Tucker, 1943, 1947; Allie Paine, 1944)
Drake was selected as the assistant coach for the 1956 USA Men's Basketball Gold Medal Olympic Team [2]
In 1958 he coached the Wichita Vickers in the National Industrial Basketball League getting 30–21 record tying him for first with his old player Gerald Tucker who was coaching the Bartlesville Phillips 66ers.
One of the lasting contributions Drake developed is the shuffle offense. He helped make goaltending illegal.
Drake was the Chairman of the NCAA Rules Committee from 1951 to 1955. He made the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973.
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