Larry Farmer (basketball)

Larry Farmer

Farmer as bench coach for Western Michigan University
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Assistant coach
Team Western Michigan
Conference Mid-American Conference
Biographical details
Born (1951-01-31) January 31, 1951
Playing career
1970–1973 UCLA
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1973–1981 UCLA (asst.)
1981–1984 UCLA
1985–1988 Weber State
1988–1990 Qadsia Sporting Club
1990–1991 Golden State Warriors (asst.)
1992–1997 Kuwait national team
1997–1998 Rhode Island (asst.)
1998–2004 Loyola-Chicago
2007–2010 Hawaii (asst.)
2010–2012 Western Michigan (asst.)
2012–2013 NC State (dir. player dev.)
2013–present Western Michigan (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall 166–179 (.481)

Larry Farmer (born January 31, 1951) is an American college basketball coach and player. He currently is an assistant coach at Western Michigan University (WMU).[1] This is his second stint as an assistant coach at WMU.

College career

Farmer from 1972 UCLA yearbook

Farmer played at UCLA during the early 1970s under legendary coach John Wooden. He was a teammate of Bill Walton during the era when the Bruins won seven consecutive NCAA men's titles. He was the only player that participated in all the games for the UCLA teams that went 89–1 (.989),[2] the best winning percentage in NCAA men's basketball history.[3]

Professional career

Farmer was drafted by both the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Denver Nuggets of the American Basketball Association (ABA). He did not play, but instead returned to UCLA to where he was an assistant basketball coach under John Wooden, Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham, and Larry Brown from 1973 to 1981. When Brown resigned prior to the 1981–82 season, Farmer was elevated to head coach of the UCLA basketball team.

UCLA head basketball coach

He was the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles from 1981 to 1984, guiding them to a 61–23 (.726) record. He had recruited Earvin "Magic" Johnson to come play at UCLA, but then told Johnson to hold off on a visit as he was more interested in Albert King.[4] Neither played for UCLA.

Weber State basketball coach

In 1985, Farmer became the head coach for Weber State University and was the successor to Neil McCarthy. Farmer coached Weber for three seasons (1985–88) and compiled a record of 34–54 (.386).[5]

Loyola (Chicago) head basketball coach

Larry Farmer also coached at Loyola University Chicago from 1998 to 2004. Farmer had a 30–51 (.370) record over his first three seasons before finally breaking through in 2001. In that year, Farmer compiled a 17–13 record, 9–7 in the Horizon League. Farmer took the Ramblers to the brink of the NCAA Tournament before losing to rival University of Illinois Chicago. Farmer did not have much success after that and struggled through his last two seasons with the Ramblers.

Other coaching jobs

Farmer has also coached at the professional level serving as head coach of the Qadsia Sporting Club in Kuwait (1988–90) and as an assistant with the NBA's Golden State Warriors (1990–91). He also served as a coach for the Kuwaiti National Team from 1992–97.

His college coaching experience also includes a stint as an assistant at Rhode Island (1997–98), where he helped the Rams reach the Elite Eight.

He spent three years on the bench at the University of Hawai'i under Bob Nash from 2007–10.

Farmer spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Western Michigan from 2010–12.

In the 2012 season, Farmer was the director of player development for men's basketball at North Carolina State.[6] Farmer and NC State head coach Mark Gottfried were both UCLA assistant coaches.

He returned to the WMU staff for the 2013 season.

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UCLA Bruins (Pacific-10 Conference) (1981–1984)
1981–82 UCLA 21–6 14–4 2nd
1982–83 UCLA 23–6 15–3 1st NCAA Second Round
1983–84 UCLA 17–11 10–8 4th
UCLA: 61–23 (.726) 39–15 (.722)
Weber State Wildcats (Big Sky Conference) (1985–1988)
1985–86 Weber State 18–11 7–7 t-4th
1986–87 Weber State 7–22 4–10 8th
1987–88 Weber State 9–21 6–10 8th
Weber State: 34–54 (.386) 17–27 (.386)
Loyola Chicago Ramblers (Horizon League) (1998–2004)
1998–99 Loyola Chicago 9–18 7–7 4th
1999–00 Loyola Chicago 14–14 4–10 8th
2000–01 Loyola Chicago 7–21 2–12 8th
2001–02 Loyola Chicago 17–13 9–7 t-4th
2002–03 Loyola Chicago 15–16 9–7 t-4th
2003–04 Loyola Chicago 9–20 4–12 t-7th
Loyola Chicago: 71–102 (.410) 35–55 (.389)
Total: 166–179 (.481)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. DeCamp, Scott (July 8, 2013). "Coach Larry Farmer officially back with WMU basketball program". mlive.com. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  2. Kirkpatrick, Curry (November 30, 1981). "Wise In The Ways Of The Wizard: Three rushed in where Wooden used to tread—then split. Now comes the fourth, Larry Farmer, truest of true believers". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  3. DeCamp, Scott (June 20, 2013). "Larry Farmer expected to return to WMU men's basketball program as assistant coach". mlive.com. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  4. Larry Bird; Earvin Johnson; Jackie MacMullan (November 4, 2009). When the Game Was Ours. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-0-547-41681-6.
  5. "WMU hires Steve [sic] Farmer as basketball assistant coach". Detroit Free Press. July 13, 2010.
  6. "Larry Farmer bio". North Carolina State University. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
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