Fred Schaus
American basketball player and coach, college athletics administrator (1925–2010)
title: "Fred Schaus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1925-births", "2010-deaths", "20th-century-american-sportsmen", "american-men's-basketball-coaches", "american-men's-basketball-players", "american-people-of-german-descent", "basketball-coaches-from-ohio", "basketball-players-at-the-1959-pan-american-games", "basketball-players-from-ohio", "college-men's-basketball-head-coaches-in-the-united-states", "fort-wayne-pistons-draft-picks", "fort-wayne-pistons-players", "los-angeles-lakers-head-coaches", "medalists-at-the-1959-pan-american-games", "pan-american-games-gold-medalists-for-the-united-states-in-basketball", "nba-all-stars", "nba-executives", "new-york-knicks-players", "purdue-boilermakers-men's-basketball-coaches", "small-forwards", "sportspeople-from-newark,-ohio", "west-virginia-mountaineers-athletic-directors", "west-virginia-mountaineers-men's-basketball-coaches", "west-virginia-mountaineers-men's-basketball-players"] description: "American basketball player and coach, college athletics administrator (1925–2010)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Schaus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American basketball player and coach, college athletics administrator (1925–2010) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox basketball biography"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Fred Schaus |
| image | Fred Schaus.jpg |
| width | 180 px |
| caption | Schaus from The Monticola, 1955 |
| height_ft | 6 |
| height_in | 5 |
| weight_lb | 205 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Newark, Ohio, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Morgantown, West Virginia, U.S. |
| high_school | Newark (Newark, Ohio) |
| college | West Virginia (1946–1949) |
| draft_year | 1949 |
| draft_round | 3 |
| draft_team | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| career_start | 1949 |
| career_end | 1954 |
| career_number | 8, 17 |
| career_position | Small forward |
| coach_start | 1954 |
| coach_end | 1978 |
| years1 | – |
| team1 | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| years2 | |
| team2 | New York Knicks |
| cyears1 | 1954–1960 |
| cteam1 | West Virginia |
| cyears2 | – |
| cteam2 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| cyears3 | 1972–1978 |
| cteam3 | Purdue |
| stats_league | NBA |
| stat1label | Points |
| stat1value | 4,070 (12.2 ppg) |
| stat2label | Rebounds |
| stat2value | 1,609 (6.0 rpg) |
| stat3label | Assists |
| stat3value | 961 (2.9 apg) |
| :: |
| name = Fred Schaus | image = Fred Schaus.jpg | width = 180 px | caption = Schaus from The Monticola, 1955 | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 5 | weight_lb = 205 | birth_date = | birth_place = Newark, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Morgantown, West Virginia, U.S. | high_school = Newark (Newark, Ohio) | college = West Virginia (1946–1949) | draft_year = 1949 | draft_round = 3 | draft_pick = | draft_team = Fort Wayne Pistons | career_start = 1949 | career_end = 1954 | career_number = 8, 17 | career_position = Small forward | coach_start = 1954 | coach_end = 1978 | years1 = – | team1 = Fort Wayne Pistons | years2 = | team2 = New York Knicks | cyears1 = 1954–1960 | cteam1 = West Virginia | cyears2 = – | cteam2 = Los Angeles Lakers | cyears3 = 1972–1978 | cteam3 = Purdue | highlights = As player:
- NBA All-Star ()
- All-NBA Second Team () As coach:
- 5× NBA All-Star Game head coach (–, , )
- NIT championship (1974)
- 4× SoCon Coach of the Year (1955, 1958–1960) As executive:
- NBA champion (1972) | stats_league = NBA | stat1label = Points | stat1value = 4,070 (12.2 ppg) | stat2label = Rebounds | stat2value = 1,609 (6.0 rpg) | stat3label = Assists | stat3value = 961 (2.9 apg) | medaltemplates = Frederick Appleton Schaus (June 30, 1925 – February 10, 2010) was an American basketball player, head coach and athletic director for the West Virginia University Mountaineers, player for the National Basketball Association's Fort Wayne Pistons and New York Knicks, general manager and head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, head coach of Purdue University basketball, and a member of the NCAA Basketball Committee. He was born in Newark, Ohio.
College career
Schaus was recruited from out of state (Ohio) by the legendary coach Lee Patton in 1946 to play at West Virginia University. Under Patton, Fred developed into a top star among stars during that golden age of Mountaineer basketball. Among Schaus' many accomplishments was that he was the first to score 1,000 career points (1,009) at WVU. He was also selected to the All-American team in 1949.
Professional career
Schaus left West Virginia to join the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1949–1950 season. He scored 14.3 points a game and a year later scored a career-best 15.3 points a game. He was selected to play in the first NBA All-Star Game and scored eight points for the West. However, he only averaged 14.1 points per game in 1952, and then in 1953 it dropped to 10.1 points per game.
He was traded to the New York Knicks halfway through the 1954 season and ended his NBA career that season with 7.1 points per game average.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
::data[format=table]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–50 | Fort Wayne | 68 | – | .352 | .818 | – | 2.6 | 14.3 |
| 1950–51 | Fort Wayne | 68 | – | .340 | .835 | 7.3 | 2.7 | 15.1 |
| 1951–52 | Fort Wayne | 62 | 41.6 | .361 | .833 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 14.1 |
| 1952–53 | Fort Wayne | 69 | 36.8 | .334 | .821 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 10.5 |
| 1953–54 | Fort Wayne | 23 | 11.8 | .397 | .760 | 2.2 | .9 | 3.8 |
| 1953–54 | New York | 44 | 28.3 | .386 | .793 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 8.8 |
| Career | 334 | 33.5 | .352 | .823 | 6.0 | 2.9 | 12.2 | |
| :: |
Playoffs
::data[format=table]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Fort Wayne | 4 | – | .364 | .839 | – | 2.8 | 18.5 |
| 1951 | Fort Wayne | 3 | – | .386 | .818 | 5.3 | 3.3 | 14.3 |
| 1952 | Fort Wayne | 2 | 45.0 | .343 | .875 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 15.5 |
| 1953 | Fort Wayne | 8 | 30.5 | .300 | .761 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 8.9 |
| 1954 | New York | 4 | 29.8 | .280 | .933 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 |
| Career | 21 | 32.4 | .339 | .820 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 11.8 | |
| :: |
College coaching career
West Virginia
After his retirement from the NBA, Schaus returned to his alma mater to coach the Mountaineers. In his first season, he led the Mountaineers to a 19–11 mark and an NCAA tournament appearance. In the next five seasons, he posted an amazing 127–26 (.831) record, which included five consecutive NCAA tournament berths. The recruitment of Schaus for Jerry West (a native of Chelyan, West Virginia) to play for the Mountaineers was a key factor, with West calling Schaus his "mentor"; West played on the freshmen team in 1957 before playing with Schaus and the varsity team from 1958 to 1960. He led WVU to the NCAA finals in 1959, but lost to Pete Newell's California team, 71–70.
Purdue
After leaving NBA coaching and management in 1972, he returned to the college ranks to coach at Purdue University, taking over for George King. He held a 104–60 overall record as the Boilermaker's head coach, while leading them to the 1974 NIT Championship and a berth in the 1977 NCAA tournament. He then owned the distinction of being the only coach to reach the NIT finals, NCAA finals, and the NBA Finals.
At Purdue, Schaus was the successor to George King, who was Schaus' successor at West Virginia.
After 1981, Schaus returned to WVU to serve as the athletic director.
Professional coaching/management career
Los Angeles Lakers
After the 1960 season, he left college coaching for the Los Angeles Lakers and reunited with his former WVU star, Jerry West. Schaus guided the Lakers to seven consecutive playoff appearances, including 4 Western Conference Championships
Head coaching record
College
| name = West Virginia Mountaineers | conference = Southern Conference | startyear = 1954 | endyear = 1960 | championship = confboth | season = 1954–55 | name = West Virginia | overall = 19–11 | conference = 9–1 | confstanding = 1st | postseason = NCAA first round | championship = confboth | season = 1955–56 | name = West Virginia | overall = 21–9 | conference = 10–2 | confstanding = T–1st | postseason = NCAA first round | championship = confboth | season = 1956–57 | name = West Virginia | overall = 25–5 | conference = 12–0 | confstanding = 1st | postseason = NCAA University Division First Round | championship = confboth | season = 1957–58 | name = West Virginia | overall = 26–2 | conference = 12–0 | confstanding = 1st | postseason = NCAA University Division First Round | championship = confboth | season = 1958–59 | name = West Virginia | overall = 29–5 | conference = 11–0 | confstanding = 1st | postseason = NCAA University Division Runner-up | championship = conference tournament | season = 1959–60 | name = West Virginia | overall = 26–5 | conference = 9–2 | confstanding = 2nd | postseason = NCAA University Division Regional Third Place | name = West Virginia | overall = 146–37 () | confrecord = 63–5 () | name = Purdue Boilermakers | conference = Big Ten Conference | startyear = 1972 | endyear = 1978 | season = 1972–73 | name = Purdue | overall = 15–9 | conference = 8–6 | confstanding = T–3rd | postseason = | championship = postseason | season = 1973–74 | name = Purdue | overall = 21–9 | conference = 10–4 | confstanding = 3rd | postseason = NIT Champion | season = 1974–75 | name = Purdue | overall = 17–11 | conference = 11–7 | confstanding = T–3rd | postseason = NCIT Semifinals | season = 1975–76 | name = Purdue | overall = 16–11 | conference = 11–7 | confstanding = 3rd | postseason = | season = 1976–77 | name = Purdue | overall = 20–8 | conference = 14–4 | confstanding = 2nd | postseason = NCAA Division I First Round | season = 1977–78 | name = Purdue | overall = 16–11 | conference = 11–7 | confstanding = T–4th | postseason = | name = Purdue | overall = 104–60 () | confrecord = 65–35 () | overall=250 – 97 ()
Professional
|- | style="text-align:left;"|LAL | style="text-align:left;"| |79||36||43||.456|| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Western||12||6||6||.500 | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in Western Div. Finals |- | style="text-align:left;"|LAL | style="text-align:left;"| |80||54||26||.675|| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Western||13||7||6||.538 | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in NBA Finals
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Personal life
He is the father of Southern Conference Commissioner and former Ohio University and Wichita State University athletic director Jim Schaus.
Schaus died in Morgantown, West Virginia, on February 10, 2010. He was 84.
References
References
- [https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/schaufr01c.html Basketball-reference.com page] Accessed February 11, 2010
- (2014-03-07). "Fred Schaus dies at 84; first L.A. Lakers head coach".
- Stavro, Barry. (February 12, 2010). "Fred Schaus dies at 84; first L.A. Lakers head coach". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
- "Good guy Fred Schaus passes away".
- (September 2023). "JIM SCHAUS".
- [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/sports/basketball/14schaus.html Fred Schaus, Coach of Lakers in First Los Angeles Years, Dies at 84]. ''The New York Times''. February 13, 2010.
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