Hall of Fame
Gene Bartow enrolled at the university in 1948, after helping the Browning basketball team compile a sparkling 37-1 record. The only loss in his senior year was a one-pointer, at the hands of Kirksville. Mr. Bartow arrived at Truman when Boyd King's hoopsters were ruling the roost in the MIAA, with the likes of Hall of Famers Harry Gallatin and Earl "Smiley" Dodd. So, his playing time on the varsity was numbered. However, he wanted to be a coach, and while completing work toward a degree at the university he was asked to fill the coaching vacancy at Greentop. His basketball team finished 16-6 that year. One Month after graduation, he started a two-year Army hitch at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he played on the basketball team. After returning to civilian life, he coached Shelbina to a 30-6 campaign and a berth in the state tournament. He then went to St. Charles for an impressive four-year tenure that included a 1957 state tournament. Altogether, his high school teams compiled a 145-49 record. Mr. Bartow worked two years at California-Santa Barbara before he was hired by Central Missouri State as head coach. In a three-year stint, he guided the Mules to a 47-21 record. His next stop was at Valparaiso University where his teams rolled up a 93-69 mark and advanced three times to the NCAA College Division playoffs. He was hired by Memphis State in 1970, and during the next four seasons, his teams went 82-32. His 1973 team finished runner-up to UCLA in the NCAA tournament and Mr. Bartow was named National Coach of the Year. He left Memphis in 1974 and his career took him to Illinois and UCLA as head coach. In 1977, Bartow left one of the most prestigious jobs in college athletics - head basketball coach at UCLA - to build the Alabama-Birmingham athletic department as athletic director and men's basketball coach. During almost two decades as coach, Bartow's team won 365 games, made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the Sweet 16 in 1981 and the Elite 8 in 1982, and five trips to the NIT.
