Paul Lambert (basketball)

Paul Lambert
	Lambert in the 1967 Bronco
Biographical details
Born	August 15, 1934; Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Died	June 6, 1978 (aged 43); Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Playing career
1952–1954	William Jewell
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1956–1959	Moberly HS
1959–1960	Boone HS
1960–1963	Drake (assistant)
1963–1966	Pittsburg State
1966–1970	Hardin–Simmons
1970–1978	Southern Illinois
Baseball
1961–1963	Drake
Head coaching record
Overall	227–160 (college basketball); 19–32–1 (college baseball)

Paul M. Lambert Jr. (August 15, 1934 – June 6, 1978) was an American college basketball coach.

Lambert played basketball at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. After graduation, he coached high school basketball in Moberly, Missouri and Boone, Iowa, then obtained a job as an assistant and freshman coach (and head baseball coach) at Drake University. He got his first college head coaching position at Pittsburg State, where his teams went 44–29 in three seasons. From there, he followed Lou Henson at Hardin–Simmons, compiling a four-year record of 57–47. He then moved to Southern Illinois (SIU), where he led the team to an eight-year record of 126–84. His tenure was punctuated by leading the Salukis to their first Division I NCAA tournament appearance and win, behind star Mike Glenn.^[1] Lambert left SIU following the 1977–78 season to become head coach at Auburn.^[2]

Lambert died at age 43 in a Columbus, Georgia motel fire on June 6, 1978, prior to coaching a game at Auburn.^[3]

Head coaching record[edit]

College basketball[edit]

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Pittsburg State Gorillas (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1963–1966)
1963–64	Pittsburg State	11–9	4–4
1964–65	Pittsburg State	15–10	6–2	1st
1965–66	Pittsburg State	18–10	7–1	1st	NAIA first round
Pittsburg State:		44–29 (.603)	17–7 (.708)
Hardin–Simmons Cowboys (Independent) (1966–1970)
1966–67	Hardin–Simmons	17–9
1967–68	Hardin–Simmons	11–15
1968–69	Hardin–Simmons	13–14
1969–70	Hardin–Simmons	17–9
Hardin–Simmons:		57–47 (.548)
Southern Illinois Salukis (Midwestern Conference) (1970–1972)
1970–71	Southern Illinois	13–10	7–1	1st
1971–72	Southern Illinois	10–16	1–7	5th
Southern Illinois Salukis (NCAA University Division / Division I independent) (1972–1975)
1972–73	Southern Illinois	11–15
1973–74	Southern Illinois	19–7
1974–75	Southern Illinois	18–9			NIT first round
Southern Illinois Salukis (Missouri Valley Conference) (1975–1978)
1975–76	Southern Illinois	16–10	9–3	2nd
1976–77	Southern Illinois	22–7	8–4	T–1st	NCAA Division I Sweet 16
1977–78	Southern Illinois	17–10	11–5	3rd
Southern Illinois:		126–84 (.600)	36–20 (.643)
Total:		227–160 (.587)
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[edit]

^ "Ex-SIU coach Lambert dies in motel fire". Southern Illinoisan. June 6, 1978. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
^ "It's official – Lambert takes Auburn cage post". The Pantagraph. April 8, 1978. p. 49. Retrieved March 25, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Lambert dies in motel fire". Chicago Tribune. June 7, 1978. Retrieved March 25, 2017.

[1] "Ex-SIU coach Lambert dies in motel fire". Southern Illinoisan. June 6, 1978. Retrieved March 25, 2017.

[2] "It's official – Lambert takes Auburn cage post". The Pantagraph. April 8, 1978. p. 49. Retrieved March 25, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "Lambert dies in motel fire". Chicago Tribune. June 7, 1978. Retrieved March 25, 2017.

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