American men's basketball coaches

Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcaster. He played for the Celtics from 1956 to 1965, and also coached the team from 1969 to 1978. He spent over 30 years as the color commentator for the Celtics' local broadcasts alongside play-by-play commentator Mike Gorman. He is regarded as one of the most iconic Celtics figures in the franchise's history, known during his lifetime for his charisma and loyalty to the team and its traditions. From this, he earned the nickname "Mr. Celtic".
Heinsohn was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions as a player. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame for his success as a head coach. He also helped form the NBA Players Association. Heinsohn was the only person to have the distinction of being involved in an official team capacity in each of the Celtics' 17 championships, as well as each of their first 21 NBA Finals appearances.

Frederick Rankin Taylor (December 3, 1924 – January 6, 2002) was a college men's basketball coach for Ohio State University from 1959 to 1976. Prior to that, he played baseball for the Washington Senators.

John Arnold Logan (January 1, 1921 – September 16, 1977) was an American professional basketball player and coach born in Richmond, Indiana. A 6'2" guard who played at Indiana University, Logan played for four seasons with the now-defunct St. Louis Bombers, and a fifth season with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. While with the Blackhawks, he served three games as an interim player-coach.

William Thomas McCann Sr. (September 23, 1919 – July 27, 2002) was an American college basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach at Hampden–Sydney College, Washington and Lee University and the University of Virginia.
McCann played basketball and baseball at Virginia. Following his college playing career, he became a high school coach and worked his way up to head coaching positions at Hampden–Sydney and Washington and Lee. He then was named head coach at Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 1957. McCann resigned after the 1962–63 season. His record at Virginia was 40–106.
McCann died on July 27, 2002, at age 82.

Paul Hansen (December 6, 1928 – January 18, 1993) was an American basketball coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, and University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO). Prior to the becoming a head coach, he acted as an assistant to iconic Oklahoma City University coach, Abe Lemons for 18 seasons. Hansen, born in Iowa, but raised in Oklahoma City, played college basketball at the Oklahoma City University. He began his coaching career at Noble High School, before returning to his alma mater. After Lemmons left OCU to coach Pan American, Hansen moved into the lead role. Hansen led Oklahoma City to three consecutive winning seasons, where he coached Allen Leavell who went onto 10 seasons in the NBA. Hansen then became Oklahoma State's head men's basketball coach in 1979. He led the Cowboys to their first 20 win season and NCAA tournament appearance since 1965. Hansen was let go from the Cowboys in 1986 and became the head coach at University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He guided the USAO Drovers through 1991 before retiring. Hansen died on January 18, 1993; he was 64 years old. Paul Hansen was married and he and his wife, Carol, had five daughters, Elizabeth, Patti, Judith, Mary and Heidi.

Melvyn J. Garland (June 23, 1942 – March 5, 1983) was an American basketball coach and player. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, he emerged as a star dual-sport athlete in basketball and baseball at Arsenal Technical High School. Garland attended Purdue University and played for the Boilermakers on the basketball and baseball teams. He was a member of all-conference teams in both sports but excelled at basketball, where he was an Honorable Mention All-American during his junior season.
Garland turned to coaching after his graduation and began his career at Greenfield-Central High School as the coach of the basketball, baseball and cross country teams. He joined the Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team as an assistant coach in 1967. Garland also served as the head coach of the Sycamores golf team for four seasons until his resignation from the university in 1975. He returned to high school coaching when he served as head basketball coach at Evansville Harrison High School for four seasons.
Garland was hired as the head coach and athletic director of the IUPUI Jaguars men's basketball team in 1979. He led the team to its first winning season in school history during the 1980–81 season but his career was prematurely ended when he stepped down due to health issues midway through the 1981–82 season. Garland continued to serve as athletic director until his death from leukemia on March 5, 1983.

Leon Black (February 21, 1932 – October 12, 2021) was an American college basketball coach.Black, who coached the Texas Longhorns men's basketball team from 1967 to 1976, guided the Longhorns to two NCAA Tournaments as a result of winning the Southwest Conference twice in his nine seasons as head coach. The Longhorns lost in the Sweet Sixteen in 1972 and the first round in 1974. Prior to his time at Texas, Black was head coach at junior college Lon Morris College, compiling a 131–35 record in five seasons.Black resigned from Texas on February 28, 1976 and was replaced by Abe Lemons seventeen days later on March 16.Black died on October 12, 2021.

John Francis Dee, Jr. (September 12, 1923 – April 24, 1999) was head basketball coach at the University of Alabama from 1953 to 1956 and the University of Notre Dame from 1964 to 1971.

David C. Gunther (born July 22, 1937) is American former basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at the University of North Dakota from 1970 to 1988. Gunther played college basketball at the University of Iowa and professional basketball with the San Francisco Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Jerry A. Oliver (November 30, 1930 – September 25, 2020) was an American basketball coach who served as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team during the 1969–70 season and for the final game of the 1970–71 season.Oliver began his coaching career at George Washington High School where he won the 1965 state championship. Billy Keller, George McGinnis, and Steve Downing were among the players Oliver coached at Indianapolis Washington.Oliver joined Indiana's coaching staff in 1968 as an assistant to Lou Watson. Oliver served as acting head coach of the Hoosiers for the final 20 games of the 1969–70 season while Watson was recovering from surgery. Oliver served as acting head coach again the following season when Watson resigned before the final game of the season.After three seasons at Warren Central High School, Oliver was hired by the Indiana Pacers where he served as an assistant coach (1974–1980) and director of player personnel (1980–1981).
After his coaching career, Oliver served as the manager of the Hoosier Dome and Florida Suncoast Dome.
Oliver served in the United States Army. He died on September 25, 2020.