Harshman, Marvin
Basketball
b. Oct. 4, 1917, Eau Claire, WI
After winning thirteen letters in four sports at Pacific Lutheran College, Harshman played briefly for the Seattle-Tacoma Mountaineers in the Northwest Professional Basketball League before joining the Navy in 1942. Upon his discharge in 1946, he began his 40-year career as a college basketball coach, a career divided almost evenly among three different schools.
It began at his alma mater, where Harshman also coached football and track for several years. In thirteen seasons, his basketball teams won 236 games while losing 111. He was hired in 1958 to revive Washington State University's basketball program. It took a while, but he finally had five consecutive winning seasons at the school. His best record was 19 wins and 7 losses in 1969-70. Overall, his teams won 155 games but lost 181 in thirteen seasons.
Harshman went to the University of Washington in 1971 and spent fourteen seasons there before retiring in 1985. His 1983-84 team had a 24-7 record, winning Harshman the National Basketball Coaches Association coach of the year award. His record at Washington was 251 wins and 156 losses for an overall record of 642-448. His victory total is the twelfth highest of all time.