Diddle, Edgar A.
Basketball
b. March 12, 1895, Gradyville, KY
d. Jan. 2, 1970
After playing football and basketball at Centre College in Kentucky, Diddle coached high school basketball for two years and then became coach at Western Kentucky University in 1923. He spent 42 seasons there, winning 759 games against 302 losses.
When he retired in 1965, he was the fourth winningest coach in college history and the only one to coach more than 1,000 games at a single school.
The colorful Diddle constantly had a red towel which he used to cheer his players on. He often threw it into the air to protest an official's call, looped it around his neck like a noose when things were going bad, or buried his face in it when one of his players made a mistake.
Diddle's teams won or shared 32 conference championships and they won 20 or more games eighteen times, including ten seasons in a row, 1933/34 through 1942/43. They played in eight National Invitation Tournaments and three NCAA tournaments.
Western Kentucky's 13,800-seat arena, built in 1963, is named for him.