Wayne Yates

Wayne Yates
Biographical details
Sport(s)	Basketball
Born	(1937-11-07) November 7, 1937 North Little Rock, Arkansas
Playing career
1956–1958	New Mexico State
1959–1961	Memphis State
1961–1962	Los Angeles Lakers
1962	Oakland Oaks
Position(s)	Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1969–1974	Memphis State (asst.)
1974–1979	Memphis State
1980–1985	Northwestern Louisiana
Head coaching record
Overall	141–141

Wayne Yates (born November 7, 1937) is a retired American basketball player and coach. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association and later was a college coach, most notably at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis).

College playing career

Wayne Yates, a 6'8 center from North Little Rock High School in North Little Rock, Arkansas, first enrolled at New Mexico State University in 1956. He played there two years, earning first team all-Border Conference honors as a sophomore in 1957–58.^[1]

Yates transferred to Memphis State University following his sophomore year. After sitting out the 1958–59 season per NCAA transfer rules, Yates played his junior and senior seasons in Memphis. After a junior year where he averaged 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, Yates broke out as a senior. He tallied 17.5 points and 14.4 rebounds and leading the Tigers to a berth in the 1961 National Invitation Tournament. At the end of the season, Yates earned All-America honors from the New York Times and Converse.^[2]

Professional career

After finishing his college career at Memphis State, Yates was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1961 NBA Draft with the fifth pick overall.

Yates played one season for the Lakers, backing up All-Star Rudy LaRusso in 1961–62 NBA season. He averaged 1.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in 37 games in a season shortened by injury. In the offseason, he was traded to the Saint Louis Hawks for future draft picks.^[3]

Instead of reporting to the Hawks, Yates signed with the Oakland Oaks of the fledgeling American Basketball League.^[4] While Yates found a productive role with the team, averaging 10.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, the league folded before the season ended. Yates was invited to the New York Knicks training camp prior to the 1963–64 NBA season, however he failed to make the team.

Coaching career

Yates returned to his alma mater, Memphis State, as an assistant to head coach Moe Iba in 1969. When Iba was dismissed in 1970, new coach Gene Bartow retained Yates as an assistant. Yates helped MSU to their first Final Four, as the upstart Tigers made it all the way to the 1973 NCAA tournament final, losing to UCLA. After one more season, Bartow left for Illinois and Yates was elevated to head coach.^[5]

The young coach had a successful tenure at Memphis State, leading the Tigers to three straight postseason appearances and four straight 19+ win seasons. However, a subpar 1978–79 season, allegations of NCAA violations,^[6] and the academic suspension of Tigers star Tony Rufus^[7] all led to Yates announcing his resignation on February 8, 1979. He would be replaced by Dana Kirk at the conclusion of the season. His final record in five seasons at Memphis was 111-49.

After a year off from coaching, Yates was named head coach at Northwestern Louisiana (now Northwestern State University) in 1980. He coached there for five seasons, finishing with a 48-67 record at the school. Yates resigned following a 3-25 season in 1984–85.

College coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Memphis State (Independent) (1974–1975)
1974–75	Memphis State	20–7			NIT first round
Memphis State:		20–7
Memphis State (Metro Conference) (1975–1979)
1975–76	Memphis State	21–9	1–1	4th	NCAA first round
1976–77	Memphis State	20–9	2–4	T-5th	NIT first round
1977–78	Memphis State	19–9	7–5	3rd
1978–79	Memphis State	13–15	5–5	3rd
Memphis State:		73-42	15–15
Memphis State (total):		93–49 (.655)	15–15 (.500)
Northwestern Louisiana (TAAC) (1980–1984)
1980–81	Northwestern Louisiana	11–17	5–7	7th
1981–82	Northwestern Louisiana	19–9	10–6	2nd
1982–83	Northwestern Louisiana	9–19	5–9	7th
1983–84	Northwestern Louisiana	6–22	2–12	8th
Northwestern Louisiana:		45–67	22–34
Northwestern Louisiana (Gulf Star Conference) (1984–1985)
1984–85	Northwestern Louisiana	3–25	2–8	6th
Northwestern Louisiana:		3–25	2–8
Northwestern Louisiana (total):		48–92 (.343)	24–42 (.364)
Total:		141–141
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

↑ 2010-11 New Mexico State men's basketball media guide, page 158
↑ 2010-11 Memphis Tigers men's basketball media guide, page 65
↑ AP reports (September 29, 1962). "Hawks acquire Wayne Yates". St. Joseph News-Press. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
↑ UPI reports (October 25, 1962). "Signs with Oaks". Beaver County Times. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
↑ AP reports (March 12, 1974). "Memphis State selects aide". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
↑ UPI reports (May 21, 1978). "NCAA car loan probe denial issued". Sunday Times Sentinel. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
↑ UPI reports (January 3, 1979). "Leading Memphis scorer academically ineligible". The Albany Herald. Retrieved June 26, 2011.

External links

Memphis Tigers men's basketball head coaches

Frederick Grantham (1920–1921) W. H. DePriest (1921–1922) Lester Barnard (1922–1924) Zach Curlin (1924–1943) No team (1943–1944) Zach Curlin (1944–1948) McCoy Tarry (1948–1951) Eugene Lambert (1951–1956) Bob Vanatta (1956–1962) Dean Ehlers (1962–1966) Moe Iba (1966–1970) Gene Bartow (1970–1974) Wayne Yates (1974–1979) Dana Kirk (1979–1986) Larry Finch (1986–1997) Tic Price (1997–1999) Johnny Jones # (1999–2000) John Calipari (2000–2009) Josh Pastner (2009–2016) Tubby Smith (2016– )

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Northwestern State Demons basketball head coaches

H. Lee Prather (1912–1917) No team (1917–1918) H. Lee Prather (1918–1943) No team (1943–1945) H. Lee Prather (1945–1950) Red Thomas (1950–1957) Huey Cranford (1957–1965) Tynes Hildebrand (1965–1980) Wayne Yates (1980–1985) Don Beasley (1985–1988) Dan Bell (1988–1994) J. D. Barnett (1994–1999) Mike McConathy (1999– )

1961 NBA Draft

First round	Walt Bellamy Tom Stith Larry Siegfried Ray Scott Wayne Yates Ben Warley Tom Meschery Cleo Hill Gary Phillips

Second round	Whitey Martin Bob Wiesenhahn Johnny Egan Fred Sawyer Chris Smith Ted Luckenbill Ron Horn Al Butler Jack Turner Jerry Graves York Larese Don Kojis Doug Moe Jeff Cohen

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