Introduction
William Oscar Hodges (born March 9, 1943) is an American basketball coach. He was the head basketball coach at Indiana State University from 1978 to 1982, at Georgia College and State University from 1986 to 1991 and at Mercer University from 1991 to 1997.
As an assistant basketball coach at Indiana State University, he recruited Larry Bird after Bird had dropped out of Indiana University. Before the start of the 1978–79 season, he got the Indiana State University job after head coach Bob King suffered a brain aneurysm. He led the Sycamores to a second-place finish in the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. During that year, he won several coach of the year awards, including the UPI's and AP's. The Sycamores were selected as the United Press International Collegiate Champions. His later Indiana State teams would never reach the same heights, leading to his resignation from ISU after the 1982 season.
Hodges is currently #7 in coaching wins at Indiana State with a record of 67–48 (.583) and #5 in wins at Mercer with a record of 62–107 (.367). His record at Georgia College was 110–53 (.675). His overall collegiate head coaching record is 239–208 (.535). Hodges is a graduate of Purdue University.
His last coaching stint was at North Cross School in Roanoke, Virginia from 2011 to 2013, where he led the Raiders to the VISAA state tournament where they upset Carlisle School in the semifinals and went on to play for the state title, but came up just short. He currently coaches at the The Villages Charter High School in The Villages, Florida as of the 2016–17 season.
Inducted in 1999, Hodges is a member of the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the 1978–79 men's basketball team. Hodges also coached golf at Armstrong Atlantic State University before moving to Indiana State. He is also a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States Air Force.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana State Sycamores (Missouri Valley Conference) (1979–1982) | |||||||||
| 1978–79 | Indiana State | 33–1 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Finalist | ||||
| 1979–80 | Indiana State | 16–11 | 8–8 | T–5th | |||||
| 1980–81 | Indiana State | 9–18 | 4–12 | 8th | |||||
| 1981–82 | Indiana State | 9–18 | 2–14 | T–9th | |||||
| Indiana State: | 67–48 | 30–34 | |||||||
| Georgia College Bobcats (Peach Belt Conference) (1986–1991) | |||||||||
| 1986–87 | Georgia College | 17–14 | |||||||
| 1987–88 | Georgia College | 25–9 | NAIA First Round | ||||||
| 1988–89 | Georgia College | 25–10 | NAIA First Round | ||||||
| 1989–90 | Georgia College | 24–8 | NAIA First Round | ||||||
| 1990–91 | Georgia College | 19–12 | 6–6 | T–3rd | |||||
| Georgia College: | 110–53 | ||||||||
| Mercer Bears (Trans America Athletic Conference) (1991–1997) | |||||||||
| 1991–92 | Mercer | 11–18 | 6–8 | T–5th | |||||
| 1992–93 | Mercer | 13–14 | 7–5 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1993–94 | Mercer | 5–24 | 3–14 | 9th | |||||
| 1994–95 | Mercer | 15–14 | 8–8 | 4th | |||||
| 1995–96 | Mercer | 15–14 | 7–9 | 4th (West) | |||||
| 1996–97 | Mercer | 3–23 | 1–15 | 6th (West) | |||||
| Mercer: | 62–107 | 32–59 | |||||||
| Total: | 239–208 | ||||||||
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National champion Postseason invitational champion |
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