Cliff Wells
From Hoopedia
W.R. Clifford "Cliff" Wells (born March 17, 1896 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; died August 15, 1977) was an American basketball coach and administrator.
As a high school basketball coach in Indiana he led his teams to winning more than 50 sectional, district and invitational titles, including two Indiana state championships. Wells coached Bloomington High School from 1917 to 1922, winning the state championship in 1919, just three years after he graduated that very school just three years earlier. At 22 he is the youngest coach ever to win the state championship. He coached at Logansport High School from 1922 to 1945, winning the state title in 1934.
He coached the Tulane University team from 1945 to 1963, winning 259 games. In 1963 he coached the West team in the inaugural NABC All-Star Game.
In 1948-49 Wells coached the New Orleans Sports of the Southern Basketball League to a 7-24 record in their only year of existence.
He was the first full-time executive secretary and director of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame from 1963 to 1966.
Wells was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1965. He is also a member of the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame.
Since 1974 the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) has presented the Cliff Wells Appreciation Award annually to an individual or group of individuals for lifetime contributions to college basketball.
He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1972.
