Polk coached the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Trinity Tigers,[1] the Saint Louis Billikens[2] and Rice University.

He was a guard on the basketball team under long-time Purple Aces' coach Bill Slyker from 1935–36 to 1938–39.

[5] Polk assisted Ivan Hollen, who also began that season, replacing future Purdue Boilermakers' Head Coach Ray Eddy.

In February 1947, Vanderbilt was pummeled by the Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC Tournament 98–29, the Commodores Athletic Director (and football coach) Red Sanders decided to upgrade the basketball program by hiring a full-time coach and offering scholarships.

[6] In his 13 seasons as Vanderbilt coach, Polk mined the rich Southwestern Indiana talent fields to build a consistent winner; players such as SEC First Team members Dave Kardokus (1951) and SEC Second team members Billy Joe Adcock (1948–50), Al Weiss (1951), Bob Dudley Smith (1951) and Dave Kardokus.

Six of his players were drafted by NBA teams; [7] Polk recovered quickly from his heart attack and accepted the head coaching and athletic director position at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

In his four years at Trinity, Polk compiled a 70–28 record, a Southland title and a National 3rd-place finish.

[10] In a return to bigger conference, he accepted the head coaching position at Rice after five seasons at Saint Louis.

In April 1977, Polk resigned from Rice and accepted a position as the assistant athletic director at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).