Frank Wilson Truitt, Jr., (April 4, 1925 – December 21, 2014) was a multi-sport collegiate coach and a veteran of World War II.

After graduating from Worthington High School in 1943,[1] Truitt served in the 282nd Engineer Combat Battalion as part of General George S. Patton's Third Army and eventually rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant.

From 1951 to 1954, Truitt taught History, Government, and French and was the head basketball coach at Bloomingburg High School in Fayette County, Ohio.

[2] In 1958, Truitt's 24-0 North High Polar Bears advanced to the Division AA state semifinals, where they encountered Paul Walker's 24-0 Middletown Middies.

The Middies entered the semifinal matchup having won 76 straight games, including two consecutive state titles, and were led by future Ohio State Buckeye and NBA Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas, who was "generally considered the best high school player in the nation"[6] and "the most heavily recruited high school player, with the possible exception of Wilt Chamberlain, to that time.

[9] A close contest the entire way, North trailed Middletown 48-43 as the game entered the fourth quarter in St. John Arena.

[6] North's Eddie Clark drove past Jerry Lucas in the game's final seconds to score the game-winning layup and secure a 63-62 victory[10] for the Polar Bears.

In fact, some still consider North's victory over Middletown as "the biggest upset in Ohio high school basketball history.

"[11] The Polar Bears ultimately lost to Cleveland East Tech in the state championship game in the second and final (sudden-death) overtime, 50-48.

[6] North had been ahead 48-46 with six seconds remaining in regulation before Jim Stone hit a 35-footer for East Tech to send the game to overtime.

Said Truitt at the time, "I accepted the Otterbein position contingent on being released if the job at Ohio State opened up; it was actually written in the contract so there was no misunderstanding.

During the season, Truitt, who Taylor deemed to have "an extremely keen analytical basketball mind"[17] often traveled around to scout other teams.

[19]In all, the Buckeyes won five straight Big Ten titles during Truitt's tenure as an assistant coach, which concluded with the 1964-65 season.

Truitt resigned from his position at Ohio State University in 1965 to become the head coach of the LSU Tigers men's basketball team.

Future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley played on that Kentucky Wildcat team[22] and won the Southeastern Conference's Player of the Year Award that season.

"[9] While African American players like Mel Nowell and Joe Roberts played important roles for the Buckeye teams of the 1950s and early 1960s,[13] LSU had yet to break the color barrier.

Following the 1965-66 season, Truitt quit at LSU[23] and assumed the head coaching position of the Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Truitt's second and final winning season at Kent State, 1970–71, was highlighted by a 64-62 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Indiana on 15 December 1970.

[28] This was Kent State's last true road win at a "BCS school" until the Golden Flashes defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers on 15 November 2011.

[29] He won the MAC Coach of the Year award for the 1976-77 golf season, a team led by First-Team All-MAC performer Art Nash.