He was the head men's basketball coach at his alma mater, William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.
His 919 career wins made him one of only 10 four-year college coaches (National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)) to amass 900 career wins.
He attended Jameson High School (Missouri) and graduated from William Jewell College in 1967, where he was a four-year-letterman in cross country, basketball and track.
As a basketball player, he scored a total of 1,122 points for Jewell and was an All-Conference and All-District selection his senior season.
As a musician, he was a trumpet player and vocalist and a member of William Jewell's Concert and Pep Band and Chapel Choir.