Cal Luther is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

. He was head men's coach at DePauw

DePauw University

DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...

, Murray State

Murray State University

Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...

, Longwood

Longwood University

Longwood University is a four-year public, liberal-arts university located in Farmville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 and became a university on July 1, 2002...

, Tennessee-Martin

University of Tennessee at Martin

The University of Tennessee at Martin is a campus in the University of Tennessee system. Other campuses include the flagship campus in Knoxville, the Chattanooga campus, the Center for the Health Sciences in Memphis, and the Space Institute in Tullahoma...

, and Bethel College

Bethel College (Tennessee)

Bethel University is a Cumberland Presbyterian college in McKenzie, Tennessee.-Biography:It was founded in 1842 in McLemoresville, Tennessee as Bethel Seminary, becoming Bethel College in 1850, and given a state charter in 1847, making it one of the oldest colleges to use the name "Bethel...

. He was also head coach of the Egyptian national basketball team.

Early life

Luther was an All-state football and basketball player at Bay View High School

Bay View High School

Bay View High School is a high school located in Bay View, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is part of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Academic specialties include law, mathematics/science, and construction.Address: 2751 South Lenox St...

 in Milwaukee. He played college basketball at Valparaiso

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is a regionally accredited private university located in the city of Valparaiso in the U.S. state of Indiana. Founded in 1859, it consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school, a nursing school and a law school...

 from 1949-1951. He spent two years as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and was a member of Fort Benning

Fort Benning

Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...

's basketball and championship-winning football teams.

Luther's coaching career began at the University of Illinois, where he spent three seasons as the freshman basketball while obtaining his masters degree.

DePauw

Luther became DePauw University's head coach in 1954. In his first season as head coach, he coached DePauw to a rare tie against Wabash

Wabash College

Wabash College is a small, private, liberal arts college for men, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Morehouse College, Wabash is one of only three remaining traditional all-men's liberal arts colleges in the United States.-History:Wabash College was founded...

. DePauw defeated Wabash 67-66, however the coaches of both teams decided the game should be recorded as a tie due to a scorers error. In four seasons with the Tigers, Luther had a 45-40-1 record.

Murray State

In 1958, Luther became Murray State's seventh head basketball coach. In his sixteen seasons at MSU, Luther's Racers had a 241-134 record and made the NCAA tournament twice. He was also Murray State's Athletic Director. In 1971, the Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball

The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Golden Gophers have played in the Big Ten since the conference began sponsoring basketball in 1905...

 hired Luther to coach the men's basketball team, but he changed his mind and turned the team down after accepting the position. Luther was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1964 and 1969.

Longwood

Luther spent nine seasons as the head coach of Division II Longwood University

Longwood University

Longwood University is a four-year public, liberal-arts university located in Farmville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 and became a university on July 1, 2002...

. One of his players, Jerome Kersey

Jerome Kersey

Jerome Kersey is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association for a number of teams, but most notably for the Portland Trail Blazers. He also has served in various coaching roles in the NBA. Kersey is currently a resident of Happy Valley, Oregon in...

 would be drafted in the second round of the 1984 NBA Draft

1984 NBA Draft

The 1984 NBA Draft was the 38th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on June 19, 1984 before the 1984–85 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network. In this draft,...

. His overall record at Longwood was 136-95.

Egypt

Luther was the coach of the Egyptian national basketball team

Egypt national basketball team

The Egypt national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Egypt in international competitions.-Eurobasket 1937:The Egyptians finished last at the second European basketball championship, the Eurobasket 1937 held by FIBA Europe continental federation...

 in 1990. Egypt finished 16th out of 16 teams in the 1990 FIBA World Championship

1990 FIBA World Championship

The 1990 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Argentina from August 8 to August 20, 1990.The competition final phase was held at the Luna Park, Buenos Aires.Yugoslavia emerged as the tournament winner...

.

Tennessee-Martin

Luther coached Tennessee-Martin from 1990-1999. There he compiled a 78-129 record. His 319 total victories while a coach in the OVC ranks first all-time in league history. Luther was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1996, making him the only coach to win Coach of the Year honors at two different OVC institutions. After leaving UT Martin, Luther spent one season as the coach of Bethel College

Bethel College (Tennessee)

Bethel University is a Cumberland Presbyterian college in McKenzie, Tennessee.-Biography:It was founded in 1842 in McLemoresville, Tennessee as Bethel Seminary, becoming Bethel College in 1850, and given a state charter in 1847, making it one of the oldest colleges to use the name "Bethel...

before retiring.