Edgar Diddle
Encyclopedia
Edgar Allen Diddle was a college men's basketball
coach. He is known for coaching at Western Kentucky University
in Bowling Green, Kentucky
from 1922 to 1964. Diddle became the first coach in history to coach 1,000 games at one school. Diddle was known for waving a red towel around along the sidelines during his games. He was known to wave, toss, and chew on this towel, and even cover his face in times of disappointment. His red towel is now part of WKU's official athletic logo. Diddle experienced only five losing seasons in 42 years and overall, averaged 25 wins per year.
Diddle's teams claimed 32 conference championships, played in 11 postseason tournaments; won 20+ games eighteen different times, (including one stretch of ten years in a row); became the first team from the South to participate in the Olympic Trials; and won an amazing 759 games. When he stepped down in 1964 Diddle had won more games than any coach in NCAA history and today he still ranks in the top ten on the all-time list.
While Diddle was best known for coaching men's basketball, he also coached football
, baseball
, and women's basketball at WKU, although men's basketball was his only coaching job for the vast majority of his tenure at the school.http://www.wkusports.com/page.cgi?page=Traditions#towel
Prior to coming to Western Kentucky, Diddle played basketball and football for Centre College
and was a member of their 1919 undefeated basketball team. After college he coached basketball at Monticello High School, where he guided the team to the Kentucky State Tournament semi-finals, and then Greenville High School, which played in a regional tournament at Bowling Green. During the tournament, he came to the attention of officials at Western Kentucky who offered him the coaching position at the college.
E. A. Diddle Arena
, the basketball venue at WKU, built in 1963, is named for him.
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. He is known for coaching at Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
in Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
from 1922 to 1964. Diddle became the first coach in history to coach 1,000 games at one school. Diddle was known for waving a red towel around along the sidelines during his games. He was known to wave, toss, and chew on this towel, and even cover his face in times of disappointment. His red towel is now part of WKU's official athletic logo. Diddle experienced only five losing seasons in 42 years and overall, averaged 25 wins per year.
While Diddle was best known for coaching men's basketball, he also coached football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, and women's basketball at WKU, although men's basketball was his only coaching job for the vast majority of his tenure at the school.http://www.wkusports.com/page.cgi?page=Traditions#towel
Prior to coming to Western Kentucky, Diddle played basketball and football for Centre College
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...
and was a member of their 1919 undefeated basketball team. After college he coached basketball at Monticello High School, where he guided the team to the Kentucky State Tournament semi-finals, and then Greenville High School, which played in a regional tournament at Bowling Green. During the tournament, he came to the attention of officials at Western Kentucky who offered him the coaching position at the college.
E. A. Diddle Arena
E. A. Diddle Arena
E.A. Diddle Arena is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The arena, built in 1963, is home to the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers men's basketball team and Lady Toppers women's basketball and volleyball teams. It is also known as Academic-Athletic Building #1...
, the basketball venue at WKU, built in 1963, is named for him.