Buck Read


Herbert William "Buck" Read was an American basketball coach. He was the head coach for the Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team from 1922 through 1949. He was also president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches from 1948 to 1949 and the chairman of its rules committee in 1937, 1938, and 1944.

Early years

Read was born in Saxmundham, England, in February 1880. He immigrated to the United States in April 1880 at age two months.
Read was the athletic director at Kalamazoo High School until he resigned in 1908.

Western Michigan

Read worked for many years on the coaching staff of Western State Normal School in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He became the school's second head basketball coach in 1922, replacing William H. Spaulding who served as basketball coach from 1913 to 1922. Read remained as the head basketball coach at Western State until 1949.
Read has been credited with introducing the fast break to basketball during the 1929-1930 season. He later recalled that the slow pace of the game made it difficult to attract fans when he learned of the popularity of the fast-paced game of hockey in Detroit. "I made revisions in drills for faster ball handling and footwork. Then I changed from the zone defense to an advancing, interchanging, intercepting pattern of playing all over the floor. It was hard for the players to switch, but the new style was effective and popular from the start." In the team's first year using the fast break approach, Read's team compiled a perfect 17-0 record.
Read also served for many years as an official of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He was elected president in March 1948 and serve in that position until March 1949. He previously served for many years as a member of the NABC rules committee. He was chairman of the rules committee in 1937, 1938, and 1944, chairman of the research committee in 1943, and at other times secretary-treasurer and vice president.
Read retired in 1949 with a 353–157 record in 28 seasons as head basketball coach at Western Michigan. He received numerous honors for his contributions to the sport of basketball and athletics at Western Michigan. These include the following:
Read and his wife, Gertrude, had a daughter, Mary, born in 1926.
Read died in 1970 at age 90 in Newport Beach, California. He was buried at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar, California.

Head coaching record