Florida State University Athletics
Hugh Durham -- Two Teams, One Coach
11/29/2023 10:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- One coach who took two programs to their first NCAA Tournament Final Four appearances will be honored at the Donald L. Tucker Center during Wednesday's game between the two teams he coached to the mecca of college basketball.
There is a constant that is hard to overlook between Florida State and Georgia. One man – Hall of fame coach and player Hugh Durham.
Durham, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, was a talented multi-sport athlete as an all-state quarterback and an all-region basketball player for his high school. He decided to play basketball collegiately, accepting a scholarship to play at Florida State University.
He started his playing career as a guard for the Seminoles under coach Bud Kennedy in 1956. He played three seasons and scored 1,381 points and averaged a staggering 18.9 points a game. Durham is one of the most prolific scorers in school history scoring 43 points against Stetson on January 19, 1957. This is the second-best single-game scoring mark in school history. His career scoring total is still, after 64 years, ranked as the 18th highest in school history, while his scoring average is the ninth best in school history.
After his time as a player and earning his degree from Florida State. Durham became an assistant coach for Kennedy for seven seasons. In 1966 Durham became the head coach for the team at the young age of 29. He was one of the youngest head coaches in history of the NCAA Division I basketball after Kennedy lost his battle with cancer.
Durham served Florida State as its head coach for 12 seasons leading the Seminoles to the 1972 NCAA Championship game and three NCAA Tournaments. In the 1972 season, Durham led the team to the best season in school history with a record of 27-6. The Seminoles defeated North Carolina in the NCAA Final Four, before falling to UCLA in the national championship game.
In 1977 Durham was honored as the Metro Conference Coach of the Year.
The 1977-78 season would be Durham's last in garnet and gold before moving to Athens, Ga. to become the new head Men's Basketball Coach for the Georgia Bulldogs. Durham led the Bulldogs through a transformation from never winning an SEC regular title or tournament championship, along with neither appearing in an NCAA or an NIT tournament to leading the team to five NCAA tournaments, four NIT tournaments and two SEC tournament championships.
During his time at Georgia he was named SEC Coach of the Year four times. Durham is the only coach in the history at the University of Georgia in Men's Basketball to lead them to the NCAA Final Four.
After his successful coaching career at Florida State and Georgia Durham decided to end his already accomplished coaching career, though his semi-retirement would not last long.
In March of 1997, Durham exited his short-lived retirement to assist in rebuilding Jacksonville University Men's Basketball team. Within the span of seven years, he took the Dolphins from a subpar team with a 5-23 record to competing as one of the top programs in the Atlantic Sun Conference. He finished his career at Jacksonville with 106 wins and as the most successful coach in Jacksonville history before exiting back into retirement.
After such a successful career spanning five decades as both a player and coach, he has been enshrined into six different Halls of Fame: the Florida State University Hall of Fame, Kentucky High School Hall of Fame, Florida Sports Hall of Fame, Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Collegiate Hall of Fame.
Durham is currently honored with the presentation of the Hugh Durham Award which is an annually given to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I. Kennesaw State's Amir Abdur-Rahim earned the award in 2023.
Florida State renamed its Most Valuable Player award to the Hugh Durham Most Valuable Player Award in 1999, along with honoring his jersey number 25.
Durham coached some amazing players over his years having 31 players drafted by the NBA and four first-round NBA draft picks. Some of the players he coached include Ron King, Reggie Royals, Vern Flemming, Dave Cowens, Lenny Hall, and Dominique Wilkins. Among the players he faced during his coaching career were North Carolina's Bob McAdoo, Sam Perkins, Michael Jordan, and Bobby Jones along with UCLA's Bill Walton.
Throughout his career, Durham emphasized the relationships he created along the way. At the end of the day, it wasn't about how many points, assists, and rebounds a player accumulated, but rather the friendships that were created along the way.
The Seminoles and Bulldogs will face each other on November 29 for the first time since 1981 when Durham was Georgia's head coach.
Wednesday's game has been 42 years in the making with two teams having a common love in their hearts for Coach Durham.
There is a constant that is hard to overlook between Florida State and Georgia. One man – Hall of fame coach and player Hugh Durham.
Durham, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, was a talented multi-sport athlete as an all-state quarterback and an all-region basketball player for his high school. He decided to play basketball collegiately, accepting a scholarship to play at Florida State University.
He started his playing career as a guard for the Seminoles under coach Bud Kennedy in 1956. He played three seasons and scored 1,381 points and averaged a staggering 18.9 points a game. Durham is one of the most prolific scorers in school history scoring 43 points against Stetson on January 19, 1957. This is the second-best single-game scoring mark in school history. His career scoring total is still, after 64 years, ranked as the 18th highest in school history, while his scoring average is the ninth best in school history.
After his time as a player and earning his degree from Florida State. Durham became an assistant coach for Kennedy for seven seasons. In 1966 Durham became the head coach for the team at the young age of 29. He was one of the youngest head coaches in history of the NCAA Division I basketball after Kennedy lost his battle with cancer.
Durham served Florida State as its head coach for 12 seasons leading the Seminoles to the 1972 NCAA Championship game and three NCAA Tournaments. In the 1972 season, Durham led the team to the best season in school history with a record of 27-6. The Seminoles defeated North Carolina in the NCAA Final Four, before falling to UCLA in the national championship game.
In 1977 Durham was honored as the Metro Conference Coach of the Year.
The 1977-78 season would be Durham's last in garnet and gold before moving to Athens, Ga. to become the new head Men's Basketball Coach for the Georgia Bulldogs. Durham led the Bulldogs through a transformation from never winning an SEC regular title or tournament championship, along with neither appearing in an NCAA or an NIT tournament to leading the team to five NCAA tournaments, four NIT tournaments and two SEC tournament championships.
During his time at Georgia he was named SEC Coach of the Year four times. Durham is the only coach in the history at the University of Georgia in Men's Basketball to lead them to the NCAA Final Four.
After his successful coaching career at Florida State and Georgia Durham decided to end his already accomplished coaching career, though his semi-retirement would not last long.
In March of 1997, Durham exited his short-lived retirement to assist in rebuilding Jacksonville University Men's Basketball team. Within the span of seven years, he took the Dolphins from a subpar team with a 5-23 record to competing as one of the top programs in the Atlantic Sun Conference. He finished his career at Jacksonville with 106 wins and as the most successful coach in Jacksonville history before exiting back into retirement.
After such a successful career spanning five decades as both a player and coach, he has been enshrined into six different Halls of Fame: the Florida State University Hall of Fame, Kentucky High School Hall of Fame, Florida Sports Hall of Fame, Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Collegiate Hall of Fame.
Durham is currently honored with the presentation of the Hugh Durham Award which is an annually given to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I. Kennesaw State's Amir Abdur-Rahim earned the award in 2023.
Florida State renamed its Most Valuable Player award to the Hugh Durham Most Valuable Player Award in 1999, along with honoring his jersey number 25.
Durham coached some amazing players over his years having 31 players drafted by the NBA and four first-round NBA draft picks. Some of the players he coached include Ron King, Reggie Royals, Vern Flemming, Dave Cowens, Lenny Hall, and Dominique Wilkins. Among the players he faced during his coaching career were North Carolina's Bob McAdoo, Sam Perkins, Michael Jordan, and Bobby Jones along with UCLA's Bill Walton.
Throughout his career, Durham emphasized the relationships he created along the way. At the end of the day, it wasn't about how many points, assists, and rebounds a player accumulated, but rather the friendships that were created along the way.
The Seminoles and Bulldogs will face each other on November 29 for the first time since 1981 when Durham was Georgia's head coach.
Wednesday's game has been 42 years in the making with two teams having a common love in their hearts for Coach Durham.
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