Jack Hartman

Who was Jack Hartman?

Jack Hartman was an American college men's basketball coach.

He spent 16 seasons as head coach at Kansas State University, where he won 294 games and finished in first or second place in 10 of those 16 seasons in the Big Eight Conference. After his retirement he worked local television color commentary for Kansas State games and his former player and assistant coach Lon Kruger took over as head coach at Kansas State.

Hartman played basketball and football collegiately at Oklahoma State University with his basketball tutelage under famed coach Henry Iba. After college he played quarterback in the CFL before becoming a basketball coach. After leading the Coffeyville Junior College basketball team to the NJCAA National Championship with a 32-0 season in 1962, he brought this offense to the University of Southern Illinois the following year. In 1967, Hartman using an attack similar to this, won the NIT Championship. He was the head coach at Southern Illinois University before taking over at Kansas State when Cotton Fitzsimmons left to coach in the NBA.

Hartman died in 1998. He has a street near Bramlage Coliseum named "Jack Hartman Drive" after him. His wife, Pat, still lives in Manhattan, Kansas. His daughter, Jackie, also lives in Manhattan and serves as the Chief of Staff for the President of Kansas State University.