Former Madison, SIUE basketball coach remembered for his passion, dry humor
Longtime basketball coach Larry Graham, who led Madison High School to a pair of state titles before a successful tenure at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, died on Monday. He was 77.,
A native of Odon, Indiana who went on to play four years of college basketball at Texas Wesleyan University, Graham was the head coach at Madison for 15 years (1969-84) where his teams had just one losing season and compiled a mark of 312-103 and won nine straight Class A regional titles from 1975-84.
The Trojans won the Class A state championships in 1977 and 1981. Madison advanced to the state tournament four times and won 20 more games eight times.
Graham took over the SIU-Edwardsville program in the 1984-85 season where he coached for eight years. During that time, the Cougars won 147 games and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament three times.
Current Althoff coach Greg Leib was one of Graham’s first recruits, playing for the Cougars from 1985-1987. Leib said Graham had a great passion for the game and was always in control..
“There was a tremendous calmness about coach. He was always in control, especially during time outs when you have people talking and players going in all different directions, he remained calm when talking.,’’ Leib said. “Coach rarely raised his voice or got mad. But he had a way of getting his point across.
Leib said Graham had a dry sense of humor.
“I remember one practice. We had a player by the name of Clifford Bass who was having a day where he couldn’t shoot, couldn’t catch a pass... nothing.. Larry called the trainer down and told him to take Cliff to the doctor to have his eyes checked..
“Coach was a very nice and carng man. He will be missed.’’
Graham, who later coached at Florissant Valley and Lindenwood University, was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and is also a member of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.,
