Eugene Van Gent
{{Short description|American athlete and coach (1889–1949)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Eugene Van Gent
| image = Eugene Van Gent.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Van Gent from The Savitar, 1916
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|12|23}}
| birth_place = Ottumwa, Iowa, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1949|6|12|1889|12|23}}
| death_place = Solano County, California, U.S.
| alma_mater =
| player_sport1 = Football
| player_years1 = 1911
| player_team1 = Wisconsin
| player_years2 = 1913
| player_team2 = Wisconsin
| player_sport4 = Basketball
| player_years5 = 1911–1914
| player_team5 = Wisconsin
| player_positions =
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1916
| coach_team2 = Texas
| coach_years3 = 1919
| coach_team3 = Texas (assistant)
| coach_years4 = 1920
| coach_team4 = University Farm
| coach_years5 = 1921
| coach_team5 = Stanford
| coach_sport6 = Basketball
| coach_years7 = 1914–1916
| coach_team7 = Missouri
| coach_years8 = 1916–1917
| coach_team8 = Texas
| coach_years9 = 1921–1922
| coach_team9 = Stanford
| overall_record = 14–8–3 (football)
42–19 (basketball)
| bowl_record =
| tournament_record =
| championships = Football
SWC (1916)
| awards = Basketball
All-American (1914)
| coaching_records =
}}
Conrad Eugene Van Gent (December 23, 1889 – June 12, 1949) was an American college football and college basketball player and coach. He served as the head football at the University of Texas at Austin in 1916, at the University Farm, now the University of California, Davis, in 1920, and at Stanford University in 1921, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 14–8–3. Van Gent was also the head basketball coach at the University of Missouri (1914–1916), Texas (1916–1917), and Stanford (1921–1922), tallying a career college basketball head coaching mark of 42–19. Van Gent played football and basketball, and ran track at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was selected to the College Basketball All-American team in 1914.
Coaching career
During his two seasons as basketball head coach at the University of Missouri, from 1914 to 1916, Van Gent led to the Tigers to a 21–9 overall record. The University of Texas hired Van Gent as both football and basketball head coach in 1916. He coached for one season in each sport before joining the military to fight in the World War I. In the 1916 college football season, Van Gent directed Texas to a 7–2 overall record in football and a 6–1 record in Southwest Conference play. As men's basketball head coach for the 1916–17 season, he directed the Longhorns to a 13–3 overall record (7–1 in conference play) and their third consecutive Southwest Conference championship. In 1921, Van Gent coached the Stanford Cardinal football team, compiling a 4–2–2 record. Van Gent also coached Stanford's basketball team in 1921–22. He fell ill with encephalitis lethargica in December 1922 and was hospitalized in San Francisco.{{cite news |title=Gene Van Gent Stricken. Former Stanford Football Coach Has Sleeping Sickness |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/12/24/102907084.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 24, 1922 |access-date=December 19, 2010}}
Head coaching record
=Football=
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Texas Longhorns
| conf = Southwest Conference
| startyear = 1916
| endyear = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1916
| name = Texas
| overall = 7–2
| conference = 6–1
| confstanding = 1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Texas
| overall = 7–2
| confrecord = 6–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = University Farm
| conf = Independent
| startyear = 1920
| endyear = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1920
| name = University Farm
| overall = 3–4–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = University Farm
| overall = 3–4–1
| confrecord =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Stanford
| conf = Pacific Coast Conference
| startyear = 1921
| endyear = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1921
| name = Stanford
| overall = 4–2–2
| conference = 1–1–1
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Stanford
| overall = 4–2–2
| confrecord = 1–1–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| overall = 14–8–3
| bowls = no
| poll = no
| polltype =
}}
Basketball
{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | conference = | postseason = | poll = }}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Missouri Tigers
| conference = Missouri Valley Conference
| startyear = 1914
| endyear = 1916
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship =
| season = 1914–15
| name = Missouri
| overall = 8–6
| conference = 6–6
| confstanding = 3rd
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship =
| season = 1915–16
| name = Missouri
| overall = 12–3
| conference = 9–2
| confstanding = 2nd
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB yearly record subtotal
| name = Missouri
| overall = 21–9 ({{Winning percentage|21|9}})
| confrecord = 15–8 ({{Winning percentage|15|8}})
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Texas Longhorns
| conference = Southwest Conference
| startyear = 1917
| endyear = single
}}
{{CBB yearly record entry
| championship = conference
| season = 1916–17
| name = Texas
| overall = 13–3
| conference = 7–1
| confstanding = 1st
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB yearly record subtotal
| name = Texas
| overall = 13–3 ({{Winning percentage|13|3}})
| confrecord = 7–1 ({{Winning percentage|7|1}})
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Stanford
| conference= Pacific Coast Conference
| startyear = 1921
| endyear = 1922
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1921–22
| name = Stanford
| overall = 8–7
| conference = 4–6
| confstanding = 5th
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Stanford
| overall = 8–7 ({{Winning percentage|8|7}})
| confrecord = 4–6 ({{Winning percentage|4|6}})
}}
{{CBB yearly record end
| overall = 42–19 ({{Winning percentage|42|19}})
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{navboxes|list=
{{Missouri Tigers men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Texas Longhorns football coach navbox}}
{{Texas Longhorns men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{UC Davis Aggies football coach navbox}}
{{Stanford Cardinal football coach navbox}}
{{Stanford Cardinal men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{1914 Helms Foundation NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Gent, Eugene}}
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Missouri Tigers men's basketball coaches
Category:Stanford Cardinal men's basketball coaches
Category:Stanford Cardinal football coaches
Category:Texas Longhorns football coaches
Category:Texas Longhorns men's basketball coaches
Category:UC Davis Aggies football coaches
Category:Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players
Category:Wisconsin Badgers football players
Category:Wisconsin Badgers men's track and field athletes
Category:All-American college men's basketball players
Category:University of Missouri faculty
Category:Sportspeople from Ottumwa, Iowa
Category:Coaches of American football from Iowa
Category:Players of American football from Iowa
Category:Basketball coaches from Iowa