Robert Duax

{{Short description|American athlete, coach, and politician (1919–1997)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Robert Duax

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|10|26}}

| birth_place = Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|12|18|1919|10|26}}

| death_place = Davenport, Iowa, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = 1937–1940

| player_team2 = Saint Joseph's (IN)

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1974

| coach_team2 = St. Ambrose

| coach_sport3 = Men's basketball

| coach_years4 = 1951–1966

| coach_team4 = St. Ambrose

| coach_sport5 = Women's basketball

| coach_years6 = 1975–1977

| coach_team6 = St. Ambrose

| admin_years1 = 1966–1975

| admin_team1 = St. Ambrose

| overall_record = 164–175 (men's college basketball)
25–9 (women's college basketball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards = Ambrose University Athletic Hall of Fame (1983)

| coaching_records =

| BASKHOF_year =

| CBBASKHOF_year =

| medaltemplates =

}}

Robert John Duax Sr. (October 26, 1919 – December 18, 1997) was an American athlete, coach, and politician. He was an All-Chicago football player and a star halfback for the St. Joseph's College football team. From the early 1940s through the 1990s, he was a coach, instructor and administrator, including 16 years as the head basketball coach and nine years as the athletic director, at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He earned a reputation as a basketball innovator and strategist and founded the St. Ambrose women's basketball team, serving as its first head coach from 1975 to 1977. He also held several political offices in the 1960s and 1970s, including service as mayor of Davenport from 1976 to 1977.

Early years

Duax was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, in 1919. He moved to Chicago in his youth where his father, Charles Duax, was employed as a butter and food products salesman.Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 434; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 2500; Image: 907.0; FHL microfilm: 2340169. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Duax attended St. Phillip's School in Chicago. He was an All-Chicago halfback in high school,{{cite news|title=Uhlans Play Pumas in 2d Go of Season|newspaper=The Vidette-Messenger|date=September 28, 1939|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3600860/uhlans_play_pumas/}} and his high school coach called him "the best football player, pound for pound, I've ever coached."{{cite news|title=Speculating in Sports|newspaper=The Times (Hammond, Ind.)|date=February 17, 1943|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3601356/speculating_in_sports/}}

Duax next attended St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana.{{cite news|title=Robert Duax, Sr.|newspaper=Quad City Times|date=December 20, 1997|url=http://qctimes.com/news/obit-robert-duax-sr/article_a9c96cab-9958-546c-a9ef-d78a6a44f9db.html}} He was a triple-threat halfback for the St. Joseph's football team and the team's leading scorer in 1939 and was considered one of the best punters in Indiana.{{cite news|title=A Glimpse Into Hoosier Grid Camps - St. Joseph's|newspaper=The Franklin Evening Star|date=September 9, 1940|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3600800/a_glimpse_into_hoosier_grid_camps/}} He was reported to be a "fast and shifty" back around whom St. Joseph's built its attack.

Coaching career

Duax began his coaching career at the high school level. In 1941, he was hired as the athletic director and basketball coach at Catholic Central High School in Hammond, Indiana.{{cite news|title=Catholic Central to Honor Bob Duax at Dinner Monday|newspaper=Hammond Times|date=February 15, 1942|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/hammond/hammond-times/1942/02-15/page-13?tag=duax&rtserp=tags/?ndt=by&py=1941&pey=1942&plo=duax}}{{cite news|title=Irish Coach Cites Value Of Athletics|newspaper=Hammond Times|date=February 17, 1942|page=1|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/hammond/hammond-times/1942/02-17/page-23?tag=duax&rtserp=tags/?ndt=by&py=1941&pey=1942&plo=duax}} He later compiled a 63–37 record as the basketball coach at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, in the 1940s.{{cite news|title=Tidbits|newspaper=The Times (Hammond, Ind.)|date=January 8, 1958|page=33|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3600606/tidbits/}}

In 1951, Duax left De La Salle High School in Chicago to become the head basketball coach at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.{{cite news|title=Duax Leaves De La Salle to Coach St. Ambrose|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=April 25, 1951|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1951/04/25/page/39/article/duax-leaves-de-la-salle-to-coach-st-ambrose}}{{cite news|title=To Coach At St. Ambrose|newspaper=The Mount Pleasant News|date=April 25, 1951|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3601481/to_coach_at_st_ambrose/}}{{cite news|title=Bob Duax Named Coach|newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=April 25, 1951|page=27|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3601462/bob_duax_named_coach/}}{{cite news|title=Duax to Speak at QB Club Meeting|newspaper=The Muscatine Journal|date=October 25, 1960|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3545001/duax_to_speak/}} He continued in a variety of positions at St. Ambrose for 40 years until 1991. He became known as one of the top offensive basketball coaches in Iowa,{{cite news|title=Athletes Have Obligations, St. Ambrose Coach Declares|newspaper=Carroll Daily Times-Herald|date=March 27, 1963|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3545025/athletes_have_obligations/}}{{cite news|title=Banquet Speaker Noted As Top Offensive Coach|newspaper=Carroll Daily Times Herald|date=March 22, 1963|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/carroll/carroll-daily-times-herald/1963/03-22/page-2}} and his men's basketball team compiled a school-record 17-game winning streak from 1953 to 1954.{{cite web|title=Bees Streak to 15th Straight Win|publisher=St. Ambrose University|date=February 2012|url=http://www.sau.edu/News_and_Events/n120227_MCC_title.html}} After suffering a heart attack,{{cite news|title=Mayor, women's cage coach: Duax doubles up in Davenport|newspaper=Des Moines Register|date=December 26, 1976|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/des-moines/des-moines-register/1976/12-26/page-52}} and citing health issues, he resigned as the head basketball coach in 1966. He compiled a 164–175 record in 15 seasons as the men's basketball coach.{{cite news|title=St. Ambrose Coach Bob Duax Resigns|newspaper=Cedar Rapids Gazette|date=September 1, 1966|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/cedar-rapids/cedar-rapids-gazette/1966/09-01/page-52?tag=duax+davenport&rtserp=tags/duax-davenport?page=2}}{{cite news|title=Duax Resigns Post At St. Ambrose|newspaper=Waterloo Daily Courier|date=September 1, 1966|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/waterloo/waterloo-daily-courier/1966/09-01/page-24?tag=duax&rtserp=tags/?ndt=by&py=1966&pey=1966&plo=duax}}

Although the full-court press was in existence by the late 1930s, Duax has been credited by some as an innovator (more likely, early adopter) of the strategy.{{cite news|title=Basketball's Full Court Press|newspaper=Big Island Chronicle|date=February 3, 2009|url=http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2009/02/03/dispatches-from-curt-%E2%80%94-korogeyama-sumo-tease-for-falls-down-all-the-time-basketballs-full-court-press-eric-shinseki-soldiers-general-a-la-omar-bradley-joe-lightfoot-nisei2nd/}} In 1961, Duax described his coaching philosophy as follows:

"At St. Ambrose, we play a very aggressive type of defense and do a lot of running. I personally feel basketball is about 60 percent conditioning, 30 percent talent, and 10 percent coaching."{{cite news|title=Duax Predicts Bright Future For St. Ambrose Cage Sport|newspaper=Muscatine Journal And News Tribune|date=May 20, 1960|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/muscatine/muscatine-journal-and-news-tribune/1960/05-20/page-12}}

After resigning as the men's basketball coach, Duax in September 1966 assumed the job as St. Ambrose's athletic director.{{cite news|title=Duax Named Athletic Boss at St. Ambrose|newspaper=Waterloo Daily Courier|date=September 21, 1966|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/waterloo/waterloo-daily-courier/1966/09-21/page-22?tag=duax&rtserp=tags/?ndt=by&py=1966&pey=1966&plo=duax}} He served as athletic director until his resignation in May 1975, though he remained on the faculty as an instructor in physical education.{{cite news|title=Duax Resigns At St. Ambrose|newspaper=Cedar Rapids Gazette|date=May 7, 1975|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/cedar-rapids/cedar-rapids-gazette/1975/05-07/page-75?tag=duax+davenport&rtserp=tags/?ndt=by&py=1975&pey=1975&plo=duax-davenport}} He also helped establish the St. Ambrose women's basketball team, serving as the team's first head coach from 1975 to 1977. His women's basketball teams compiled a 25–9 record in his two years as head coach.{{cite web|title=Year‐by‐Year SAU Women's Basketball Coaching Records|publisher=St. Ambrose University|access-date=November 10, 2015|url=http://www.saubees.com/d/2014-15/basketball/WBB_Coach_15.pdf}} He was inducted into the St. Ambrose University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983.{{cite web|title=SAU Athletic Hall of Fame Team Inductees|publisher=St. Ambrose University|access-date=November 10, 2015|url=http://www.saubees.com/f/Hall_of_Fame.php}}

Political career

Duax also held a number of political offices in Davenport, Iowa, the third largest city in Iowa. In November 1965, running as a Republican, he was elected as an alderman in Davenport's heavily Democratic third ward.{{cite news|title=St. Ambrose's Duax Mixes Politics With Coaching|newspaper=Des Moines Register|date=January 22, 1966|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/des-moines/des-moines-register/1966/01-22/page-16?tag=duax&rtserp=tags/?ndt=by&py=1966&pey=1966&plo=duax}} Duax was also elected to two terms on the Scott County Board of Supervisors, and served as the chairman of the Quad Cities' Bi-State Metropolitan Planning Commission for a time in the 1970s.{{cite news|title=Henry County Official Is Named Veep of Plan Group|newspaper=Galesburg (IL) Register-Mail|date=January 17, 1974|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3600495/henry_county_official/}}

In November 1975, Duax was first elected as mayor of Davenport as a Republican, after defeating Dallas George in a contest featuring five candidates.{{cite news|title=Iowa|newspaper=Times Herald (Carroll, Iowa)|date=November 5, 1975|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3600421/davenport_mayoral_results/}} During his time as mayor, he continued to coach the women's basketball team at St. Ambrose. In a 1976 feature story on Duax, the Des Moines Register wrote:

"By day, he is Davenport's chief worrier about sewers, streets, tight municipal budgets, salaries for more than 1,000 municipal workers, and a host of governmental headaches. But come late afternoon, or on frequent nights and weekends during the winter, he turns his worrying to such matters as polishing a stingy basketball defense, balancing a sometimes sluggish scoring assault, and building the endurance of a dozen young women."

He was defeated in a November 1977 campaign for re-election as mayor.{{cite news|title=New mayors schooled in city hall savvy|newspaper=LaCrosse Tribune|date=November 24, 1977|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3600457/new_mayors_schooled/}}