Hank Raymonds, Former Marquette Coach, Dies at 86

Hank Raymonds, the former Marquette coach who piled up 126 wins in six seasons, passed away Monday at 86 after a long battle with cancer.

After compiling a 111-47 record in six seasons with Christian Brothers University, Raymonds joined the staff of Eddie Hickey at MU in 1961. He continued as the top assistant on Al McGuire's staff when Hickey was fired in 1964, and spent 13 seasons as perhaps college's best assistant coach.

"I go to the cocktail party, but Hank's the man with the Xs and Os, the nuts and bolts," McGuire once joked.

Raymonds took over the team in 1977, when McGuire retired after leading MU to a national title. The team went to the NCAA tournament in five of his six years in charge, going as far as the Sweet 16 in 1978-79.

On top of being a great basketball mind, Raymonds also provided an ability to coach his players to be better on the court and off of it.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers recalled a meeting with his former coach.

"One of the first things he told me is, 'You're going to be a pro basketball player. There's no doubt about that. And good for you. Now, what are you going to do after that? Will you be prepared after your basketball career to do something else and be something else? What are you going to do?'

"Well, as a kid, all I'm thinking about is, 'Hell, the pro basketball part sounds good to me, Coach,' and I'll stop there. And he really made you understand no, you can't stop there. That's a great goal, but then what's the goal after that?"

Raymonds was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.