Larry Joe Inman

Larry Joe Inman
Biographical details
Born (1948-01-03) January 3, 1948 (age 76)
Gallatin, Tennessee
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1970–1973Gallatin JHS
1973–1978Mount Juliet HS
1978–1986Middle Tennessee
1988–2008Eastern Kentucky
2010–2012Lebanon HS
2012–2017Tennessee State
Head coaching record
Overall545–397
Tournaments2–7 (NCAA)
1–1 (WNIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • 11× OVC regular season (1980, 1982, 1983–86, 1995, 1997–98, 2002, 2005)
  • 7× OVC Tournament (1983–86, 1997, 2005, 2015)

Larry Joe Inman (born January 3, 1948) is an American college basketball coach. The Tennessee State Lady Tigers are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and compete in the NCAA's Division I. In 1991, while at Eastern Kentucky, Inman became the first coach to earn the OVC Coach of the Year award at two different schools, having previously been so honored at Middle Tennessee.[1][2]

Biography

A native of Gallatin, Tennessee, Inman received his bachelor's degree from Austin Peay State University in 1970 and his master's degree from Tennessee State in 1978. He and his wife, the former Bobbie Gene Follis of Shelbyville, Tennessee, have a son, two daughters, and five grandchildren.[3]

Coaching career

Iman began his coaching career in 1970 in his hometown, at Gallatin Junior High School, where his teams were 51–4 in his three seasons. The next five years were spent as coach of the girls team at Mount Juliet High School in Mount Juliet, Tennessee where his teams went 126–24, won three conference titles, four district and three regional championships, and the 1977 Tennessee Class AAA state tournament.[3]

Inman was then hired as the women's coach at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. His Blue Raiders teams won six regular season conference titles and four OVC tournaments in his eight seasons at MTSU. His teams played in the NCAA tournament four consecutive years, 1983–86, and Inman was named OVC Coach of the Year three times.[3]

After two years away from coaching, in 1988, Inman was named head coach of the Lady Colonels at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky, a school that had had a winning season only once in eleven OVC seasons. In his third season, the Lady Colonels posted their first winning season in six years, and Inman became the first coach to be named the OVC Coach of the Year at two different institutions. During his twenty-year tenure at EKU, Inman's teams won the OVC regular season five times and the conference tournament twice, advancing to the NCAA tournament twice and the Women's NIT once, and he was named OVC Coach of the Year five times.[3]

Inman retired in 2008 but returned to coaching at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Tennessee in 2010.[3]

The all-time winningest coach in Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball history, Inman was elected to the OVC Hall of Fame in 2009. On April 16, 2012, Tennessee State University in Nashville, announced that, following a national search, Inman was to be their new head women's basketball coach.[3]

After upsetting SIUE and UT Martin to win the 2015 OVC Women's Basketball Tournament, Inman took his third OVC team to the NCAA Tournament.[4]

On March 9, 2017, Inman resigned from Tennessee State for personal reasons.[5]

Head coaching record

Sources: [6][7]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (Ohio Valley Conference) (1978–1986)
1978–79 Middle Tennessee 14–13 6–4 3rd
1979–80 Middle Tennessee 23–10 10–1 1st
1980–81 Middle Tennessee 16–13 6–3 T–2nd
1981–82 Middle Tennessee 20–5 9–3 1st
1982–83 Middle Tennessee 26–5 10–0 1st NCAA Second Round
1983–84 Middle Tennessee 19–6 12–2 1st NCAA First Round
1984–85 Middle Tennessee 23–7 13–1 1st NCAA First Round
1985–86 Middle Tennessee 20–10 13–1 1st NCAA Second Round
Middle Tennessee: 161–73 78–16
Eastern Kentucky Lady Colonels (Ohio Valley Conference) (1988–2008)
1988–89 Eastern Kentucky 12–14 5–7 5th
1989–90 Eastern Kentucky 12–14 6–6 T–4th
1990–91 Eastern Kentucky 14–13 7–5 3rd
1991–92 Eastern Kentucky 20–9 10–4 T–2nd
1992–93 Eastern Kentucky 12–15 10–6 T–3rd
1993–94 Eastern Kentucky 17–9 12–4 T–2nd
1994–95 Eastern Kentucky 19–9 12–4 T–1st
1995–96 Eastern Kentucky 11–16 7–9 T–4th
1996–97 Eastern Kentucky 24–6 16–2 1st NCAA First Round
1997–98 Eastern Kentucky 20–8 15–3 T–1st
1998–99 Eastern Kentucky 11–16 8–10 6th
1999–2000 Eastern Kentucky 13–15 10–8 3rd
2000–01 Eastern Kentucky 22–6 14–2 2nd
2001–02 Eastern Kentucky 23–8 13–3 1st tie WNIT Second Round
2002–03 Eastern Kentucky 18–11 10–6 3rd
2003–04 Eastern Kentucky 15–15 9–7 5th tie
2004–05 Eastern Kentucky 23–8 15–1 1st NCAA First Round
2005–06 Eastern Kentucky 7–20 7–13 9th
2006–07 Eastern Kentucky 12–18 9–11 T–7th
2007–08 Eastern Kentucky 14–14 9–11 T–6th
Eastern Kentucky: 319–244 204–118
Tennessee State Lady Tigers (Ohio Valley Conference) (2012–present)
2012–13 Tennessee State 13–15 9–7 4th (East)
2013–14 Tennessee State 12–18 9–7 T–2nd (East)
2014–15 Tennessee State 18–13 12–4 3rd (East) NCAA First Round
2015–16 Tennessee State 12–18 7–9 3rd (East)
2016–17 Tennessee State 10–16 5–11 T–11th
Tennessee State: 65–80 42–38
Total: 545–397

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ "Larry Joe Inman". Tennessee State University. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  2. ^ "After 480 Wins And 16 OVC Championships, Eastern Kentucky's Larry Joe Inman Announces Retirement". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "TSU women get rematch in NCAA Tournament". The Tennessean. March 16, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  5. ^ Organ, Mike (March 9, 2017). "Larry Joe Inman resigns as TSU women's basketball coach". The Tennessean. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  6. ^ ""2012–13 OVC Basketball Media Guide" OVCSports.com". Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  7. ^ Official Website of the Ohio Valley Conference.