A Look Back at Former Indiana Men’s Basketball Coach lOU wATSON

Written By: Bill Murphy (@williamindiana2)

His has one of the most complex careers of any, if not all, of the members of the Indiana University Hall of Fame.  Depending upon which generation you ask, Lou was either an outstanding player or a horrible coach.

Lou Watson began his career at Indiana in 1946-47 season. As a freshman, on that second place Big Ten team, he was the fifth leading scorer with an average of 6.4 points per game. His sophomore year, saw him play on one of only four teams in Branch McCracken's 24 years to finish out of the top five in the Big Ten.  Yet, Lou scored 10.4 points a game.  Watson would go on to play his junior and senior years alongside such famous Hoosiers as Bill Garrett, Bill Tosheff, and Frank O’Bannon. He would go on to be the second leading scorer both years leading the Hoosiers to a fourth and third place Big Ten finish.  Lou was also named to both the Big Ten and All American first teams finishing his career as the all-time leading scorer in school history.  

Upon his graduation, Watson would slide into responsibility as an assistant coach at Indiana under Branch McCracken for the next two years. He left Indiana to coach at Huntington high school before returning to Indiana as an assistant to McCracken in 1955. Watson would stay as an assistant until the 1966 season when McCracken retired and Lou became the Hoosiers new head coach.  

His first year at Indiana, he finished 8-16 tied with Purdue in last place in the conference.  During Watson second year, his team became the first and only Big Ten program to go from last to first from one year to the next. The 1967 team finished 10-4 in the Big Ten and 18-8 overall.  After a promising 6-0 start in the 1968 season, the wheels fell off and Indiana finished 10-14, good for ninth in the Big Ten.  Unfortunately, the 1969 season again saw Indiana finish last in the Big Ten with a 9-15 overall record.  

Watson missed the 1970 season with back surgery as his last year took place in 1971. The 1971 season saw a class of sophomores that were one of the best recruiting classes in Hoosier history.  It featured George McGinnis, Steve Downing, and John Ritter.  All in all, Lou Watson had recruited 5 members of the Indiana high school All Star team. The season started off well as Indiana won 6 of their first seven games.  The Hoosiers were in a fight for the Big Ten title until losing 3 of their last 4 games causing Indiana to finish 4th in the Big Ten.  During the season, player unrest caused Watson to retire at the campaign’s end. 

Watson took a position as a special assistant to the Athletic Director before retiring in 1987. His overall record as Indiana coach was a winning one 62-60. He would become the third straight IU All-American to coach Indiana (Dean and McCracken).  Harry Good coached from 1943 to 1946 while Branch was at war with World War 2. Watson passed away on May 25, 2012 at the age of 88.