Bradley University Athletics

Bradley Great Stan Albeck ‘55 Passes Away

Men's Basketball 3/26/2021 11:49:00 AM

One of the best to represent the Bradley basketball program, both as a student-athlete and a coach, Stan Albeck passed away at the age of 89 on Thursday.

As an undergraduate student on the Hilltop, Albeck spent three seasons with the Braves from 1950 to 1952 and again during the 1954-55 season following a two-year stint in the Army.

During his senior campaign, the Chenoa, Illinois, native helped lead BU to the 1955 NCAA Elite Eight and was named to the NCAA All-West Region after averaging 13.7 points during Bradley's three-game tournament run. The guard keyed the Braves to victories against Oklahoma City and SMU before tallying 16 points in the Elite Eight versus Colorado. Following his graduation, Albeck was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame in 1959.

Albeck remained in the game as a coach after his graduation, serving as head coach in the NBA of the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets and Chicago Bulls. He guided the Spurs to consecutive Western Conference Finals in 1982 and 1983 and also coached Michael Jordan during his second professional season in 1985-86.

Following a brief retirement, Albeck then returned to Bradley as the program's head coach in 1986. Albeck, who also led Adrian, Northern Michigan and Denver at the collegiate level, added to his Bradley Hall of Fame resume on the sideline during his five years on campus. The 1988 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Albeck guided the Braves to the regular-season and tournament titles that same season, while leading the Braves to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, Albeck accumulated 75 victories in his five years on the Hilltop.

Albeck also mentored a number of players to individual success during his time on the BU sideline. He coached the league's scoring champion in all five years on campus, while leading the MVC Player of the Year for three-consecutive seasons from 1987 to 1989 in Hersey Hawkins (1987 and 1988) and Anthony Manuel (1989). He is one of only two coaches in conference history – and the most recent to do so – to coach three-straight Players of the Year, while also mentoring Hawkins to National Player of the Year accolades following his senior campaign in 1988.

Albeck and his wife, Phyllis, had five children.

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