Quin Snyder

College coach infobox


Name = Quin Snyder
Sport = Basketball


ImageWidth =
Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1966|10|30
Birthplace = flagicon|United States Mercer Island, Washington
DateOfDeath =
Deathplace =
College =
Title = Former Head coach
Awards =
Championships =
CurrentRecord = 126-91 (.581)
OverallRecord = 126-91 (.581)
Position = Head Coach
Coach = *
former_teams = Missouri (1999-2006)
CoachYears = 1993-1999
1999-2006
2007-present
CoachTeams = Duke (assistant)
Missouri
Austin Toros (NBA D-League)

Quin Snyder (born October 30 1966 in Mercer Island, Washington, United States) is the current head coach of the NBDL's Austin Toros. He is also the former head men's basketball coach of the University of Missouri. He resigned during the 2006 season, although some believeWeasel word he was forced out by athletic director Mike Alden. He is also a former assistant coach at his alma mater of Duke University. Snyder was also the son-in-law of legendary coach Larry Brown.

High School

A 1985 graduate of Mercer Island High School, Snyder led his team to the 1985 Washington State Championship. [via Associated press. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegesports/2002797614_webquin10.html "Missouri coach Quin Snyder resigns"] , "The Seattle Times", February 10, 2006. Accessed May 20, 2008. "Snyder, a graduate of Mercer Island High School, spoke to his team before practice today and said he was leaving."] Mercer Island was coached by the winningest coach in Washington state history, Ed Pepple. At one point during the 1985 season, Quin's Mercer Island team was ranked #1 by "USA Today" and completed the year ranked 13th nationally. He participated in the McDonald's All-American game his senior year and was the first McDonald's All-American from the State of Washington.

College and Graduate School

He played for the Duke University Blue Devils for four years and led his team to the Final Four in 1986, 1988, and 1989. He graduated from Duke in 1989 with a double major in philosophy and political science, and, later received a JD from Duke Law School in 1995 and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1995. In the middle of his graduate work, Snyder spent one year as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Coaching Division I Basketball

Snyder led Missouri to 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, including the Elite Eight in 2002, equaling the deepest run ever made by a Missouri team in the NCAA Tournament. As a first year coach, he was named Rookie Coach of the Year by the Basketball Times.

Snyder was hailed as a sensation upon his arrival at Missouri. His first team, although seriously undermanned and composed largely of Stewart's players, made an impressive run to the NCAA Tournament. They knocked off a ranked Illinois team and then defeated the Kansas Jayhawks in Snyder's first game against Mizzou's archrival. Snyder's second season was punctuated by similar success. He once again toppled a ranked Kansas team and led the Tigers to their first NCAA victory since 1995. The eventual National Champion Duke Blue Devils ended the Tigers' season in the NCAA Tournament.

Snyder's third team achieved something only accomplished 2 other times in a century of Missouri Basketball, the NCAA's Elite Eight. The Tigers pummeled 5th seeded Miami and then dominated the Big Ten Champion Ohio State Buckeyes in advancing to the Sweet 16. UCLA proved no match for the Tigers, who wore down the Bruins down the stretch. The Tigers eventually succumbed to the Final Four-bound Oklahoma Sooners in a very close game. Mizzou also became the lowest-seeded team (#12) to reach the final eight of the NCAAs.

In 2002-2003, Missouri again reached the NCAA Tournament, defeating Southern Illinois before losing an overtime thriller to Final Four-bound Marquette. It marked the fourth time in four years that Missouri was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by the eventual regional champion. Missouri's 5 wins in 3 seasons marked the single most successful stretch of NCAA Tournament basketball in the long history of Missouri Basketball.

Ricky Clemons Scandal

In January 2003, point guard Ricky Clemons was arrested on charges of assault and battery and false arrest against his former girlfriend, following a dispute over whether or not the couple was to watch "Roots". While in jail, Clemons accused other players of receiving payments from Snyder's assistant coaches, Lane Odom and Tony Harvey, allegations that were dismissed by the NCAA after its investigation. It was later found out that Clemons' academic bona fides (he had transferred from College of Southern Idaho in Idaho) were suspect, that he had been spotted while on bail riding ATVs with then-university president Elson Floyd, and that Floyd's wife Carmento had engaged in a phone call where she advised Clemons to "stay away from them crackers", referencing his (white) girlfriend.

While the scandal began to unravel, so did Missouri's "dream season". The Tigers, picked first in the Big 12 and ranked #3 at one point, finished the year 16-14, including 9-7 in the Big 12 for a fifth place tie with Texas Tech. The Tigers' final season in the Hearnes Center ended with an 84-82 loss to their archrivals, the Kansas Jayhawks on a buzzer-beater by David Padgett. The Tigers ended the season with a 65-64 loss to the eventual NIT champion Michigan Wolverines.

In the fall of 2004, the NCAA put Mizzou on probation for various violations after a lengthy investigation that failed to substantiate many of the accusations made against Snyder's staff. Snyder overhauled his coaching staff after that, bringing in Melvin Watkins, former head coach at Texas A&M, as his new associate head coach, and most notably dismissing Ricky Clemons from both the team and the university.

Post-Clemons Scandal

The 2004-05 team made the post-season NIT, making it 6 consecutive post-season appearances by the Tigers under Snyder. The Tigers posted a 16-16 record before losing to the DePaul Blue Demons in the first round of the NIT. Snyder was the only coach in Missouri history to make post-season play in every season that he coached the team to the season's end.

Final Season and Resignation

The 2005-06 Season got off to a decent start, culminating with an 89-86 overtime win over Kansas in mid-January. Snyder defeated the arch-rival Jayhawks in each of his last two meetings with them. But the Tigers lost their next six, the final loss being a 90-64 loss to the Baylor Bears. Snyder resigned the Friday following the Baylor loss, before the conclusion of his seventh season at Missouri. His resignation led to a prolonged controversy over the actions of Athletic Director Mike Alden's handling of the dismissal, as it was learned that Alden sent Tiger Radio Network color analyst Gary Link to inform Snyder that he would not be retained after the season.

Current

Quin Snyder is currently the head coach of the Austin Toros

References

External links

* [http://mutigers.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/snyder_quin00.html Profile at official Mizzou athletics site]
* [http://www.nba.com/dleague/austin/index.html Austin Toros Official Website]