Bill Lange

William Fisher Lange (February 16, 1897 – June 22, 1953) was an American basketball and football player and coach. He played college football and basketball for Wittenberg College from 1918 to 1921. During the 1922–23 season, he coached the Cleveland Rosenblums, an early professional basketball team that was known at the time as "the fastest basket ball aggregation in this part of the country."

Lange attended Huron High School where he starred on the basketball and football teams. In June 1918, Lange was employed by the Cleveland Stevedore Co. in Huron, Ohio. Lange joined the U.S. Naval Reserves in July 1918 and was called to active duty in November 1918. He served 108 days of active duty and attained the rank of seaman second class. He received his honorable discharge from the Naval Reserves in September 1921.

Wittenberg College Lange subsequently enrolled at Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio. He played college football as a tackle on Wittenberg football teams that went undefeated for consecutive seasons in 1919 and 1920.

Coaching career

High school coach After graduating from Wittenberg, Lange coached high school sports at London, Ohio. During the 1922–23 academic year, he was a coach at West Tech High School in Cleveland. The Rosenblums later became one of the founding members of the American Basketball League in 1925. Some sources indicate that Lange also played for the team.

Muskingum College In September 1923, he was hired as the athletic director and head coach at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. Upon his hiring, one Ohio newspaper reported: "Lange is a young man of splendid character and has the initiative and ambition together with an attractive personality that make for success as an athletic director and coach." As Muskingum's basketball coach, he compiled a record of 133–94. During the 1925–26 and 1926–27 season, Lange led the Muskingum men's basketball team to records of 17–2 and 19–2. His 1927 Muskingum men's basketball team won the Ohio Conference championship. Lange was instrumental in the construction of McConagha Stadium and a student gymnasium at Muskingum.

University of North Carolina In July 1936, Lange left Muskingum to accept a position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the Tar Heels football team's backfield coach and as an assistant professor of physical education.

Kenyon College In 1944, Lange left North Carolina to become the athletic director for Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Lange also served as Kenyon's head football and basketball coach during the 1944–1945 school year. In June 1953, he died at age 56 while visiting friends in Wadsworth, Ohio.

In 1980, Lange was selected as one of the inaugural inductees into the Muskingum University Athletic Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Wittenberg University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball