Randy Wittman

Randy Wittman
Personal information
Wittman in 2011 as Wizards assistant coach
Born	(1959-10-28) October 28, 1959 Indianapolis, Indiana
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school	Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Indiana)
College	Indiana (1978–1983)
NBA draft	1983 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22nd overall
Selected by the Washington Bullets
Playing career	1983–1992
Position	Shooting guard
Number	10, 14
Coaching career	1991–present
Career history
As player:
1983–1988	Atlanta Hawks
1988–1989	Sacramento Kings
1989–1992	Indiana Pacers
As coach:
1992–1993	Indiana Pacers (assistant)
1993–1994	Dallas Mavericks (assistant)
1994–1999	Minnesota Timberwolves (assistant)
1999–2001	Cleveland Cavaliers
2001–2005	Minnesota Timberwolves (assistant)
2005–2006	Orlando Magic (assistant)
2006–2008	Minnesota Timberwolves
2009–2012	Washington Wizards (assistant)
2012–2016	Washington Wizards
Career highlights and awards
NCAA champion (1981) Consensus second-team All-American (1983)
Career NBA statistics
Points	4,034 (7.4 ppg)
Rebounds	760 (1.4 rpg)
Assists	1,201 (2.2 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Randy Scott Wittman (born October 28, 1959) is an American retired basketball player at the guard position and former coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards.

Playing career

High school

Wittman starred for Indianapolis Ben Davis High School from 1975–1978. He averaged more than 23 points a game for Ben Davis, which remains the second highest average at the school, and became one of the nation's top recruits.^[1]

College

The 6'6" Wittman played college basketball from 1979–1983 for Bob Knight and the Indiana University Hoosiers. The 1979–80 Hoosiers, led by Isiah Thomas, won the Big Ten championship and advanced to the 1980 Sweet Sixteen. The following season, in 1980–81, the Hoosiers once again won a conference title and advanced to the NCAA Championship against the North Carolina Tarheels.

The Hoosiers trailed the entire first half of the game until Wittman scored at the halftime buzzer with a deep corner shot.^[2] The Hoosiers went on to win the game by a 63-50 tally, making the 1981 NCAA tournament the school's fourth national title.

In 1982–1983, with the leadership of Wittman, the No. 1 ranked Hoosiers were favorites to win another national championship. However, with an injury to star player Ted Kitchel mid-season, the Hoosiers' prospects were grim. Knight asked for fan support to rally around the team and, despite long odds, the team ultimately won the Big Ten title. Nevertheless, in the tournament Kitchel's absence was felt and the team lost to Kentucky in the 1983 Sweet Sixteen. Wittman was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus second team All-American in 1983. He became a member of Indiana's Hall of Fame and was named to Indiana's Silver Anniversary Basketball Team, in March 1996.

Professional

Wittman was selected by the Washington Bullets with the 22nd pick of the 1983 NBA draft. However, he never played for the Bullets with his rights being traded to the Atlanta Hawks.

Wittman spent the early portion of his career with the Hawks, sharing backcourt with Glenn "Doc" Rivers and Anthony "Spud" Webb, and starting most of the games from 1985–88 (while averaging 12 points and 3.5 assists in those years combined).

After a small spell with the Sacramento Kings, he became a fringe player with the Indiana Pacers, retiring in 1991–92 after three unassuming years. For his career, Wittman averaged 7.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting just over 50% from the field.

Coaching career

In 1992, Wittman began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach, first with the Pacers. He spent one season in Indianapolis and another with the Dallas Mavericks (and later with the Orlando Magic).

Subsequently, Wittman spent from 1994–99 with the Minnesota Timberwolves, in the same capacity. During that period, he helped in the development of Wolves' star forward Kevin Garnett. Wittman then served as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for two seasons, (1999–2001), compiling a record of 62-102.

On January 23, 2007, Wittman became the head coach of the Timberwolves, succeeding Dwane Casey; he had already started the season as assistant to the former.

On December 8, 2008, club owner Glen Taylor fired Wittman after a 4-19 start, asking Kevin McHale to step in, in a complete change of the organization's structure, as the former Boston Celtics great had been Minnesota's vice-president of basketball operations since 1995.

Wittman became acting head coach of the Washington Wizards, accepting the position after Flip Saunders was fired in January 2012 for a 2-15 start. On June 4, 2012, the Wizards announced that Wittman would be retained as the official head coach of the team for the 2012–2013 season.^[3]

The Wizards improved from 29-53 to 44-38 during the 2013–14 season, which included advancing to the second round of the playoffs for just the third time since 1979 before losing to the Indiana Pacers in six games. The Wizards had a 5-1 record in away games during both series, but were unable to win a home game in the second round. Wittman was praised for his strategy and leadership throughout the playoffs by both players and management alike.

Wittman signed an extension to remain head coach of the Wizards on June 3, 2014.^[4]

The Wizards fired Wittman on April 13, 2016 after the team missed the playoffs.^[5]^[6]

Personal life

His son Ryan Wittman starred for the Cornell Big Red basketball team; he helped lead the Big Red to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years during the 2007–08 season, again in 2009,^[7] and to Cornell's first-ever NCAA basketball tournament victories in 2010 over the Temple Owls and Wisconsin Badgers as the Big Red made its first-ever trip to the NCAA Men's Sweet 16.^[8]

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss %
Post season	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win-loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
Cleveland	1999–00	82	32	50	.390	6th in Central	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Cleveland	2000–01	82	30	52	.366	6th in Central	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Minnesota	2006–07	42	12	30	.286	4th in Northwest	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Minnesota	2007–08	82	22	60	.268	5th in Northwest	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Minnesota	2008–09	19	4	15	.211	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
Washington	2011–12	49	18	31	.367	4th in Southeast	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Washington	2012–13	82	29	53	.354	3rd in Southeast	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Washington	2013–14	82	44	38	.537	2nd in Southeast	11	6	5	.545	Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Washington	2014–15	82	46	36	.561	2nd in Southeast	10	6	4	.600	Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Washington	2015–16	82	41	41	.500	4th in Southeast	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Career		684	278	406	.406		21	12	9	.571

References

↑ http://www.wayne.k12.in.us/bdboysbasketball/records_season.asp
↑ http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/hoosiershq/historia/1981/?sid=94
↑ Post Sports Editors (2012-06-04). "Wittman to return as Wizards head coach". Washington Post.
↑ Joseph, Adi (2014-06-03). "Randy Wittman signs contract extension with Wizards". USA Today.
↑ "WIZARDS PART WAYS WITH WITTMAN". WizardsToday.MonumentalSportsNetwork.com. April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
↑ "Wizards fire coach Randy Wittman after team misses playoffs". ESPN.com. April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
↑ Thamel, Pete (2009-02-26). "At Cornell, a Player Stands Out by Blending In". New York Times.
↑ Feinstein, John (2010-03-20). "Cornell did just about everything right in its 2010 NCAA basketball tournament opener". Washington Post.

External links

Cleveland Cavaliers head coaches

Bill Fitch (1970–1979)
Stan Albeck (1979–1980)
Bill Musselman (1980–1981)
Don Delaney # (1981)
Bob Kloppenburg # (1981)
Chuck Daly (1981–1982)
Bill Musselman (1982)
Tom Nissalke (1982–1984)
George Karl (1984–1986)
Gene Littles # (1986)
Lenny Wilkens (1986–1993)
Mike Fratello (1993–1999)
Randy Wittman (1999–2001)
John Lucas II (2001–2003)
Keith Smart # (2003)
Paul Silas (2003–2005)
Brendan Malone # (2005)
Mike Brown (2005–2010)
Byron Scott (2010–2013)
Mike Brown (2013–2014)
David Blatt (2014–2016)
Tyronn Lue (2016–present)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Minnesota Timberwolves head coaches

Bill Musselman (1989–1991)
Jimmy Rodgers (1991–1993)
Sidney Lowe (1993–1994)
Bill Blair (1994–1995)
Flip Saunders (1995–2005)
Kevin McHale # (2005)
Dwane Casey (2005–2007)
Randy Wittman (2007–2008)
Kevin McHale # (2008–2009)
Kurt Rambis (2009–2011)
Rick Adelman (2011–2014)
Flip Saunders (2014–2015)
Sam Mitchell # (2015–2016)
Tom Thibodeau (2016–)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Washington Wizards head coaches

Jim Pollard (1961–1962)
Jack McMahon (1962)
Bobby Leonard (1962–1964)
Buddy Jeannette (1964–1965)
Paul Seymour (1965–1966)
Mike Farmer (1966)
Buddy Jeannette # (1966)
Gene Shue (1966–1973)
K. C. Jones (1973–1976)
Dick Motta (1976–1980)
Gene Shue (1980–1986)
Kevin Loughery (1986–1988)
Wes Unseld (1988–1994)
Jim Lynam (1994–1997)
Bob Staak # (1997)
Bernie Bickerstaff (1997–1999)
Jim Brovelli # (1999)
Gar Heard (1999–2000)
Darrell Walker # (2000)
Leonard Hamilton (2000–2001)
Doug Collins (2001–2003)
Eddie Jordan (2003–2008)
Ed Tapscott (2008–2009)
Flip Saunders (2009–2012)
Randy Wittman (2012–2016)
Scott Brooks (2016–)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Randy Wittman—championships, awards, and honors

Indiana Hoosiers Men's Basketball 1980–81 NCAA Champions

11 Isiah Thomas (MOP) 20 Jim Thomas 24 Randy Wittman 30 Ted Kitchel 31 Tony Brown 32 Landon Turner 40 Glen Grunwald 45 Ray Tolbert Head Coach Bob Knight Assistant Coaches Jim Crews Gerry Gimelstob

1983 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans

First Team	Dale Ellis Patrick Ewing Michael Jordan Keith Lee Sam Perkins Ralph Sampson Wayman Tisdale

Second Team	Clyde Drexler Sidney Green John Paxson Steve Stipanovich Jon Sundvold Darrell Walker Randy Wittman

1983 NBA Draft

First round	Ralph Sampson Steve Stipanovich Rodney McCray Byron Scott Sidney Green Russell Cross Thurl Bailey Antoine Carr Dale Ellis Jeff Malone Derek Harper Darrell Walker Ennis Whatley Clyde Drexler Howard Carter Jon Sundvold Leo Rautins Randy Breuer John Paxson Roy Hinson Greg Kite Randy Wittman Mitchell Wiggins Stewart Granger

Second round	Sidney Lowe Leroy Combs John Garris Rod Foster Larry Micheaux Mark West Glenn Rivers Michael Britt Dirk Minniefield Guy Williams Darrell Lockhart Scooter McCray David Russell Chris McNealy Granville Waiters Jim Thomas Ted Kitchel Mike Davis Pace Mannion Horace Owens Paul Williams Kevin Williams Kenneth Lyons

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