Harold Olsen

  • Class
  • Induction
    1917
  • Honors
    Men's Basketball (1917)
  • All-American center in 1917
  • co-captain of 1917 team and member of the 1916 Helms Foundation National Championship team
  • All-Big Ten in 1916 and 1917
  • would go on to serve as head coach at Ohio State for 24 seasons (1923-46), leading his team to an overall record of 255-192
  • in 1939, helped create the NCAA postseason basketball tournament
  • as a coach, Olsen spent time at Ripon College (1919), where his teams won three conference titles, then Ohio State (1923-46), where his team shared the Big Ten Championship in 1933 with Northwestern and won four outright titles
  • Olsen later coached the Chicago Stags to the first Basketball Association of America Finals in 1947
  • was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1959
  • native of Rice Lake, Wisconsin
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