Hutton: Bartow made friends every step of the way

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Updated: February 10, 2012 8:47AM

The Gene Bartow I’ll remember:

Always picked up his own landline phone, usually on the second or third ring.

Didn’t have a reason in the world to be courteous or take my calls, but was way beyond gracious and friendly and nice when I called.

Wanted a copy of the story sent to his house in Alabama when I wrote about the death of Dick Koenig, father of Lenore Hoffman, Joe Otis’ wife, and the person most responsible for the success of Valparaiso University basketball today. (Koenig, the athletic director at VU and later a vice president, hired both Homer Drew and Bartow).

Liked to listen as much as he liked to talked. Always wanted to know about the Crusaders and old friends in Valparaiso.

Didn’t particularly care for his UCLA experience — in his words, it wasn’t a good “fit,” but he couldn’t turn the job down. He respected John Wooden, the man he followed at UCLA. They were cordial and friendly but they weren’t friends. It couldn’t possibly end any other way, probably, for the coach that followed Wooden.

Bartow died this week from stomach cancer. He was 81.

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There is one thing I wonder about with Bartow: Could he go from coaching high school to coaching at Central Missouri State to VU to Memphis State to Illinois to UCLA to building a program from scratch at UAB in today’s high-salary, high-pressure, high-reward coaching era?

Probably not.

It was a one-of-a-kind coaching experience. Bartow’s remarkable career, which included stints as an athletic director at UAB and as a scout for the Memphis Grizzlies, was essentially launched with his performance at VU, when he took the team to three NCAA College Division regionals, including a national quarterfinal appearance in the 1966-67 season.

The coaching fraternity was cozier back then, less cut-throat, and the basketball at VU was pretty competitive. It played in a conference that included Ball State, Evansville and Indiana State. “Clean Gene,” as he was known, was well respected for his coaching ability and was universally liked as a human being.

He took a job with Memphis State, making $14,000 a year in 1970 with a car, according to the Commercial Appeal newspaper. Bartow took Memphis to the Final Four but left for Illinois a few years later for a bigger payday.

He lasted for one 8-18 season before UCLA called after Wooden decided to retire. Stayed for three seasons at UCLA and took the Bruins to one Final Four.

Hard to imagine “Clean Gene” living the good life in Los Angeles. There was all kinds of silly, insane pressure. He left for UAB when it called to ask for help starting a basketball program. He consulted for them. When he flew back to L.A., they called and offered him the job. It took less than a day for Bartow to accept the offer. He finished as the AD for UAB in 2000 before drifting into a scouting and public relations role with the Grizzlies.

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The Bartow that John Hinkey (a player for Bartow at VU and the Boone Grove coach for many years) and Dick Briars (another former Bartow player who coached with him for two seasons and at Kouts) will remember:

He never swore.

He didn’t like to drive, so Briars would drive when they went on recruiting trips.

He treated everyone — from the managers to the star players to the janitor — the same way: with dignity and respect.

Bartow would invite Hinkey’s kid and his wife to his house so they could swim in the pool when Hinkey went to his basketball camp at UAB.

Once, Briars got tickets from him when UAB played DePaul and Bartow didn’t like the seats. He invited them to sit on the bench.

Bartow invited Hinkey up to his hotel room in Grand Rapids, Mich., at a coaching clinic when he was a baby-faced coach at Boone Grove, to join in on a conversation about who should be selected for the Olympic basketball team in 1976. John Wooden and George Raveling were there.

Bartow was so mad after Houston beat Valparaiso 158-81 in 1967, setting the record for most points scored in a college game, that he vowed to pile it on a Guy Lewis-coached team if he ever got the chance. He did when he was at UCLA, and he couldn’t bring himself to exact revenge.

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Briars had asked Drew how Bartow was doing last summer at a golf outing. Drew called him and told him he was fine. Bartow was planning to make a trip back to Valparaiso in December to visit old friends again. He had them stashed away all over the country. He never made it back.