Murry Bartow Named Men's Basketball Assistant Coach
April 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men's basketball program has hired Murry Bartow as an assistant coach, as announced Monday by Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach.
Bartow has spent 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He was head coach at East Tennessee State for 12 seasons (2004-15) and at UAB for six years (1997-02).
Most recently, Bartow was an assistant coach at the University of South Florida (USF) during the 2016-17 season and took over as the program's interim head coach in Jan. 2017.
Bartow's late father, Gene, served as UCLA's head coach for two seasons (1975-76 and 1976-77).
"I'm really excited to be joining UCLA's program," Bartow said. "It's an honor to be at UCLA, one of the world's greatest universities with a very rich basketball tradition. I've known Steve since he played the game, and I love the way his UCLA teams play an exciting, fast-paced style. Steve's an outstanding coach and an even better person. I'm thrilled to work alongside him, and it's humbling for me to be back at UCLA. I have great memories of when my father was the head coach here and still remember the days when I served as a ball boy at games in Pauley."
During Bartow's 18 seasons at East Tennessee State and UAB (Alabama-Birmingham), he helped lead his teams to nine postseason appearances and four NCAA Tournament berths. He recorded 327 wins during those 18 seasons.
"I've been around Murry for a long time, and he's someone who I really respect and admire," Alford said. "He comes from a basketball family, he has a solid coaching pedigree and he has developed a really good understanding of the game. I'm excited to add Murry to our coaching staff, and I know that he's thrilled to be back in Westwood. He has always been very fond of UCLA, having been around the program at a young age when his dad was the head coach. We have a big offseason ahead of us, and I know that Murry will play a major role in helping our guys get better every day."
While at ETSU (2004-15), Bartow finished with a 224-165 overall record, logging the second-highest win total of any men's basketball head coach in school history. He led the Buccaneers to a Southern Conference title in 2004, the Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season title in 2007 and back-to-back Atlantic Sun Tournament titles in 2009 and 2010. ETSU advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, 2009 and 2010.
As head coach at UAB, Bartow compiled an overall record of 103-83, including 48 wins in Conference USA action (second only to Bob Huggins at Cincinnati during that span). The Blazers twice enjoyed 20-win seasons under Bartow, securing NIT berths in 1997 and 1998.
Bartow grew up around the game of basketball. His father, Gene, served as head coach at six college programs (including UCLA) and helped establish UAB's men's basketball program. Gene Bartow served as UAB's first head coach during an 18-year run in Birmingham (1979-96).
Murry and Gene compiled 974 total victories as head coaches (Gene with 647, Murry with 327), which is the fifth-highest win total among father-son duos.
Murry Bartow began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Indiana (1986-87), working for head coach Bob Knight as the Hoosiers captured the 1987 NCAA Championship. He worked on Indiana's coaching staff during Steve Alford's final two seasons as a student-athlete at IU. Following his time in Bloomington, Ind., Bartow worked for two seasons (1988-89) as assistant coach at William & Mary (Williamsburg, Va.).
Bartow served as an assistant coach under his father at UAB from 1989-96, developing a reputation as an energetic teacher and recruiter.
Bartow earned his B.A. in business administration from UAB in 1985 and his master's degree from Indiana in 1987. He played basketball at UAB from 1980-85 and was part of four NCAA Tournament teams and three Sun Belt Conference championship teams.
Originally from Warrensburg, Mo., Bartow is married to the former Tammy Earley. He and his wife have three sons – Alec, Stephen and Connor.
STATEMENT FROM STEVE ALFORD ABOUT THE COACHING CHANGE
"As head coach, I am responsible for evaluating our season and determining what I feel will make us better as we move forward. When Dan Guerrero and I met following the season, we spoke about a number of areas in which we need to get better. I asked Dan if he would be supportive of a personnel change and he indicated he would support what I needed to do to improve the program. From there, I made the decision to go in a different direction with David Grace's position. David and I have differing accounts of our conversation, but the bottom line is that I thank him for his impact here and wish him the best moving forward."