• Les Habegger Indiana Hall of Fame bio page
• Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2014
• Falcon Legends Hall of Fame bio
• "We Still Call Him Coach"
NEW CASTLE, Ind. – A man whose name is synonymous with Seattle Pacific basketball is now part of a shrine in a state whose name synonymous with basketball.
Les Habegger, who coached the Falcons for 17 seasons and guided them to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 1965 Elite Eight, was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.
He was one of 14 members of the 2014 men's class, the 53rd group to join the Hall since 1962.
Joining Habegger at the banquet were Tom Box, the former SPU athletic director and current Seattle Pacific Foundation President for Planned Giving, and school president Dr. Daniel J. Martin.
Habegger came to then-Seattle Pacific College in 1955 as an assistant coach to Ken Foreman. He moved up to the head coaching position in 1957, and his Falcon teams went on to win 267 games, helping elevate the program into a West Coast power. He had three seasons of 20 or more victories, and his final record before he stepped down in 1974 was 267-170. Habegger's victory total still ranks as the most for any men's basketball coach in school history.
He then took his coaching abilities to the professional ranks. Habegger became the assistant coach to Lenny Wilkens with the Seattle SuperSonics, and that tandem helped bring the 1979 NBA championship to the city. He eventually moved into front office roles with the team, including general manager and director of player personnel.
Habegger later was the coach and general manager at Steiner-Bayreuth in Germany, as the team won three German pro league titles.
A native of Berne, Ind., Habegger was a player at Northwestern College in Minnesota, and Wheaton College in Illinois.
Habegger is a member of Seattle Pacific's Legends Hall of Fame, part of the 2004 induction class. A biography of his life and career, "We Still Call Him Coach," was written by Doris H. Pieroth, and was published in 2008.
Today, Habegger resides in Gilbert, Ariz.
