Coaches

Bill Warden

Year Inducted: 1983

Category: Coaches

Schools / Organizations: (Chicago) Morgan Park High School
(Naperville) North Central College
NBA:  Lakers

Biography: Bill Warden has the unique situation of being inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame in 1983 as both a coach and as a player.  Bill Warden served from 1960 to 1980 as head basketball coach at Chicago’s Morgan Park HS. His overall record there was 288 – 208 (he didn’t coach during the 1961 – 62 season). Warden’s teams won conference titles in 1965, 1972, 1975 and 1976. Chicago Public League championships came in 1974 and 1976. The 1975 Morgan Park team was Public League runner-up. Morgan Park made state tourney appearances in 1974, 75 and 76. The 1976 club brought the state championship to Morgan Park in one of the best championship game finishes in IHSA history. Beginning in 1981, Warden served as head coach at his college alma mater North Central College in Naperville for several years.

Bill Warden, as a player, began his high school career at Oak Park-River Forest High School. After his four-year stint as a prep star, where he was an all-Suburban League selection in 1954 and the league’s second-leading scorer, Warden distinguished himself at North Central College in Naperville. Four times he was all-CCIW and was the first player in NAIA history to average 30 points per game for consecutive seasons. In 1952-53 Warden averaged 32.8, 1953-54 he averaged 30.7 and as a senior averaged 34.7 when he led the nation and was a first team NAIA All-American. His four-year scoring average at North Central was a whopping 28.4 ppg.  Bill was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers after graduation.  He went on to play in the AAU for the Peoria Caterpillar Cats.