Hall of Fame
Strong served as head coach of the EKU men’s basketball team from 1967-73, leading the Colonels to the 1972 OVC championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament where Eastern lost to eventual NCAA tourney runner-up Florida State 83-81. Strong has reached the highest level in intercollegiate athletics as both a player and as a coach, having previously coached Kentucky Wesleyan to the 1965-66 NCAA Division II national championship and being a member of the University of Kentucky’s 1951 national championship squad. After playing three seasons at UK, he transferred to Eastern in 1951-52 and received his commission in field artillery and went on active duty in the Korean War from 1952-54. Upon discharge, he came to Eastern where he played the 1954-55 season for head coach Paul McBrayer’s Maroons, helping Eastern win the 1955 conference championship. He also played baseball at Kentucky and EKU. He was chosen OVC Coach of the Year in 1972, was inducted in to the Kentucky High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993 and then was inducted in to the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. Strong was chosen NABC Division II National Coach of the Year in 1966. He closed his coaching career, which included stops at Kentucky Wesleyan, EKU, Oklahoma State and Clark County High School, with an impressive overall coaching record of 541-355. A 1955 graduate of EKU, he was honored in 1993 by being chosen to enter the EKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
