Quick Facts
Biography
Al Svenningson is an American basketball coach.
Life and career
Al Svenningson was born Allen R. Svenningson in Winona, Minnesota. He attended Winona High School and then Winona State University in Winona, where he played basketball; he scored an average of 23.5 per game in 68 appearances.
Svenningson coached the Wayne State College basketball team in Nebraska from 1959 to 1967. During this time, he led the team to 121 wins (with 73 defeats).
After his departure from Wayne State, he coached the basketball team of the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1967 to 1985. Under his leadership, the "Nanooks" won a total of 245 games during his 18 years and captured the school's first postseason tournament championship. In just his sixth season at the helm, Svenningson led the Nanooks to the 1973 NAIA District I Championship, which was the first postseason tournament victory for Alaska in school history. The following season, Alaska won a then-school-record 22 games, a mark which is still the second-highest to date, and made it back to the 1974 NAIA District I Championship Game.
Svenningson organized a basketball clinic in Australia in 1984.
In the 1989/1990 season, he temporarily coached the German Bundesliga team Steiner Bayreuth after coach Lester Habeggerhad to pass for health reasons. During this time, Svenningson contributed to Bayreuth's successful streak of 20 Bundesliga victories in a row.
Svenningson was inducted into Winona State University Warrior Hall of Fame in 1985. On October 11, 2008, he was inducted into the Wayne State College Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 2015, into the University of Alaska Fairbanks Hall of Fame.