Quick Facts
CapricornBiography
Donald W. Suman (January 19, 1920 – February 5, 2015) was a college basketball coach. He was the head coach of Rice from 1949 to 1959. He coached Rice to a 132–105 record, winning one Southwest Conference championship and making one NCAA tournament appearance. He also played college basketball and football as a student at Rice. After leaving his coaching position, he took a front office position under Bud Adams for the Houston Oilers. He was inducted into the Rice athletics Hall of Fame in 1987. He left Rice to become General Manager of the new Houston Oilers. In his first three seasons as GM the Oilers won the first two AFL championships. In his two seasons as GM the Oilers combined record was 20–7–1.
Suman died on February 5, 2015, in Houston.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Owls (Southwest Conference) | |||||||||
| 1949–50 | Rice | 8–15 | 2–10 | 7th | |||||
| 1950–51 | Rice | 8–15 | 2–10 | 7th | |||||
| 1951–52 | Rice | 9–15 | 4–8 | T–6th | |||||
| 1952–53 | Rice | 15–6 | 8–4 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1953–54 | Rice | 23–5 | 9–3 | T–1st | NCAA Regional Third Place | ||||
| 1954–55 | Rice | 10–12 | 6–6 | 5th | |||||
| 1955–56 | Rice | 19–5 | 8–4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1956–57 | Rice | 16–8 | 8–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1957–58 | Rice | 13–11 | 7–7 | T–5th | |||||
| 1958–59 | Rice | 11–13 | 5–9 | 7th | |||||
| Rice: | 132–105 (.557) | 59–65 (.476) | |||||||
| Total: | 132–105 (.557) | ||||||||
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