Quick Facts
Biography
Larry Farmer (born January 31, 1951) is an American college basketball coach and player. He currently is an assistant coach at Western Michigan University (WMU). This is his second stint as an assistant coach at WMU.
High school career
Farmer played his high school basketball at Manual High School in Denver, Colorado, from 1966-69. He nearly quit the sport as a sophomore, but stuck with it. Later, as a senior, he helped the Thunderbolts reach the state championship game.
In January 2017, Farmer was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association's Hall of Fame.
College career
Farmer played at UCLA during the early 1970s under legendary coach John Wooden. He was a teammate of Bill Walton during the era when the Bruins won seven consecutive NCAA men's titles. He was the only player that participated in all the games for the UCLA teams that went 89–1 (.989), the best winning percentage in NCAA men's basketball history.
Professional career
Farmer was drafted by both the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Denver Nuggets of the American Basketball Association (ABA). He did not play, but instead returned to UCLA to where he was an assistant basketball coach under John Wooden, Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham, and Larry Brown from 1973 to 1981. When Brown resigned prior to the 1981–82 season, Farmer was elevated to head coach of the UCLA basketball team.
UCLA head basketball coach
He was the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles from 1981 to 1984, guiding them to a 61–23 (.726) record. He had recruited Earvin "Magic" Johnson to come play at UCLA, but then told Johnson to hold off on a visit as he was more interested in Albert King. Neither played for UCLA.
Weber State basketball coach
In 1985, Farmer became the head coach for Weber State University and was the successor to Neil McCarthy. Farmer coached Weber for three seasons (1985–88) and compiled a record of 34–54 (.386).
Loyola (Chicago) head basketball coach
Larry Farmer also coached at Loyola University Chicago from 1998 to 2004. Farmer had a 30–51 (.370) record over his first three seasons before finally breaking through in 2001. In that year, Farmer compiled a 17–13 record, 9–7 in the Horizon League. Farmer took the Ramblers to the brink of the NCAA Tournament before losing to rival University of Illinois Chicago. Farmer did not have much success after that and struggled through his last two seasons with the Ramblers.
Other coaching jobs
Farmer has also coached at the professional level serving as head coach of the Qadsia Sporting Club in Kuwait (1988–90) and as an assistant with the NBA's Golden State Warriors (1990–91). He also served as a coach for the Kuwaiti National Team from 1992–97.
His college coaching experience also includes a stint as an assistant at Rhode Island (1997–98), where he helped the Rams reach the Elite Eight.
He spent three years on the bench at the University of Hawai'i under Bob Nash from 2007–10.
Farmer spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Western Michigan from 2010–12.
In the 2012 season, Farmer was the director of player development for men's basketball at North Carolina State. Farmer and NC State head coach Mark Gottfried were both UCLA assistant coaches.
He returned to the WMU staff for the 2013 season.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA Bruins (Pacific-10 Conference) (1981–1984) | |||||||||
| 1981–82 | UCLA | 21–6 | 14–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1982–83 | UCLA | 23–6 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1983–84 | UCLA | 17–11 | 10–8 | 4th | |||||
| UCLA: | 61–23 (.726) | 39–15 (.722) | |||||||
| Weber State Wildcats (Big Sky Conference) (1985–1988) | |||||||||
| 1985–86 | Weber State | 18–11 | 7–7 | t-4th | |||||
| 1986–87 | Weber State | 7–22 | 4–10 | 8th | |||||
| 1987–88 | Weber State | 9–21 | 6–10 | 8th | |||||
| Weber State: | 34–54 (.386) | 17–27 (.386) | |||||||
| Loyola Chicago Ramblers (Horizon League) (1998–2004) | |||||||||
| 1998–99 | Loyola Chicago | 9–18 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 1999–00 | Loyola Chicago | 14–14 | 4–10 | 8th | |||||
| 2000–01 | Loyola Chicago | 7–21 | 2–12 | 8th | |||||
| 2001–02 | Loyola Chicago | 17–13 | 9–7 | t-4th | |||||
| 2002–03 | Loyola Chicago | 15–16 | 9–7 | t-4th | |||||
| 2003–04 | Loyola Chicago | 9–20 | 4–12 | t-7th | |||||
| Loyola Chicago: | 71–102 (.410) | 35–55 (.389) | |||||||
| Total: | 166–179 (.481) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||