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Former Purdue basketball coach Lee Rose dies at 85
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Former Purdue men’s basketball coach Lee Rose has died. The Charlotte Observer reported the news on Tuesday evening. He was 85.
Rose was the head coach at Purdue the last time the team reached the Final Four (1980). He spent two seasons with the Boilermakers, posting a 50-18 record. He also led Purdue to a B1G regular season title in 1979.
Purdue hired Gene Keady following Rose’s departure.
Lee Rose, Purdue basketball’s predecessor to Gene Keady and head coach in 1979 and 1980, has passed away.
Our thoughts go out to the Rose family. pic.twitter.com/WHBSkjr1m2
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) April 5, 2022
Prior to his time at Purdue, Rose spent three seasons at Charlotte. He also led that program to a Final Four appearance in 1977. During his time at Charlotte, the team posted a 72-18.
After leaving Purdue, Rose spent six years at South Florida. In that time, he guided the Bulls to three NIT appearances and compiled a 106-69 record.
Rose started his coaching career at Transylvania, where he coached from 1964-75. The Pioneers were 160-57 in that span.
In more than two decades as a head coach, Rose had a 388-162 record with 5 NIT appearances and a pair of Final Four berths.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB