Hall of Fame
As a former director of athletics, head men’s basketball coach, assistant track and football coach and mathematics professor, McCutchan remains, by far, the most important person in the history of University of Evansville athletics.
A 1934 graduate of Evansville College (no University of Evansville), McCutchan was the head men’s basketball coach at UE for 31 seasons (1946-77) and compiled a record of 514-314.
Five of his teams won NCAA College Division national championships – 1959-60, 1964-65, 1971 – and his 1964-65 squad, led by current Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan, produced a perfect 29-0 record with victories over schools such as Iowa, Northwestern, Notre Dame, LSU, Massachusetts and George Washington.
During his tenure, he coached 14 All-Americans and was named the Indiana Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year 12 times.
When he retired in 1977, Evansville had won more NCAA College Division national championships in men’s basketball than any other school.
McCutchan, who received a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1939, was the first College Division coach inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1980.
Despite all of his coaching records McCutchan always thought of himself foremost as a teacher. A Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1943-46, he taught college mathematics for 34 years, and was important in expanding the math department at Evansville and creating a school of engineering.
An active church and civic leader in Evansville, he is regarded by many as the most influential person not only in athletics at the University of Evansville but in the overall growth of the institution.
McCutchan passed away in Jasper, IN, on June 17, 1993, at the age of 80 years old.
The Lifetime Achievement category honors, when appropriate, former players, coaches, administrators or alumni who competed, worked or attended a current Conference school.