Former Weber State Men’s Basketball Coach Ron Abegglen Passes Away
Dec 21, 2018, 10:52 AM | Updated: 10:54 am
OGDEN, Utah – Former Weber State Wildcat men’s basketball coach Ron Abegglen has passed away at the age of 81.
The Vernal native and former BYU player died Wednesday.
Abegglen was the head coach of the Weber State from 1991-1999, where he posted a record of 152-83 – the third most wins for a coach in school history.
Abegglen’s teams won 20 or more games in five of his eight seasons, and he led the Wildcats to three Big Sky titles in 1994, 1995 and 1999.
He was best known for two NCAA Tournament upsets.
In 1995, he guided the 14-seed Wildcats to a 79-72 win over 3-seed Michigan State in the first round. The Wildcats lost in the second round by just two points on a buzzer-beater to 6-seed Georgetown.
In 1999, he coached the 14-seed Wildcats to a thrilling 76-74 upset win over 3-seed North Carolina, led by Harold Arceneaux and Eddie Gill. Weber State came back and lost in overtime to Florida in the second round.
Coach Abegglen also coached at the University of Alaska-Anchorage from 1986 to 1991. His 109-45 record remained the Seawolves’ all-time winning percentage leader, at .708.
He led the Seawolves to a win over Michigan in 1989. It was one of the Wolverine’s two losses that year, when they eventually went on to become the National Champion.
