Coach Raymonds

On Monday December 6, 2010 I learned that Coach Hank Raymonds passed away after a long battle with cancer. For those that don't know, Hank Raymonds is a legend at Marquette. He began his career as an assistant at MU in 1961 under Ed Hickey and later under Al McGuire. Hank was Al's successor after he retired following the 1977 National Championship. During his tenure as head coach he compiled a record of 126-50.

Hank was obviously a great coach but he was an even better human being. Coach Raymonds was always around when I was at Marquette. He would stop by at practice and would be at all of the games. We understood what he meant to the Marquette basketball program but also to the Marquette community.

I obviously never played for Coach Raymonds but I always enjoyed the conversations we had. He would always greet me with a gentle handshake and the conversation flowed so easily. Coach would offer words of wisdom for basketball but our conversations would flow into life as well. He left a mark on me as I am sure he did on every other Marquette player he had met.

Coach Raymonds is Marquette Basketball but he is also one of the reasons why Marquette University is such a special place for me and to so many other people.