Hall of Fame Spotlight: Darrell Corwin
1/21/2015 6:00:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball, Athletics
By Marc Bowman
Darrell Corwin's outgoing personality and tenacity has helped him win acclaim both at home and abroad.
He began his UMKC career as an assistant professor in the Health and Physical Education Department in 1966, then became Junior Varsity basketball coach in 1969 before taking the reins of the Varsity hoops squad four years later.
From 1973 to 1980, Coach Corwin's teams won 118 games, which still ranks as the most by any UMKC basketball coach, and he led the 'Roos to the only post-season tournament in school history, the 1977 NAIA national tournament.
“I was there for 15 years so I was supposed to accomplish something,” joked Corwin.
He also remembers a chancellor's challenge from 40 years ago.
“We got knocked off in the first round by a team that went to the Final Four,” he said. “We had a good team, a real good team and beat some good teams that year. We felt like we were good enough to be in the Final Four. I got a call from the chancellor and I was thinking I'd get a pat on the back and a raise, but the second word was 'Darrell, can you take us to the National tourney? If you can't we'll find somebody who can'. I said 'don't worry, we can get there'.”
Corwin set his sights on keeping the promise and enlisted the help of assistant coach Dave Smith.
“I got on the phone and called Dave, and said 'I don't care if you come to one practice or game, get on a plane and find some players',” Corwin said. “In '76-'77 we had one transfer; the rest of the guys Dave went out and got. I recruited in town about four-to-six kids from the KC area. We started out with a bunch of new kids and were teaching them to play together. We got them really running and in good shape. We never had any trouble with any of them. We got good kids.”
“We had great talent,” Smith said. “They fit our style of game plan perfectly. They were fast and long, rangy and quick. They could run, jump, shoot, defend. That was the foundation of that tournament team. We had leadership among the guys. They were a group of winners. They knew they had the ability and talent, and they put it together. It was pretty special. We beat Rockhurst to advance to the tournament. As usual it was kind of a nail-biter between us. It came down to the last few seconds and we were able to pull it out. It came together for us well that year.
“Darrell's a very likeable guy. I think the kids responded well to him and played hard for him. We had the right mix of veterans and additions to the team that we felt like we were going to win from day one. We put that in the kids' minds and that was our goal. That was great to see that come to fruition and build on it.”
The following year, Corwin coached UMKC to wins against Portugal, China, and Scotland during the NAIA International Cup Tournament, and it was then that Corwin developed an international friendship with Scottish coach Kenneth Johnston with whom he later coached at a Scottish basketball camp.
Corwin was also selected to coach an international team in Panama in 1977.
“That was a real good experience,” he said. “I took four or five of my players with me. It was fun.”
He was named NAIA District 16 Coach of the Year for 1974-75 and 1976-77 and NAIA Area 4 Coach of the Year for 1976-77, and also selected to chair the NAIA District 16 Coaches Association in 1978-79 and to coach the NAIA District 16 All-Star Game in 1980.
“Winning those awards was neat,” he said. “It didn't win any games for us, but it was really nice that I was voted on by those other coaches. The best award was in 1980, the UMKC Chancellor's Special Citation for athletic achievement. I was told only three of them had been given out at that time and the other two had gone to Deans.”
A passion for winning was a double-edged sword, however, and Corwin knew he had to leave coaching.
“I couldn't stand to lose,” he said. “Losing a college basketball game was getting to me. I knew I can't win every game so I said this is going to be it.”
“What stands out is his energy and passion,” Smith said. “He's a fierce competitor. It showed in the style of play that we utilized and the type of defense and ball that we subscribed to was fast break and pressing; fast break on offense and pressing on defense. We were aggressive, in constant motion, and Darrell was always very emotional, always hopping up and down on the sidelines, really trying to motivate the guys and get them to accomplish what we wanted them to.”
After leaving the sidelines, Corwin earned additional recognition for his work with the Special Olympics. He worked for Jackson County as special recreation commissioner beginning in 1987, and received a Jackson County Executive proclamation upon his retirement in 2005.
“It was satisfying,” he said. “I had a great staff and they worked their rear ends off.”
He will be officially enshrined into the UMKC Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday night in downtown Kansas City at 6 p.m. at the College Basketball Experience, next to the Sprint Center.
Each member of the Hall of Fame will be spotlighted this week leading up to the induction ceremony.
