| Wins against Kentucky - 1 | Losses against Kentucky - 2 |
Alma Mater: Waynesburg [1925]
Hometown: Grafton, WV
Date Born: March 2, 1896
Date Died: May 20, 1983
Overall Record: 412-88 [21 Seasons]
| Date | Matchup | UK Result | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/17/1947 | Kentucky vs. Long Island | W | 66 - 62 | NIT (at New York, NY) |
| 1/1/1945 | Kentucky at Long Island | W | 62 - 52 OT | - |
| 1/4/1939 | Kentucky at Long Island | L | 34 - 52 | - |
Obituary - New York Daily News (May 21, 1983)
Clair Bee dies at 87, Coached LIU Cagers in Heyday
Clair Bee, who compiled the highest all-time winning percentage for an NCAA Division I basketball coach during some 21 seasons at Long Island University in Brooklyn and Rider College in Trenton, died of cardiac arrest early yesterday at his daughter's home in Cleveland. He was 87.
Bee, who brought the three-second rule and 1-3-1 defense to college basketball, made his last public appearance May 2 at the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Springfield, Mass. Although he had been blind for several years, Bee, a 1967 Hall of Fame inductee, autographed dinner programs for Hall officials - "even writing personal messages on them," one official said.
bee, born in Grafton, W.Va., coached at Rider College from 1929-31 and LIU from 1932-43 and 1946-51. He resigned as LIU coach in 1951 when the school dropped basketball after some of its players were involved in a highly publicized point-shaving scandal.
Bee had an overall coaching record of 410-86 that included two undefeated seasons, two NIT victories and a then-record 43-game win streak. His .827 winning percentage ranks No. 1, ahead of Kentucky's Adolph Rupp, among coaches who worked 10 or more seasons at Division I schools.
"In my mind he was perhaps the most singularly brilliant guy ever involved in athletics," Indiana coach Bobby Knight, a longtime friend of Bee's, reflected yesterday. "He had one of the two or three most analytical basketball minds I'd ever been involved with."
Bee coached the Baltimore Bullets from 1952-54 and was sole owner of the NBA club in 1954. He later coached at the New York Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson, operators two sports camps in New York State and authored more than 100 books, including a 23-volume series about a fictional athlete named Chip Hilton.
"My father was involved with basketball until the end," Bee's daughter, Cindy Farley, said yesterday. "Bobby Knight visited him the other day - they were like father and son - and my father would always listen to any games he could find on the radio."
Bee is survived by his daughter, his son Clair Jr., or Roscoe, N.Y., and five grandchildren.
The wake will be held Sunday night at the Mandley Funeral Home in Fairview Park, outside Cleveland. Services will be held in the same place Monday morning, after which he will be cremated. His remains will be buried in Roscoe, next to those of his wife, Mary.
