For as much as Hank Raymonds will be remembered for the success he had on the basketball court, the story of the man behind the “X’s” and “O’s” is just as important to those who traveled the journey with him.
The legendary Marquette coach, who is currently battling terminal brain cancer, was responsible for 126 wins (.714 win percentage) over six years as head coach (1977-1983) and countless others as an assistant to Eddie Hickey and Al McGuire (1961-1977).
But for all the success Raymonds had as an assistant coach, leading Marquette to a National Championship runner-up finish in 1974 and a National Championship in 1977, he also understood his role as a mentor to the student-athletes he coached.
“One thing that always impressed me about Hank was his commitment to the kids to make sure student-athletes went to class and received a degree,” Dave Foran, former executive director of public relations at Marquette, said. “Some people say that was old fashioned, but he did that and meant it.”
One player who can attest to Raymonds’ attention to detail with his players was Dave Delsman, who played point guard from 1972 to 1975 under McGuire. After Raymonds convinced Delsman to walk on the basketball team as a freshman, where he served as co-captain with the late Maurice Lucas, he was given a full scholarship the following season.
If McGuire was the brawn behind Marquette’s dominant run in the 1960s and ’70s, Raymonds was the brains behind the scenes that made it all work.
“(Raymonds) was a perfect fit with McGuire because he was the organized one and Al was the motivator,” Delsman said. “As much as he was as a coach, Hank was one of top five or six basketball minds in basketball. He knew just as much about basketball as anybody.”
Raymonds also made himself accessible to any and all players who needed help off the court, a microcosm of the person he was to everyone who knew him.
“If you ever had any social, school or girl problems, there was never even a second thought if we could go talk to coach (Raymonds),” Delsman said. “If you couldn’t talk to close friend or needed an adult, we knew his door was always open.”
Since ending his tenure with Marquette as athletic director in 1987, Raymonds was a familiar face around campus and at basketball games to watch the program he once led. Recently, however, it has been his former players and peers who have come to visit him while he fights his battle with cancer.
Earl Tatum, who started on the 1974 Final Four team and played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers, considers Raymonds part of his family and a father-like figure in his life.
“Everyone knew him as a great coach, but he was also just a great human being,” Tatum said. “He was a warm, loving person who cared for you. Every player that came through the program, he put his arms around him and never let go.”
