We Still Call Him Coach: The Life and Legacy of Les Habegger

For over sixty years basketball was his life. In his twenty year career as Head Coach and Athletic Director, Les Habegger took Seattle Pacific to the forefront of NCAA Division II basketball. The pinnacle of Les career came while Assistant Coach to Lenny Wilkens with the Seattle Supersonics, when they won the NBA Championship in the late 1970 s. Les went on and spent many years as the General Manager with the Sonics. He ended his coaching and managing career in the professional ranks in a unified Germany.

We Still Call Him Coach begins with Les as the youngest of ten children growing up in a Northern Indiana Amish community. It follows him through World War II as a litter bearer in The Battle Of The Bulge and onto his successful basketball career. Les was inducted into the Seattle Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame with sixty of his former players in attendance. To them he is not only their Coach, he is their guiding force.

Doris H. Pieroth of Seattle holds a PhD in history from the University of Washington. She is the author of numerous journal articles and five books, including the acclaimed Their Day in the Sun: Women of the 1932 Olympics (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996). In 2008 she received the Washington State Historical Society s highest award for lifetime achievement. As a historian and sports fan, Dr. Pieroth welcomed the opportunity to tell Les Habegger s multifaceted and inspiring story.