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Ortner HOF

Howard Ortner

  • Class
    1919
  • Induction
    1985
  • Sport(s)
    Men's Basketball, Special Category
He was an All-America basketball player at Cornell and team captain in 1916, 1917, and 1919. During the 1917-18 season he was in the military service. He held the team in scoring his senior year, and was the second highest point scored in the Intercollegiate League in 1916-17. Following his graduation in 1919, he was appointed head coach of the sport at Cornell, and served in that capacity until 1936. He led the Big Red to a 13-3 record and the Ivy League championship in 1924, and his 1934 squad was runner-up for the title. After leaving the University in 1936, he served as national secretary for Kappa Rho Fraternity for three years and operated a children's camp in Dorset, Ont. He was athletic director and basketball coach at the Nichols School in Buffalo from 1943 to 1949. He received an award of merit from the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1967. He made his home in Tonawanda, N.Y.
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