Bill Krueger, one of the winningest high school basketball coaches of all time, has many fond memories of his time in San Marcos.
Krueger was born in Austin and grew up in Johnson City. In 1953, he had full scholarship offers to play basketball for both Texas A&M and Southwest Texas State. He chose to play for the Bobcats after the Aggies posted just six wins. After graduating from the university, spending a short stint in the Army and beginning his coaching career in Cameron, Krueger returned to the Hill Country to coach San Marcos High School, where he remained from 1959-65.
His athletic and coaching career is chronicled in the new biography “Winning on and off the Court: The Life of Coach Bill Krueger - the #1 High School Basketball Coach in the Nation,” authored by his daughter, Kristy Krueger Tankersley, and edited by John Overton and Julia Story. The book details the importance of Krueger’s connection to both SWT and San Marcos.
“He was pretty open,” said Michael Ohlendorf, a San Marcos alum and former player of Krueger’s. “I was surprised about some of the stories that we'd heard him tell that I didn't think he would put in the book, but he did put in the book.”
Krueger played under head coach Milton Jowers and assistant coach Vernon “Motor-mouth” MacDonald at SWT. He helped the team become the Lone Star Conference co-champion in 1955 and reach the second round of the 1957 NAIA tournament. He served six months of active duty after graduating and was then hired as the head boys’ basketball coach at Cameron Yoe. Krueger’s first team closed out the ‘57-58 season with a 15-13 record. In 39 years as a coach, Krueger never had a losing season.
After two years at Cameron Yoe, Krueger applied to be the head coach at Seguin. The school turned him down for the job — it had a rule of not hiring unmarried, male coaches. Three weeks later, Krueger applied for and was hired to become the head coach at San Marcos.
While with the Rattlers, Krueger also assisted former head football coach Owen Goodnight by coaching the junior varsity team. San Marcos’ basketball team won six consecutive district titles under Krueger. He always held a grudge against Seguin, beating the Matadors every time they matched up. The team reached the UIL State regional finals in the spring of 1964 without a single senior on the team. Four of his five starters were also football players.
The Rattler football team went on a deep playoff run of its own in the fall, losing to Palestine in the 3A State Championship game on Dec. 19 in College Station, 24-15. The boys’ basketball team struggled in the meantime without its starters, going 5-5 to start the ‘64-65 season. When the football players joined in on Dec. 21, San Marcos won 20 games in a row, including the state final.
Krueger’s team defeated Waxahachie, 87-63, to claim the 1965 3A state title. It was the program’s second championship in school history, the first coming in 1940. San Marcos’ 87 points also marked a 3A record for most in a game at the time.
After the end of the season, Krueger was offered a job at League City Clear Creek — a basketball powerhouse that won the ‘63 3A championship. San Marcos attempted to get him to stay, offering to increase the coach’s annual $6,000 salary by $500. But Clear Creek offered him a $7,200 salary, plus an additional $1,200 for teaching and the chance to bring an assistant coach with him. Krueger chose to join the Wildcats.
Krueger continued to have an extremely successful coaching career. When he retired in 1996, he had accumulated 18 seasons with 30-plus wins, 29 district titles, 24 Bi-District championships, eight Area championships, six State tournament appearances, two State Championships and an overall record of 1,096-250 (.814 win percentage).
When he first got the San Marcos job, Krueger went and visited his old coaches at SWT, Jowers and MacDonald. They said they would tell Krueger how to be a winning coach.
“Boy, I tell you, I was wagging like a puppy.” Krueger said. “They said ‘Schedule people you can beat.’”
The book details his experiences away from basketball while in San Marcos as well, like how he met his wife, Martha, while she was attending a party at SWT. He also talks about his biggest regret: never getting to coach Lucious Jackson, a San Marcos native who wasn’t allowed to play on the basketball team because the high school wasn’t integrated yet. Jackson instead played for Bastrop Morehouse in Louisiana and went on to become an NBA All-Star in 1965 and a champion in 1967.
“Winning on and off the Court” was published on July 6 and is on sale now.
“My life has been a slam dunk!” Krueger says on the cover.
