News

Former Purdue, Charlotte, USF coach Lee Rose dies at 85

Posted April 05, 2022 7:00 am

By STEVE REED

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Lee Rose, who led Purdue and Charlotte to the men's Final Four, has died. He was 85.

UNC Charlotte said Rose died Tuesday in Charlotte. The school did not provide a cause of death.

Rose led the 49ers to the 1976 NIT championship game and to the school's only Final Four in 1977. He went 72-18 in three years at Charlotte before taking over at Purdue. He spent just two seasons with the Boilermakers, going 50-18 and going to the Final Four in 1979.

After that, he spent the next six years at South Florida amassing a 106-69 record, although the Bulls never made the NCAA Tournament.

Rose moved from a 27-year collegiate coaching into the NBA as an assistant coach with San Antonio, New Jersey, Milwaukee and the Charlotte Hornets and Bobcats.

Through it all, Rose remained a fan of the Charlotte 49ers program, regularly attending home basketball games at Halton Arena after retiring. He was elected to the Charlotte 49ers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of its inaugural class.

'œI am deeply honored to be named to the Inaugural Class for the (49ers) Athletic Hall of Fame,'ť Rose said at the time. 'œThe team was known as the '~Mean Green' and came from being an unknown to the national stage.'ť

He is survived by his wife, Eleanor, their sons Mike and Mark and four grandchildren.

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

FILE - Lee Rose, who coached the University of North Carolina-Charlotte basketball team that played in the 1977 Final Four college basketball tournament, shows some of the memorabilia from his coaching days, at his home office in Charlotte, N.C., on Feb. 13, 2007. Rose, a former men's college basketball coach who led Purdue and Charlotte to the Final Four, died Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Charlotte. He was 85. The school did not provide a cause of death. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File) The Associated Press

Article Comments

Article Categories
Content Providers Nation and World News Obituaries

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.