DeKALB – Northern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame legend John McDougal, the winningest men’s basketball coach in school history and the revered head coach that led the Huskies to their first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance, died Friday morning.
McDougal was 92.
In recent months McDougal had been ill, and was hospitalized in Aurora after having a stroke late last week. Funeral arrangements are pending.
A fixture on the high school and collegiate coaching scene for five decades, McDougal easily qualified for the Illinois elite “500 Club” and ranked among the state’s all-time winningest head coaches with 692 combined victories – 556 high school triumphs at Palestine, Carmi, Aurora West and Rockford Lutheran, along with 136 wins at NIU.