The resume of Lowell “Cotton” Fitzsimmons is extensive and spans 21 professional and 12 collegiate coaching years. The statistics he posted are impressive but are morphed by the character of the man who earned them.
As Mike Tulumello of East Valley Tribune described, “as a coach, he was known less as a master strategist than a motivator and fixer of teams that had broken down. He applied a lighter touch on veteran players who knew the game’s ropes than young players who were feeling their way along”.
On Sunday it was announced that Fitzsimmons would posthumously be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.