Jerry Armstrong, whose defense in the 1966 national semifinals helped propel the Texas Western Miners to its iconic basketball national championship, died Thursday morning at 76.
He had been receiving cancer treatment and died in his home state of Missouri. He had been living in Mountain Grove, Mo., with his wife Mary. He has two children and four grandchildren.
A member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Armstrong compiled a 329-195 record as head coach of four Missouri high schools before retiring in 1996, but is most famous in El Paso for the 1966 national championship team.