Skip To Main Content

University of Alberta

University Of Alberta Golden Bears & Pandas

University Of Alberta
Golden Bears & Pandas

University of Alberta, opens in new window.
Be The Roar

Sports Wall of Fame

Don Horwood

Don Horwood

  • Class
  • Induction
    2013
  • Sport(s)
    Golden Bears Basketball
• Bears basketball coach for 26 years, winning seven Canada West titles and three National Championships.
• Took the Bears to 11 National Championships; named CIAU Coach of the Year three times.
• Finished Golden Bear career with 313 conference wins - a 64% win record.
• Professor Emeritus in the U of A’s Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation.
• Coached the Canadian Junior National Team at the world qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic (1998).
• Inducted into City of Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame and Alberta Sports Hall of Fame

Don was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland and attended Memorial University where he played on the basketball team and graduated with Bachelor of Physical Education and Education degree in 1968. Don began his coaching career at Brother Rice high school in St. Johns Newfoundland in 1968-69 then moved cross country to Oak Bay high school in Victoria BC in 1969 where he was the head basketball coach until 1978. At Oak Bay, Don’s teams won three provincial championships and were in the provincial final game five times between 1973 and 1978.

While working toward a Masters degree at the University of Alberta in1978-79, Don served as an assistant coach with the Golden Bears basketball program. After completing his Master of Arts, Don returned to Victoria where he coached basketball at Spectrum high school from 1979-1983 and led the British Columbia junior team to a national silver medal in 1982 and a national championship in 1983.

In 1983 Don was selected as head coach of the Golden Bear basketball program. In 26 years under Don’s direction, the Golden Bears won seven Canada West titles, as well as three national championship titles (1994, 1995 and 2002) in 11 Final Eight national championship tournament appearances (Don was chosen by his peers as the national university basketball coach of the year on three occasions (1987, 1994 and 2002), and the Alberta basketball coach of the year twice (1994, 1995). He finished his Golden Bear career with 313 conference wins, 175 loss and a 64.1 winning percentage. Those 313 Canada West conference wins were the most among coaches in Canada West at the time of his retirement.

Among his many achievements, Don was colour commentator for CBC television’s basketball coverage of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and he coached the Canadian junior national team at the world qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic in the summer of 1998.

Don was inducted into the Oak Bay high school hall of fame in 2004, and received the Award of Excellence from City of Edmonton in 2008.

In addition to his basketball coaching prowess, Don is known for his infectious enthusiasm for the sport. Through his efforts at coaching clinics, basketball camps and work with mass media outlets, Don’s tireless promotion of basketball single handedly elevated the sport’s profile in Edmonton and across Alberta.

After retiring from the University of Alberta in 2009, Don and wife Jill now make their home in Victoria.
 
Explore HOF Explore Sports Wall of Fame Members
Skip Sponsors