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CORRALbyBUDDY [Wl?Hobdy Not Concerned With Victory NO. 500G RAMBLING--Fred Hobdy could join a very exclusive “club” tonight if Grumbling State Universitydefeats Ole Miss In a first round National Invitational Tournament (NIT) battle at Oxford.By winning, the Tigers could present their legendary head coach with his yOGth career victory.Only three active coaches for NCAA schools have achieved that lofty goal.In the history of collegiate basketball, only 14 coaches have: won jolt;j or :more games. •Hobdy is aware of such a feat, but he’s not overly concerned with it going into the 7:30 tipoff at Tad Smith Coliseum.“I don’t know if winning 500 games is more significant than just being here, ” he said. “I’m more worried about representing Grambling and Louisianawell t“The 500th victory will come sooner or later. That can wait.”Hobdy's lifetime record is 490-191.Going into this season, he ranked No. 4 in wins among active major college coaches and No. 15 among coaches of all time.Only Ray Meyer of DePaul (597 victories prior to 1979-80 season), Frank McGuire of South Carolina (534), and Marv Harshman of Washington (529) have more wins than Hobdy among active major college coaches.Hobdy's current edition at Grambling has a 22-7 record and was a second place finisher in both the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s regular season and annual tournament.A native of Winnfield, he has coached 26 All-Americans and 16professional players-the most notable is Willis Reed-during his 23 years at the famous Lincoln Parish school.“I guess you’d say l‘ve been around long enough to win 500, ” laughed Hobdy' recently. “It’s a great thing,■ Fcii) HeMy 500th Win Next ?but I haven’t been too concerned with it this season.“I’ve just having fun coaching, probably moreso than I ever have in my life. It’s seeing these young players develop and accomplish things that makes coaching so worthwhile. I believe I could coach forever.”* *Hobdy coached at Grambling High School before going on to the University, graduated from the Tigers’ den in 1948, and is also currently serving as an associate .. athletic director,“I’ve loved the association with the people at Grambling, ” he says. “They’re some of the greatest people in the world. What makes me keep going every day is the association with the players and the faculty. They make it all worthwhile.”Although Grambling is making its first NIT appearance, the Tigers are certainly no stranger to post-season piay.The G-Men have appeared in 10 NAIA tournaments and three NCAA college division tourneys and won a national NAIA championship in 1961 under the leadership of Reed,The Tigers’ last trip to the playoffs was during the NCAA’s college division setup in 1975,Hobdy has long been known as one of the chief innovators of high-octane offense and pressure defense in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.“Defense has been the big key for us this year, ” he says in reference to the team's No. 1 ranking in SWAC. “We feel like good defensive play will be a big factor in beating Ole Miss. These players enjoy playing defense and they’re aggressive.”Hobdy’s teams are characterized, too, by full speed on offense and aggressiveness on rebounding.“We use a controlled fast break, which is an op-portunistlc type offense which gives rise to an aggressive ballhawk defense.He’s directed 12 conference championships, 11 of ’em in SWAC and another in the now defunct Midwestern Conference,“When you move in the direction of your goal by taking the straight tine approach, you get there sooner, ” he says about his basic coaching philosophy. “You have to have dreams, but those dreams aren’t worth a wooden nickel if you can’t convert them to reality.”Hobdy has converted such dreams into reality this season.
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