Russ Bergman

Russ Bergman

Biographical details
Born	(1947-09-13) September 13, 1947 (age 77)
Alma mater	LSU
Playing career
1966–1969	LSU
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1972-1974	App State (assistant)
1974-1975	App State (interim HC)
1975-1994	Coastal Carolina
1994-1998	Oklahoma City Cavalry
1998-2000	Idaho Stampede
2004-2005	Great Lakes Storm
2005-2009	BC Khimki (AHC)
2010-2011	Al-Rayyan SC
2012-2013	BC Krasnye Krylia (assistant)
2014-2015	BC Spartak Primorye
2015-2016	PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (assistant)
2018-2019	BC Kalev (assistant)
Baseball
1984	Coastal Carolina
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1975-?	Coastal Carolina
Head coaching record
Overall	308–257 (.545)
Tournaments	0–2 (NCAA Division I)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4 Big South regular season (1988,1989,1990,1991) 3 Big South tournament (1990,1991,1993)
Awards
Big South Coach of the Year (1988,1989,1990) Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Inductee (1995) [1]

Russ Bergman (born September 13, 1947) is an American former college basketball player and coach. Bergman played collegiately at LSU, and would go on to be an interim basketball coach at Appalachian State, and head coach of Coastal Carolina.

Playing career

Bergman was a 4-year scholarship player for the LSU Tigers. He played under Press Maravich and was roommates with the legendary Pete Maravich. ^[2]

Coaching career

Bergman would start his coaching career as an assistant at Appalachian State, working under his coach at LSU (Press Maravich) in 1972. He would later become the interim head coach at App State following Maravich stepping down in the middle of the 1974–75 season.

His tenure at Coastal Carolina would end following a bizarre incident when he called a local reporter at The Sun News in Myrtle Beach and confessed to recruiting violations, this was after Bergman took the team to watch the movie Blue Chips, this and an NCAA investigation led Bergman to resign from his position following the 1994 season. ^{[3] [4]}

Following his departure from Coastal Carolina, Bergman would make multiple stops coaching in professional leagues in both the United States and Eastern Europe.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
App State (Southern Conference)(1974–1975)
1974–75	App State	2–12	1-7	8th
App Sate:		2–12 (.143)	1–7 (.125)
Coastal Carolina (NAIA)(1975–1985)
1975–76	Coastal Carolina	10-16
1976–77	Coastal Carolina	21-10
1977–78	Coastal Carolina	20-9
1978–79	Coastal Carolina	18-13
1979–80	Coastal Carolina	10-19
1980–81	Coastal Carolina	15-11
1981–82	Coastal Carolina	21-9
1982–83	Coastal Carolina	21-10
1983–84	Coastal Carolina	14-16
1984–85	Coastal Carolina	7-21
NAIA:		157–133 (.541)
Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference)(1985–1994)
1985–86	Coastal Carolina	10–17	1-8	8th
1986–87	Coastal Carolina	12–16	4-4	6th
1987–88	Coastal Carolina	17–11	9-4	1st
1988–89	Coastal Carolina	14–14	9-3	1st
1989–90	Coastal Carolina	23-6	11-1	1st
1990–91	Coastal Carolina	24-8	13-1	1st	NCAA Division I First Round
1991–92	Coastal Carolina	12-19	6-8	5th
1992–93	Coastal Carolina	22-10	12-4	2nd	NCAA Division I First Round
1993–94	Coastal Carolina	15-11	10-8	6th
Big South:		149–112 (.571)	75–42 (.641)
Coastal Carolina:		306–245 (.555)	75–42 (.641)
Total:		308–257 (.545)
National champion        Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Baseball coach

Bergman became the interim coach of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers during the 1984 season, when he served as both the Athletics Director and coach of the Men's Basketball team. He fired then baseball coach Larry Carr after a dispute in April 1984. ^[5] Bergman would finish the year serving as the school's baseball coach.

Head coaching record

Sources: ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Coastal Carolina (NAIA)(1984)
1984	Coastal Carolina	12–3			NAIA World Series [9]
Coastal Carolina:		12–3 (.800)
Total:		12–3 (.800)
National champion        Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

References

1. "Bergman, Russell "Rusty" (1995)".
2. Teitel, Jon (September 13, 2021). "Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews former Coastal Carolina coach Russ Bergman".
3. Gordon, Aaron (March 30, 2017). "The NCAA Basketball Coach Who Confessed After 'Blue Chips,' but Only Told Half the Story".
4. Araton, Harvey (March 10, 1994). "Sports of The Times; The Coach Who Phoned Himself In" – via NYTimes.com.
5. "'Hitman' pens book about new Bow swing". MyHorryNews.com. January 8, 2014.
6. "Russ Bergman Coaching Record". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
7. "Rusty Bergman College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
8. "2022-23 MBB Fact Book (PDF)" (PDF). Coastal Carolina University Athletics.
9. "Coastal Carolina Baseball Record Book". Coastal Carolina University Athletics.