The vice president for basketball operations for the National Basketball Association (NBA) world champion Houston Rockets, Bob Weinhauer '61 has been involved with the sport of basketball for more than three decades as a highly successful coach and administrator at the professional, collegiate and scholastic levels. In 1979, Weinhauer led the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team, without the aid of athletic scholarships, to the NCAA Division I Final Four in Salt Lake City. The only coach in that NCAA event to ever take a ninth seed to the Final Four, Weinhaur defeated Jim Valvano's Iona squad, Dean Smith's North Carolina unit, Jim Boeheim's Syracuse team, and Lou Carnesecca's St. John's crew along the way. Magic Johnson and his Michigan State teammates finally stopped Penn in the semifinals.
An assistant coach at Penn from 1973-77, Weinhauer succeeded soon-to-be Detroit Pistons coach, Chuck Daly, as Penn's head coach in 1977. He guided the Quakers to five straight Ivy League titles, four NCAA playoffs and one NIT appearance before becoming Arizona State University head coach in 1982.
Weinhauer directed the Sun Devils for three years. Among his ASU players was future NBA star, Bryon Scott. In eight years, Weinhauer posted a 143-90 record as a collegiate head coach.
In 1985-86, Weinhauer moved to the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and coached the Detroit Spirit to the semifinals. He joined the NBA Philadelphia 76ers as a color commentator in 1986-87, then became a 76ers' scout in 1987-88 before becoming the team's personnel director and assistant coach from 1988-90. Weinhauer was the 76ers' assistant general manager to Gene Shue in 1990-91. From 1991-93, Weinhauer was assistant coach to Bob Weiss with the Atlanta Hawks, where he was also joined by athletic trainer and Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame member Joe O'Toole. During the 1993-94 season, Weinhauer was an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A native of South Farmingdale, N.Y., Weinhauer attended Massapequa High where he excelled on the baseball field. At Cortland, Weinhauer was a three-year starting catcher and a career .330 hitter for Coach Bob Wallace's varsity baseball teams. Pro scouts were impressed by Weinhauer's skills, but he elected to pursue his love of coaching. Weinhauer also played quarterback on the Red Dragon football team. Weinhauer graduated from Cortland in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in physical education.
He returned to Massapequa High as a teacher and a coach for the next six years. Weinhauer went to Woodmere Academy, a private school on Long Island, as an athletic director and coach. His football team finished 5-2 and his basketball squad went 18-2. After the one season, he was lured back to Massapequa High, where he remained until going to Penn in 1973. Weinhauer's Massapequa teams had a 50-12 record and his football squads a 32-7-1 combined mark.
Weinhauer has five children: Jodie, Jamie, Kristen, Kerin and Rob. He married Sue Robin in September 1995.
