Ivan King

Builder (1992)

Basketball

Ivan King was the coach during a six-year reign of one of the University of Saskatchewan's most powerful athletic teams - Huskiette women's basketball.

Originally from Regina, Ivan moved to Saskatoon where he played basketball on the 1940 Saskatoon Grads, who were Saskatchewan champions, and the University Huskies.

He coached Saskatoon Black Hawks to a provincial championship in 1943, the University of Saskatchewan Huskiettes to one junior and three senior provincial titles and the Saskatchewan Gradettes to one provincial title. His Huskiette teams dominated Western Intercollegiate play, winning the championship six straight years, 1947 through 1952. A player on his teams for five years was Sylvia Fedoruk, who later became Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.

In the first championship season, the Huskiettes beat Manitoba, 15-10, and Alberta, 29-16, for the title but in the years to come, the Huskiettes became aggressive, high-scoring teams. One of their best seasons was 1949 when they didn't lose a game. In 1948, they lost only an exhibition game. The Huskiettes also challenged for the Canadian senior women's championship in 1950 and 1951; Ivan's Gradettes challenged in 1952; and each of the three years, the team was runner-up in the west.

Ivan also coached women's softball with Saskatoon Empire Aces in 1949 and with Saskatoon Ramblers, who were provincial champions in 1948 and 1949.

** Deceased