Vadal Peterson

Vadal Peterson (May 2, 1892 – September 1, 1976) was an American basketball coach with the distinction of coaching the most wins in University of Utah history. He guided Utah through 26 seasons from 1927 to 1953. He also led Utah to its only NCAA tournament title when the Utes defeated Dartmouth 42–40, in 1944. Peterson finished with a record of 385–230 (.626) while head coach of Utah and collected four Mountain States Conference championships and the 1947 National Invitation Tournament title.^[1]

Vadal Peterson

Peterson from the 1952 Utonian
Biographical details
Born	(1892-05-02)May 2, 1892 Huntsville, Utah, U.S.
Died	September 1, 1976(1976-09-01) (aged 84) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Alma mater	Utah State Utah
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1927–1953	Utah
Baseball
1948	Utah
Head coaching record
Overall	385–230 (basketball) 1–3 (baseball)
Tournaments	Basketball 3–2 (NCAA) 3–2 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Basketball NCAA (1944) NIT (1947) 5 MSC (1931, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1945)

Head coaching record

Basketball

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Utah Utes (Mountain States Conference) (1927–1943)
1927–28	Utah	7–10	5–7	3rd
1928–29	Utah	5–12	3–9	4th
1929–30	Utah	15–12	4–8	4th
1930–31	Utah	21–6	8–4	1st
1931–32	Utah	14–9	8–4	2nd
1932–33	Utah	13–8	9–3	T–1st
1933–34	Utah	14–9	7–5	T–2nd
1934–35	Utah	10–9	5–7	3rd
1935–36	Utah	7–15	4–8	4th
1936–37	Utah	17–7	7–5	T–1st
1937–38	Utah	20–4	10–2	T–1st
1938–39	Utah	13–7	7–5	T–3rd
1939–40	Utah	19–4	8–4	2nd
1940–41	Utah	14–7	9–3	2nd
1941–42	Utah	13–7	7–5	4th
1942–43	Utah	10–12	1–7	4th
Utah Utes (Independent) (1943–1944)
1943–44	Utah	22–4			NCAA Champion, NIT quarterfinal
Utah Utes (Mountain States Conference) (1944–1953)
1944–45	Utah	17–4	8–0	1st	NCAA Regional Fourth Place
1945–46	Utah	12–8	8–4	3rd
1946–47	Utah	19–5	10–2	2nd	NIT Champion
1947–48	Utah	11–9	6–4	T–2nd
1948–49	Utah	24–8	14–6	2nd	NIT quarterfinal
1949–50	Utah	16–18	8–12	5th
1950–51	Utah	23–13	12–8	3rd
1951–52	Utah	19–9	8–6	4th
1952–53	Utah	10–14	5–9	T–5th
Utah:		385–230 (.626)	177–137 (.564)
Total:		385–230 (.626)
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

See also

• List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach