WILLIAM SUDECK (1/26/1927-10/9/2000), known as "Bill," was a star basketball player at Kent State University and the coach of the basketball, track, and cross-country teams at the Case Institute of Technology. Sudeck continued his coaching career after the Case Institute merged with Western Reserve University to become CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY.
Sudeck was born in York, Pennsylvania where he attended Alliance High School. He received two varsity letters for basketball and, as a senior, earned county honors for basketball and baseball.
Sudeck continued his basketball career at Kent State University. He was a starting player during all four years and served as team captain his senior year. When he graduated, he was Kent State's all-time leader in free throw percentage, field goal percentage, and points in a game, season, and career. In 1988, he was inducted into the Kent State Hall of Fame.
Sudeck played basketball for an AAU team in Akron, Ohio before becoming a collegiate coach. In 1954 he began coaching varsity basketball, cross-country, and track and field at the Case Institute of Technology. Sudeck recorded over 300 wins with the basketball team during his time at Case and CWRU, which remains (as of 2023) the school record for all-time wins. During the 1998-1999 season, Sudeck won 17 games, a record which held until the 2021-2022 season. Sudeck's cross-country and frack and field teams combined won another 300 matches.
Sudeck died on 9 October 2000 after a long battle with cancer. He was survived by his wife, Virginia Mathious Sudeck. Following Sudeck's death, James Wyant, one of his former players, donated four million dollars to CWRU to build a new athletic complex in his honor. In 2005, the school's annual start-of-the-season basketball tournament was named the Bill Sudeck Invitational.
Samuel Trunley