| Wins against Kentucky - 0 | Losses against Kentucky - 2 |
Alma Mater: Wake Forest [1961]
Hometown: Elkin, NC
Date Born: March 10, 1939
Date Died: July 11, 2021
Overall Record: 609-486 [39 Seasons]
[Coach of Future UK Coach Orlando Smith]
| Date | Matchup | UK Result | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/3/2002 | High Point at Kentucky | W | 84 - 64 | - |
| 12/27/2000 | High Point at Kentucky | W | 102 - 49 | - |
Obituary - Greensboro (NC) News & Record (July 12, 2021)
Former Guilford, High Point Basketball Coach Jerry Steele Leaves a Legacy at Both Schools
by Joe Sirera
Two colleges lost a basketball coaching legend early Sunday when Jerry Steele died at the age of 82.
Steele, a Wake Forest standout as a player and a two-time academic All-ACC selection before graduating in 1961, earned a masterÕs degree at North Carolina, then took over a Guilford College program that had won a combined nine games the previous three seasons. His first Quakers squad went 5-20 in 1962-63, but he ended up guiding Guilford to the NAIA national tournament four times. His last Quakers team went 32-5 in 1969-70 and finished fourth in Kansas City and he left Guilford with a 150-76 record.
It was at Guilford that Steele met his future wife, Kitty, who coached the QuakersÕ volleyball, womenÕs tennis and womenÕs basketball teams and was a physical education instructor. While at Guilford, Jerry Steele also recruited the nucleus of the Quakers team that Jack Jensen guided to the 1973 NAIA national championship, including World B. Free, M.L. Carr and future Triad high school coaches Robert Kent, John Ralls and Robert Fulton. Future Wake Forest coach Dave Odom played on SteeleÕs first Guilford team.
SteeleÕs next stop was the ABA, where he served as an assistant to his Wake Forest coach, Bones McKinney, with the Carolina Cougars. The Elkin native took over as head coach after 42 games when McKinney was fired and also coached the Cougars the next season, going 34-50 to finish with a 51-75 record before becoming the franchiseÕs director of player personnel for one year.
Then it was on to High Point University, where Steele took over as head coach for the 1972-73 season. He guided the Panthers for 32 years, taking them from NAIA to NCAA Division II to Division I, before retiring in 2003 with a 459-412 record. Among his players was current High Point coach Tubby Smith, who guided Kentucky to the 1998 NCAA championship.
"Coach Steele has been a pillar in this community and in this state," Smith said in a news release from the university. "He is a Hall of Famer in every sense of the term."
"What I loved about playing for Coach Steele is that he was a man of principles. He was fair, he always kept things light. He always was someone I could count on and call on when I made a decision. He is one of those men, once you knew him whether you played for him or knew him at all, he left an impression on you."
Steele also served as High PointÕs athletics director from 1978 until his retirement.
"Jerry Steele represented the best of HPU," university President Nido Qubein said in a release. "IÕve known him for three decades and always admired his spirited commitment to the university. We will certainly miss him. His legacy lives on."
SteeleÕs wife, Kitty, coached field hockey and womenÕs tennis at High Point, and the Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center, which houses the majority of the universityÕs athletics administration, is named in their honor.
"I believe his wife, Kitty, was a big key to his success and his longevity in this profession and in life and he would say that as well," Smith added. "He is someone that the coaching profession and High Point University can be very proud of. He is certainly going to be missed. He was a real fighter. He competed in all areas of life."
Steele is survived by his wife, a UNCG alumna and a member of the Guilford College, NAIA and Guilford County sports halls of fame. Details of funeral arrangements or a memorial service will be released at a later time, High Point University said in its news release.
