Notables

The Hamline community is mourning the passing of Joe Hutton Jr., a member of Hamline’s 1949 national championship basketball team and the 1952 Minneapolis Lakers world championship team. He passed away suddenly Monday night at age 81.

A 1950 graduate of Hamline, Hutton was inducted into the Hamline University Pipers’ Athletic Hall of Fame in 1972. His late father, Joe Hutton, Sr., and his younger brother, Tom ’62, are also Hamline Hall of Fame members. The family legacy of Hamline graduates includes his sisters Catherine Hutton Gabrielson ’51 and Barbara Keenan ’56.

“The Hutton Family has a distinguished place in the long history of Hamline University, as does Joe Hutton, Jr.,” said President Linda Hanson. “A university could not ask for more from one of its alumni. Joe not only cared deeply about his alma mater, he cared about doing everything he could to make the world a better place. We will miss him and his deep commitment to service to all he touched.”

While at Hamline, Hutton lettered all four years in basketball and baseball and one year in track. In basketball, he was a three-time all-conference team member, and in 1949 he earned All-American honors as Hamline won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championship.

Hutton was coached by his father during his years at Hamline. Joe Hutton Sr. was head basketball coach and athletic director from 1930-65 and is the namesake of Hamline’s basketball arena. At his retirement, Hutton's 591-207 (344-91 conference) record placed him sixth among all college basketball coaches in the country. In 35 years, his teams won nineteen conference titles, three NAIA championships, and were three-time NAIA runner-ups.

After leaving Hamline, Hutton Jr. played on the 1951-52 Minneapolis Lakers championship team. That year, the Lakers defeated the New York Knicks in the NBA finals in seven games. From 1954 to 1962, he taught and coached basketball in the Minneapolis school system, winning conference championships at North High School in 1957 and 1962. After leaving North, he coached and taught at Bloomington-Lincoln High School where his teams won 70% of their games over a ten-year period and finished with a third-place trophy in the 1972 class AA basketball tournament.