Dana Kirk Passes Away At 74
February 16th, 2010 - 8:53 pm ICT by GDBy Gina Gomez
February 16, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Dana Kirk, the former head coach of the Memphis Tigers passed away on Monday due to a heart-attack. He was 74. He died at the Methodist University Hospital. A family spokesperson of Dana Kirk confirmed the report.
Dana Kirk was the coach of the Memphis State University Tigers men’s basketball team for 7 years. He coached the team from 1979 to 1986. Dana Kirk won 158 games in 7 seasons. He was instrumental in bringing the team to the Final Four in the year 1985. After reaching the Final Four, the Memphis State University Tigers men’s basketball team won 28 games. However, in the next season, in September 1986, Dana Kirk was fired as Memphis State University Tigers coach due to violations of certain rules. According to reports, he was charged with 11 counts of mail fraud, tax evasion, obstruction of justice and filing a false income tax return. He served four months in federal prison in Montgomery. When he was set free, he hosted a radio talk show. He later released his autobiography titled “Simply Amazing.”
The news of Dana Kirk’s death has saddened the basketball team as well as its fans. John Wilfong, a guard on the 1985 Final Four team has reportedly added that it was really sad that a great coach like him had to leave the team for certain charges. He repented that Dana Kirk could have served the team for 15 to 20 years if he had not been charged. Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson reportedly said that Dana Kirk was a magnificent coach and he made a huge contribution in creating the image of the Tigers basketball team.
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Tags: athletic director, autobiography, basketball team, c johnson, dana kirk, federal prison, final four, four months, gina gomez, head coach, heart attack, income tax return, mail fraud, memphis state university, memphis tigers, methodist university hospital, obstruction of justice, radio, spokesperson, tax evasion