Kenny Hale, one of the last surviving members of San Diego State’s 1940-41 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics basketball championship team, passed away at age 90.
A 1938 San Diego High graduate, Hale eventually went into coaching and had winning records at Hoover and Mission Bay.
Led by superstar Bill McColl, Hoover was 20-8 in Hale’s first season as coach and second in the Coast League in 1947-48.
Hale’s last team at Hoover was 23-3 in 1951-52 and won the City Prep League with an 11-1 record.
Hoover’s overall record under Hale was 76-45, with other years of 9-11, 10-16, and 14-7.
Kenny took over the new Mission Bay program in 1954-55 and built a winner before retiring from coaching after the 1957-58 campaign and going into administration. Hale later was principal at Horace Mann Junior High.
Hale’s record with the Buccaneers was 53-45. They were 8-16 and 10-16 in the first two seasons and then got rolling with successive seasons of 17-7 and 18-6.
The Buccaneers won the prestigious, 32-team San Diego Kiwanis Tournament in 1956-57 and 1957-58. They tied for second in the City Prep League in each of the last two seasons.
