Larry Striplin

Larry D. Striplin, Jr. (November 11, 1929 – January 23, 2012) was an American college basketball and baseball coach. He was also an influential figure in the state of Alabama's sports, having served on numerous boards for halls of fame.

Born in Selma, Alabama, Striplin attended Albert G. Parish High School before enrolling at Spring Hill College. After two years, Striplin transferred to Birmingham–Southern College where he excelled on the school's swimming, basketball, and baseball teams. He graduated in 1951, then pursued his Master's in Education at Peabody College (part of Vanderbilt University) in Nashville, Tennessee. Upon graduation, Striplin established the men's basketball program at Belmont State College (now Belmont University) and served as their first head coach. At the same time, he assumed the role of Belmont's athletic director, the first in their history, and Striplin started the baseball program. Like basketball, he served as the first head coach, covering for the 1954 and 1955 seasons. His influence on the athletics program was great, and has been referred to as the "patriarch" of the whole program. Striplin left Belmont, and education altogether, in 1956 to pursue business in Jackson, Tennessee. Eventually, Striplin owned his own glass company and did well for himself. In 1975, Striplin joined the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and spent 23 years on the board, 13 of them as chairman. He continued to push for sports history and preservation in Alabama throughout his life. He has been inducted into the State of Alabama Academy of Honor in 1997, was the 1998 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame's Distinguished Sportsman of the Year, and was later inducted himself in 2007. Belmont's Striplin Gym is named in his honor.