Ex-coach Gene Bartow undergoing cancer treatment

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Former UCLA and UAB basketball coach Gene Bartow has been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

The 78-year-old Bartow will begin outpatient treatment at the Kirklin Clinic in Birmingham next week, UAB said Wednesday.

Bartow succeeded John Wooden as UCLA's coach in 1976 and led the Bruins to the Final Four. He left after two seasons to start UAB's program.

"Coach Bartow is the person most responsible for this athletics program and means so much to UAB and all Blazers," UAB athletic director Brian Mackin said.

Bartow is now president of the company that owns the Memphis Grizzlies and is to be inducted in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in November. The Grizzlies were to honor Bartow for his recent induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame before Wednesday night's regular-season finale against Atlanta.

Bartow spent 13 seasons with UAB and was the university's longtime athletic director. He coached the school to the final eight in 1982.

Bartow won 647 games over 34 seasons. He also coached Memphis State from 1970-74 and guided the school to the 1973 national championship title game, where the Tigers lost to a UCLA team coached by Wooden.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)