Tony Hinkle Paul D . " Tony " Hinkle ( December 19 , 1899 – September 22 , 1992 ) was an American football , basketball , and baseball player , coach , and college athletic administrator . He attended the University of Chicago , where he won varsity letters in three sports . Hinkle captained the Chicago Maroons basketball team for two seasons was twice selected as an All - American , in 1919 and 1920 . After graduating from the University of Chicago , Hinkle moved on to Butler University as a coach . There , over the course of nearly 50 years , he served as the head football coach ( 1926 , 1935 – 1941 , 1946 – 1969 ) , head basketball coach ( 1926 – 1942 , 1945 – 1970 ) , and head baseball coach ( 1921 – 1928 , 1933 – 1941 , 1946 – 1970 ) . Hinkle was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1965 . Butler ' s home basketball arena was renamed as Hinkle Fieldhouse in the coach ' s honor in 1966 . Early life and playing career . Hinkle was born in Logansport , Indiana , to Edgar Clayton and Winnie ( Ray ) Hinkle . He graduated in 1917 from Calumet High School in Gary , Indiana and attended the University of Chicago from 1917 to 1921 . As a player at Chicago , he lettered three times in basketball , was twice All - Big Ten , twice team captain , named to the Helms All - America team in 1919 and 1920 , was a member of the Big Ten Conference championship team in 1919 – 20 , losing the national championship to Penn . Coaching career . Hinkle joined Butler University in 1921 when they were still at the Irvington campus ; the university bought Fairview Park in 1922 and moved the campus there in 1928 . At Butler , Hinkle served as a teacher , coach and athletic administrator for nearly half a century . While he coached football , basketball , and baseball , he was primarily known as a basketball coach . His teams were fearless , gaining a reputation as " Big Ten killers " . In 1929 , the Butler Bulldogs basketball team he led to a 17 – 2 record was crowned national champion ; in 1924 , he had been assistant coach when they received similar honors . Overall , his basketball teams scored 560 victories versus 392 defeats , and he scored more than 1 , 000 victories in all sports . Basketballs were generally brown until Hinkle introduced the orange basketball in the late 1950s . He also came up with the " Hinkle System " offense strategy , based on a complex system of motion , passes , picks and screens ; it was adopted by many of the over 200 high school and college coaches trained by Hinkle . Hinkle was president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches from 1954 to 1955 , and served on their board . He won the NABC ' s top award in 1962 for contributions to the betterment of the game of basketball . He was named Chairman of the Rules Committee of the National Basketball Committee of the U . S . and Canada . Hinkle was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1965 , the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964 , and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1974 . Hinkle ' s legend is forever remembered on the Butler campus with Hinkle Fieldhouse , longtime site of Indiana ' s state high school championships and featured in the film " Hoosiers " . The fieldhouse , originally named Butler Fieldhouse , was the largest basketball arena in the United States for decades . It was renamed as Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1966 . Hinkle coached 41 seasons of basketball at Butler , ending in 1970 , and remained with Butler University until his death in 1992 . Hinkle is buried alongside his wife , Jane Murdock Stewart Hinkle ( 1907 – 1959 ) at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis .