Lee Patton (April 3, 1904 – March 8, 1950) was an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach at West Virginia University from 1946 to 1950.^[1][2]

The legendary coach Lee Patton was born in the small town of Carbon, Texas. After living in various rural Texas railroad construction camps, he attended Dallas High School (Dallas, TX) and Main Avenue High School (San Antonio, TX). Although a gifted musician, his participation in sports at the YMCA in Dallas and San Antonio put him on different path. He was a standout athlete at Sul Ross State Teachers College (now Sul Ross University) and at Northern Arizona State Teachers College (now Northern Arizona University) before landing his first coaching position at Ash Fork High School in Arizona.

After two years highly successful years of coaching in Ash Fork, and two full summers of study and coaching at sports clinics sponsored by the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona Teachers College, Patton married his college sweetheart, Agnes Britton, and enrolled in the Master's program at the YMCA College in Springfield, Massachusetts (the birthplace of basketball) in September of 1929. The college (now Springfield College) was highly respected for educating coaches for basketball and other sports, but the core mission was educating students in spirit, mind and body for leadership in service to humanity (humantics).

Upon receiving his Masters of Culture and Athletics in August of 1930, Patton accepted the position of athletic director, physical education instructor, and head coach of all sports at Princeton High School (Princeton, West Virginia) where he coached from 1930 to 1944. Throughout the Great Depression and most of WW2, Patton's teams in dominated the state in football and basketball, and his overall win/loss record at Princeton High School remains unbroken. In 1944, Patton left Princeton High School to coach at Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle, NY where he enjoyed similar success.

In 1945, Patton was recruited by West Virginia University as head basketball coach. His record of 57 consecutive home wins at WVU remains unmatched, and his overall win/loss percentage of 77.8% remains unmatched by any WVU coach except for Fred Schaus (a former Patton player) who achieved a 79.8% record during his six year tenure.

Lee Patton was famous for his motivational skills, withering defense, clean game, and early use of fast break basketball. He is also credited with launching WVU's Golden Age of Basketball, with such WVU Sports Hall of Fame players as Leland Byrd, Clyde Green, Bobby Carroll, Fred Schaus, Eddie Beach, Jim Walthall, and Mark Workman.

Lee Patton was in his prime, just 45 years of age when he died at home in Morgantown on March 8,1950. He was taken by a stroke, the result of injuries sustained in a car crash that occurred while travelling to play Penn State on Valentines Day.^[3] WVU's Golden Age of Basketball continued after his death with such stars as Hot Rod Hundley, Jerry West, and Rod Thorn.