Former William & Mary basketball coach Warren Mitchell, a star player at the University of Richmond during the 1950s, died Thursday in the Richmond area, where he resided for almost all of the last 40 years.
Mr. Mitchell was 87 and the cause of death was COVID-19, according to his son, Warren “Mitch” Mitchell Jr.
Mr. Mitchell led W&M’s program from 1966-72 and during those years the Tribe went 58-98, with a 33-37 mark in Southern Conference competition. Prior to his time at W&M, Mr. Mitchell was a very successful coach at Newport News High School, and then worked as a Davidson assistant.
Mr. Mitchell was inducted to the UR Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. He was named first-team All-State and first-team All-Southern Conference in 1957, when Mr. Mitchell averaged 13.7 points. He was the Spiders’ captain that season.
Mr. Mitchell also started for the Spiders in 1956, when he averaged 9.3 points. In both of those seasons, Mr. Mitchell was coached by H. Lester Hooker. Mr. Mitchell attended Lynchburg College before transferring to Richmond.
“He was quite the basketball player,” said his son, but he added that Mr. Mitchell was known as “Coach” long after his coaching career ended.
Mr. Mitchell starred at E.C. Glass High in Lynchburg and was inducted into the Lynchburg Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
