Larry Farmer completed his seventh season as an assistant coach for the Western Michigan men's basketball program in 2017-18. He served a pair of stints as an assistant coach for the Broncos under head coach Steve Hawkins. The UCLA alum first came to WMU from 2010-12, and after spending the 2012-13 campaign at NC State, returned to Kalamazoo from 2013-18.
During his time with the Brown & Gold, Farmer coached three Bronco teams which captured MAC West titles, including the 2013-14 team which won both the MAC regular season and tournament titles on the way to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade. He was also on staff for the 2010-11 team which made the program's first appearance in the CIT. Over the course of his tenure, Western Michigan boasted 15 All-Conference honorees and 13 Academic All-MAC selections.
Farmer first arrived in Kalamazoo already boasting a lengthy resume as both an assistant and head coach at the collegiate level. He also carried an NBA coaching pedigree, having served as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors during the 1990-91 season. His most recent position prior to coming to WMU was as an assistant coach at Hawai'i from 2007-10.
As a Division I head coach, he compiled 166 wins over the course of 12 seasons at the helm of his alma mater UCLA (1981-84), Weber State (1985-88) and Loyola Chicago (1998-2004). While at UCLA, he led the Bruins to a 61-23 record over three seasons, including a pair of 20-win seasons and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. In 1982-83, he guided his alma mater to a 23-6 mark, a Pac-10 championship and No. 7 final national ranking.
After several coaching stints, including a six-year term with the Kuwaiti National Team from 1992-97 and a year at Rhode Island in 1997-98 which saw the Rams make a run to the Elite Eight, Farmer was hired as the head coach at Loyola Chicago in 1998. In 2001-02, he led the Ramblers to a 17-13 record, which ended a streak of 15 consecutive losing seasons for the program. College Insider named him Horizon League Coach of the Year the following campaign.
At Weber State, Farmer coached the league leader in rebounding in both 1986-87 and 1987-88, while also coaching the conference's leading shot blocker in 1985-86 and 1986-87. Farmer brought the 1986 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year and 1986 Reserve of the Year, Walt Tyler, to Ogden, Utah, when WSU went 18-11. Overall, Farmer produced four All-Conference honors in his three seasons with the Wildcats.
Farmer played collegiately at UCLA from 1970-73. Suiting up for legendary head coach John Wooden and alongside Hall of Fame teammate Bill Walton, Farmer was a part of three NCAA championship teams during UCLA's run of seven straight national titles. In addition, Farmer had the distinguished honor of being the winningest player in NCAA history, losing only once in 90 career games.
He earned multiple honors during his playing career as he averaged 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds, including 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds as a junior (1971-72) and 12.2 points per game as a senior (1972-73). He was presented the Seymour Armond Memorial Award in 1969-70 as the most valuable freshman player and then earned the Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding first-year player in 1970-71. As a first-year starter, Farmer earned the Bruin Bench Award in 1971-72 as the most improved player. He was drafted by Cleveland in the NBA and Denver in the ABA in 1973, but became an assistant at UCLA from 1973-81, including a one-year stint playing in Germany (1975), before taking over as UCLA's head coach in 1981-82.
Farmer has two children, son, Larry Jr., and daughter, Kendall.
