Hendrix College Athletics

Ivan H. Grove came to Hendrix as athletic director in 1924. He was the head basketball coach until 1946, head football coach to 1955, and head track coach until 1958, retiring in 1962. For his outstanding leadership he was the first “Arkansas Democrat” Man of the Year in 1948 and a charter member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1959. The new gymnasium on the Hendrix campus was named in his honor in 1961. Two years later, Grove was named to both the NAIA Hall of Fame and Helms Foundation Hall of Fame and was a charter member of the Hall of Fame at the University of Tulsa, his alma mater.