Mar 30, 2010 8:33:53 AM

Jack Jensen, who twice led Guilford to team titles in the Division III Men's Golf Championships and also coached future NBA standouts as men's basketball coach during a 45-year tenure at the school, died Sunday after the Quaker golf team returned from a weekend tournament.

The 71-year-old Jensen, who coached the Guilford basketball squad that future Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics star M.L. Carr led to an NAIA championship in 1973, was in his 33^rd season as golf coach. He coached basketball for 29 years ending in 1999.

Guilford won the 2002 and 2005 Division III golf titles under his tutelage, as well an NAIA golf championship in 1989.

"Jack was a beloved mentor for hundreds of students for many years," said Guilford President Kent Chabotar.  "He touched so many lives in a positive way as a teacher, coach and friend, and he is held in high esteem by generations of Guilford alumni.

"Jack had an enduring presence on our campus and in the Greensboro community, and his loss will impact so many people who admired him.  He was among the first Guilfordians I met when I became president in 2002, and his unfailing courtesy and competitiveness are among my fondest memories of this world-class man."

The college demonstrated its feelings for Jensen in February 2002, when it renamed its basketball court for him during ceremonies that also saw the retirement of the jerseys of Carr and two other Jensen protégés who played in the NBA. The school also honored World B. Free, another member of the 1973 championship team who played in the 1980 NBA All-Star Game, and Bob Kaufman, who played professionally before serving as coach and general manager at Detroit.

Jensen also coached golfer Lee Porter, who spent six years on the PGA Tour, and Greg Jackson, another member of the championship basketball squad who also played for a year in the NBA.

"As great a coach as Jack was, he was an even greater person," said Tom Palombo, director of athletics and current men's basketball coach at the school. "It is an honor to have been at Guilford with him and to talk with him every day. He knew a lot about basketball and a lot about people. Being able to share ideas about teaching and coaching was very special. He will be greatly missed."

Jensen, a member of Wake Forest's 1960-61 Atlantic Coast Conference championship basketball team, joined the Guilford athletics staff in 1965 as assistant men's basketball and head track and field coach.

His basketball teams compiled a 386-392 record, including six 20-win seasons during the 1970s, while his golf program qualified 26 times for national tournaments.