After his basketball career at UMES, Ford was a successful college basketball coach (courtesy easternshorehawks.com)

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — On Friday, UMES announced the passing of Athletic Hall of Fame member and former Hawk basketball player Hank Ford.  Below is the press release sent from the university’s sports information department:

Henry “Hank” Ford began his Hawks basketball career in 1966, wore No. 35 and was known for his defense and rebounding. He was a teammate of his brother and fellow Hall of Famer Jake Ford (1984), who is the basketball program’s all-time leading scorer. He also played with Hall of Famers James “Bones” Morgan (1984) and Levi Fontaine (1984).
He went on to coaching prominence winning two CIAA championships as a coach at rival Hampton University from 1975-1987. Ford’s 12-year stint saw him compile a record of 228-120, a winning percentage of .655 — best among all of the Pirates’ former coaches. His tenure included five 20-win seasons. He was inducted into the Hampton University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

His Pirates won CIAA titles in 1982 and 1983. He was named the CIAA tournament’s most outstanding coach four times and in 1997 he was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame.

Prior to Hampton, he was the men’s basketball coach at Tuskegee Institute from 1973 to 1975.

He made the transition from coaching to administration in 1987, serving in a number of capacities including assistant director of athletics, NCAA compliance officer and development officer for athletics.

He also spent 13 years as Athletic Director at Alfred University (1992-1996), Howard (1996-2000) and Savannah State (2001-2004).