“There’s never a good time to leave, but after a great deal of thought, I decided that this was the right time,” said Glasgow, who will remain Monmouth’s athletic director through the end of the academic year.

“It’s really the end of an era, not only in terms of Terry Glasgow coaching the basketball team, but also an era in which people like Terry wear so many hats within an athletic department,” said Monmouth College president Mauri Ditzler. “We’re sad to see that link to the past go. There’s no way we will find a single person to do all that Terry did for Monmouth College.”

Glasgow began coaching the basketball team in 1972. It didn’t take long for the Keokuk, Iowa, native to turn the program into an elite one, as he guided the Scots to a Midwest Conference championship in his second year at the helm. Each of his first 11 teams won at least 60 percent of their games, and the Scots then went on a championship run, capturing three MWC titles between 1985 and 1990. The latter team won a school-record 20 consecutive games before falling in the NCAA tournament to eventual runner-up DePauw.

In all, Glasgow led Monmouth to 14 South Division titles of a possible 23, and his teams played in five NCAA tournaments. He coached the Fighting Scots in nearly 40 percent of the basketball program’s 1,999 games, posting a record of 469-313. That victory total puts him among the top 25 in the history of Division III men’s basketball.

Ditzler said it was a fitting coincidence that Glasgow, who many know affectionately as “TG,” coached in the Midwest Conference.

“Terry has great Midwestern character and is certainly a product of the region,” he said. “He brought the best Midwestern traits to his work for the college. Also, there is a public attitude about athletics in higher education that schools will bend the rules. However, I was always confident that Terry would do things with integrity and honesty.”

No other coach in Monmouth history has presided over a single program as long as Glasgow, and when his 343 varsity baseball victories are added in, no Fighting Scots coach comes close to his 812 career wins. Glasgow resigned as baseball coach in 1993 after 21 seasons in charge.

In fact, Glasgow likened the timing of his basketball decision to that of ending his baseball connection. He is proud of the fact that Monmouth’s first team without him had great success on the diamond, winning 20 games, and he believes the basketball team is similarly positioned.

“Personally and professionally, I just felt this was the right time,” said Glasgow. “I feel good that the cupboard has not been left bare. We’ve got a strong group of seniors coming back to lead the team, and there are some strong players in each of the classes behind them.”

A coaching successor has not yet been named, but Roger Haynes, a 1982 Monmouth graduate who has coached and taught at Monmouth the past quarter-century, has been named interim associate director of athletics. He will be charged with leading the search to find a new coach. Glasgow, who is also chair of the physical education department, will phase out of those duties through the course of the year.

In the meantime, said Ditzler, “Terry is going to help the institution through this time of transition.”