Former NDSU Football All-American, Assistant Lew Curry Passes Away
6/5/2007 5:00:00 AM | Football
Curry, 52, was inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993. He was working at North Dakota State as a sports psychologist and taught one class at NDSU.
One of the best offensive lineman in North Dakota State history, Curry transferred to NDSU from Notre Dame (where he played ice hockey). He started for two seasons at offensive center for the Bison in 1976 and 1977.
Curry earned first-team all-North Central Conference honors and league Most Valuable Lineman laurels in 1976. He topped that by earning first team Kodak All-America and third-team Associated Press honors in 1977. Both the 1976 and 1977 football squads reached the NCAA semifinals under head coach Jim Wacker.
Curry returned to NDSU in 1983 as a graduate assistant for one year and then moved on to Texas Christian University in 1984 as a graduate assistant. He came back to the Bison in 1985 as the offensive line coach for Earle Solomonson and helped NDSU to NCAA national championships in 1985 and 1986.
His coaching resume included stops as a student assistant coach at NDSU during spring drills in 1977 and 1978; offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at West Fargo (N.D.) for four seasons (1978-81), and as an assistant coach at Montana State (1987-90). Curry was the head hockey coach at Kansas from 1991-93.
Curry earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from NDSU in 1978, received his master's degree in sport sociology from the University of Montana in 1991, and earned his doctorate in sports psychology from the University of Kansas in 1993. He was a professor at Montana from until 2005.
He worked in the consulting side of the business with HopeScape Resource Centers, a venture that focuses on peak performance for athletes, coaches, parents and business professionals.
His work appeared in at least 39 journal publications and he was a presenter in at least 42 national and international conferences.
Born in Minneapolis, Minn., Curry was a graduate of Edina East High School. He earned all-conference and all-metro honors in football playing for Frank Fischer. Curry also played ice hockey at Edina East.
