Frank Arnold

Frank Harold Arnold is a retired basketball coach. He was head basketball coach at Brigham Young University from 1975 to 1983. From 1985 to 1987 he was head coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Arnold was born in Ogden, Utah, on October 1, 1934. He grew up in Pocatello, Idaho, where he graduated from high school. While at Idaho State University, he lettered on the basketball team from 1954 until his graduation in 1956. He then became assistant basketball coach at Payette High School in Payette, Idaho. Two years later he became head coach at Brigham Young High School in Provo, Utah. He also pursued graduate studies at BYU’s College of Education. He earned a master’s degree in 1960.

While in the doctoral program at the University of Oregon, Arnold became a graduate assistant on the Oregon Ducks basketball team. In 1963 he returned to his high school in Pocatello to be head coach. One year later he moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he became head coach at Clark Junior College until 1966. He then returned to the University of Oregon where he was assistant coach under Steve Belko, who had coached him at Idaho State.

In 1971, he joined the UCLA basketball staff. Arnold was John Wooden's assistant coach for three NCAA championships.

In 1975 he was hired by BYU. Arnold led the Cougars to a 137-94 (.593) record, won three Western Athletic Conference (WAC) basketball titles and also coached them to three trips to NCAA tournament and another to the National Invitation Tournament. BYU made it to the NCAA Final 8 with a team including future NBA players Danny Ainge, Greg Kite, and Fred Roberts. He led the program to its only Elite Eight appearance in 1981. After struggled during the 1981 season, Arnold finished coaching at BYU in 1983.

Before retiring in year, he coached at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 1985 to 1987 (head coach) and Arizona State (assistant).

He died on June 8, 2024, at the age of 89.