W.L. "Bill" Zorn, a longtime coach and instructor at UW-Eau Claire, is a member of the Blugold Hall of Fame's Class of 1973. Zorn coached numerous sports at the university, most notably the men's basketball team for 40 years and the football team for 15 years. Zorn led the men's basketball team from the 1928-29 season until 1967-68. He coached the football team from 1928 to 1942.
Bill Zorn was born March 30, 1899, in Stevens Point. As a youngster he followed his father's westward movements as a railroad man from Stevens Point to Abbotsford to Irvine to Minneapolis and back to Stevens Point. He graduated from Stevens Point High School in 1918 and attended Stevens Point Normal School for two years where he participated in the Student Army Training Corps during the World War I. Zorn then attended the University of Chicago for three and a half years and was one of the premier football players in the Big Ten. In 1928, through contacts made by his college coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Zorn came to Eau Claire. He coached football for 15 years and was the head basketball coach for 40 years, compiling a 387-357 record. He coached his teams to conference championships in 1938, 1939, 1955 and 1956 and took teams to Kansas City in 1939, 1945, 1946, 1951 and 1956. Zorn served as president of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in 1954-55 and was inducted into the Helms Hall of Fame.
The home gymnasium of the UW-Eau Claire men's and women's basketball teams until 2024 was named Zorn Arena, honoring Zorn's contributions to UW-Eau Claire.
