LITWACK, HARRY

LITWACK, HARRY ("Chief"; 1907–1999), U.S. men's college basketball coach; member of Basketball Hall of Fame. Litwack was born in Galicia, Austria, to Jacob, a shoemaker, and Rachel, the sixth of seven children in a Yiddish-speaking family. Litwack's father immigrated to the U.S. in 1910, and saved up money to send for Litwack and his family two years later. After graduating from South Philadelphia High School in 1925, Litwack began a 48-year association with Temple University, beginning as an undergraduate when he played on the varsity and was captain and team mvp in 1927–28 and 1928–29. After graduating in 1930, Litwack began his coaching career at Gratz High School (1930–31), and then became head coach of the freshman team at Temple, leading them to a 181–32 record over the next 16 years, with no losing seasons. At the same time, Litwack was playing pro basketball with Eddie *Gottlieb's all-Jewish Philadelphia Sphas, from 1930 to 1936. Litwack also served during this time as assistant coach for the Temple varsity, which in 1938 won the inaugural National Invitational Tournament, the first-ever postseason college basketball tournament. Litwack was named Temple's head coach in 1947, and held the position until 1973, finishing with a record of 373–193 and only one losing season. He led the team to 13 postseason tournaments, winning the nit in 1969, and coming in third in the ncaa tournament in 1956 and 1958. In 43 years coaching at Temple, Litwack was thrown out of a game by a referee only once. Litwack also served briefly as assistant coach for the Philadelphia Warriors (1948–51). He is credited with creating the box-and-one zone defense, which revolutionized the college game and made it necessary to develop new methods of coaching and playing, but Litwack maintained that he did not invent it; he just refined it. He was coach of the U.S. Maccabiah team in 1957, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975.

[Elli Wohlgelernter (2^nd ed.)]