Jack Hirsch
{{Short description|American basketball player and coach}}
{{distinguish|text=the Canadian clinician and scientist Jack Hirsh}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Jack Hirsch
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| number =
| position =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 3
| weight_lb =
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|75|2017|03|23}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| highschool = Van Nuys (Van Nuys, California)
| college =
- Los Angeles Valley (1959–1961)
- UCLA (1962–1964)
| draft_year = 1964
| career_start =
| career_end =
| career_position = Forward
| career_number = 50
| cteam1 = Compton (assistant)
| cyears1 = 1980–1982
| cteam2 = Chapman (assistant)
| cyears2 = 1982–1984
| cteam3 = UCLA (assistant)
| cyears3 = 1984–1988
| highlights =
- NCAA champion (1964)
- First-team All-AAWU (1964)
- Second-team All-AAWU (1963)
}}
Jack Hirsch (born {{birth based on age as of date|75|2017|03|23|noage=1}}{{cite news|first=Shad|last=Powers|title=Ex-UCLA Bruin basketball champ rooting for current team, but doesn't love their style of play|date=March 23, 2017|newspaper=The Desert Sun|url=https://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/basketball/2017/03/23/ex-ucla-bruin-basketball-champ-rooting-current-team-but-doesnt-love-their-style-play/99534956/|accessdate=November 10, 2020}}) is an American former college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. He was the starting forward on the Bruins' national championship team in 1964, when he served as co-captain along with Walt Hazzard. Hirsch also earned all-conference honors that season. He later became an assistant coach in college, and served as the top assistant to Hazzard. Hazzard and Hirsch coached at UCLA from 1984 to 1988. Hirsch was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
Early life
Hirsch was born and raised in Brooklyn in New York City in an affluent Jewish family. His father ran a successful chain of bowling alleys. Hirsch attended a school of predominantly black students, and he played basketball on the asphalt courts of the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood. His family moved to the Los Angeles district of Van Nuys when he was 14. In his senior year at Van Nuys High School, the {{convert|6|ft|3|in|m|adj=on}} center won All-City Co-Player of the Year honors.{{cite book|last=Smith|first=John Matthew|title=The Sons of Westwood: John Wooden, UCLA, and the Dynasty That Changed College Basketball|year=2013|publisher=University of Illinois Press|page=43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TgmEAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22jack+hirsch%22+ucla+bowling&pg=PA43|isbn= 9780252095054|accessdate=February 8, 2014}}{{cite news|last=Bonk |first=Thomas |title=College Basketball : NCAA Men's Tournament: A Look Back : Wooden's Wonders : Short UCLA Team Defied Logic by Going Unbeaten in 1963-64 |date=March 15, 1994 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-15-sp-34291-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610112611/http://articles.latimes.com/print/1994-03-15/sports/sp-34291_1_college-basketball |archive-date=June 10, 2022 |url-status=live }}
College career
After high school, Hirsch attended junior college at Los Angeles Valley College for two years from 1959 to 1961, where he was a two-time All-Metropolitan Conference player.{{cite web|title=The Newsletter of LAVC Athletics and the Hall of Fame: Spring 2010 |publisher=Los Angeles Valley College Athletic Hall of Fame |page=2 |url=http://www.lavcfoundation.org/pdf/2010SpringAthleticHOFNews.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222054129/http://www.lavcfoundation.org/pdf/2010SpringAthleticHOFNews.pdf |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=live }} He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a favor to his father, who promised to quit his five-packs-a-day smoking habit.{{cite news|last=Wolff|first=Alexander|title=Birth Of A Dynasty|date=March 19, 2007|magazine=Sports Illustrated|url=http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Only+after+John+Wooden+challenged+his+own+coaching+-+03.19.07+-+SI+Vault&urlID=409072117&action=cpt&partnerID=289881&fb=Y&url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1108718/2/index.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140207070225/http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Only+after+John+Wooden+challenged+his+own+coaching+-+03.19.07+-+SI+Vault&urlID=409072117&action=cpt&partnerID=289881&fb=Y&url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1108718/2/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 7, 2014|access-date=February 8, 2014}}
Hirsch played for the Bruins from 1961 to 1964, starting at forward in his last two seasons.{{cite web|title=2013-14 UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide |pages=148, 150 |publisher=UCLA |url=http://www.uclabruins.com/fls/30500/pdf/MBKB_14MG_134_151.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603062020/http://www.uclabruins.com/fls/30500/pdf/MBKB_14MG_134_151.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2015 |url-status=live }} In 1963–64, the Bruins won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship, coach John Wooden's first title and the beginning of a UCLA dynasty that would claim nine of the next 11 championships. Recognizing Hirsch's defensive skills, Wooden assigned him to their opponent's top player. Serving as co-captain of the team along with Walt Hazzard,{{cite news|last=Nadel|first=John|title=Walt Hazzard is enjoying UCLA post|date=December 7, 1985|newspaper=The Evening News|location=Newburgh-Beacon, New York|page=7B|agency=Associated Press|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1982&dat=19851207&id=jMFGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fTMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,837505|accessdate=February 8, 2014}} Hirsch averaged 14.0 points along with 7.6 rebounds per game, and he earned first-team All-AAWU honors that season.{{cite press release|title=1964 and 1965 NCAA Championship Teams to be Honored at Stanford Game|date=January 26, 2009|publisher=UCLA Athletics|url=http://www.uclabruins.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30500&ATCLID=207900903|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222003816/http://www.uclabruins.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30500&ATCLID=207900903|archive-date=February 22, 2014|url-status=live}}
In 1994, the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Hirsch has become the least-known member of the starting five from 1963–64."
In 1991 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.{{cite web|title=Jack Hirsch|publisher=Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame|url=https://scjewishsportshof.com/hirsch.html|accessdate=November 10, 2020}} He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.{{cite news|last=Ceglinsky |first=Sean |title=Hirsch to be inducted into Bruins HOF |date=May 17, 2012 |work=CBSSports.com |url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rapid-reports/post/19075067 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222141821/http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rapid-reports/post/19075067 |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=live }}
Coaching career
Former UCLA teammate Hazzard became a head coach, and Hirsch was his top assistant starting at Compton College in 1980 for two years and Chapman College for another two.{{cite news|last=Dodds |first=Tracy |title=UCLA Decides 4 Years Is Enough of Hazzard : Former Bruin Player Lasts the Longest of the Five Successors to John Wooden |date=March 31, 1988 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-03-31-sp-932-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409210647/http://articles.latimes.com/print/1988-03-31/sports/sp-932_1_john-wooden |archive-date=April 9, 2022 |url-status=live }} He followed Hazzard to UCLA in 1984.{{cite news|last=Bonk |first=Thomas |title=MIRROR IMAGE? : Hazzard Struggles to Build Program of Wooden Blocks |date=March 22, 1987 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-22-sp-14896-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409210647/http://articles.latimes.com/print/1987-03-22/sports/sp-14896_1_walt-hazzard |archive-date=April 9, 2022 |url-status=live }} After Hazzard was fired by the school following the 1987–88 season, Hirsch was reassigned and finished his career at UCLA working as an administrative analyst in the assistant chancellor's office until 1990.{{cite news|last=Almond |first=Elliot |title=UCLA Official Accused of Impeding Probe |date=December 8, 1990 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-08-sp-5316-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304041827/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-12-08/sports/sp-5316_1_ucla-athletics |archive-date=March 4, 2014 |url-status=live }}
Personal life
Hirsch became a millionaire from the family bowling business. His family had gone into the pornography industry, which he said back in 1984 was "infinitely cleaner" than college recruiting.{{cite news|last=Kirkpatrick|first=Curry|title=The Debacle At Depaul|date=December 10, 1984|magazine=Sports Illustrated|url=http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Judging+from+an+80-61+loss+to+the+Blue+Demons%2C+UCLA%2C+with+-+12.10.84+-+SI+Vault&urlID=523765312&action=cpt&partnerID=289881&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1122914%2F2%2Findex.htm|access-date=February 8, 2014}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{1964 UCLA Bruins men's basketball navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Jack}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:American men's basketball coaches
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Basketball coaches from New York (state)
Category:Basketball players from New York City
Category:Forwards (basketball)
Category:Los Angeles Valley Monarchs men's basketball players
Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches
Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players
Category:Van Nuys High School alumni
Category:Jewish American basketball coaches