Denny Fitzpatrick is a retired American basketball player. He was

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

and leading scorer for the 1959 NCAA champion

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. Fitzpatrick was a 6'0" multi-sport star for

Newport Harbor High School Newport Harbor High School is a public high school in Newport Beach, California, Newport Beach, in Orange County, California, in the United States. It is part of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The school primarily serves students in we ...

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

. He played first at Orange Coast junior college, then came to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

to play for coach

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Unive ...

in 1958. As a senior in the 1958–59 season, Fitzpatrick had a big season, leading the Bears in scoring at 13.3 points per game and garnering first-team All-Pacific Coast Conference (now the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

) honors. In the 1959 NCAA tournament, Fitzpatrick continued to pace the Bears. He scored 20 points in the NCAA final as Cal defeated

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Jerry West Jerry Alan West (May 28, 1938 – June 12, 2024) was an American basketball player and executive. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

in the tournament final. Fitzpatrick was named to the All-Final Four team and was awarded team MVP honors for the season.2010-11 Cal Golden Bears men's basketball media guide
accessed November 5, 2011 Following the close of his college career, Fitzpatrick continued to play basketball in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) and briefly turned to coaching, first at St. John Vianney High School, then at Hancock College in Santa Maria, CA with

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...

as the football coach. He also was an avid

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player and was a member of the 1961 AAU national champion Hollywood YMCA squad. HE became an excellent Senior Tennis player as well. Soon, he turned to real estate and built a successful real estate firm called PacTen Partners.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players Basketball players from California California Golden Bears men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Orange Coast College alumni Shooting guards American men's basketball players {{US-basketball-bio-stub