Francis E. Zummach (January 28, 1911 – April 30, 2012) was an American basketball player and coach. He served as the head coach of the

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–50 NBA season, 1949–50 season. History Overview The Re ...

, a team that played in the National Basketball League (NBL) and later the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), from 1939 to 1942. In 1940–41, the Red Skins made it to the NBL Finals before losing the series 3 games to 0 to the

Oshkosh All-Stars The Oshkosh All-Stars were an American professional basketball team based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Founded in 1929 by Lonnie Darling, the team was a member of the National Basketball League, a forerunner to the NBA, from 1937 until 1949. History ...

. Zummach lived to become a

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

and died when he was 101 years old.

Playing career

Zummach was born and raised in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and was a standout multi-sport athlete at

Marquette University High School Marquette University High School (MUHS) is a private, all-male, Jesuit school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement, an accreditation division of Co ...

. He enrolled at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

in 1929 but did not play basketball, his strongest sport, as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

. In fact, he had never planned to play in college, but when he became eligible to compete in 1930–31 as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

, the team needed bodies and Zummach was given the opportunity to play. New head coach Bill Chandler did not play him in the first four games of the season, but Zummach played the final three quarters in a game against the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

—Marquette's rival—and helped the team to a 16–14 upset win. From then on he became part of the regular rotation, and prior to his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

season in 1931–32 he was given an athletic scholarship to remain on the team. After his junior season in which Marquette finished 11–8, the team had a breakthrough year in Zummach's

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season. He anchored a defense that propelled the Golden Eagles to a 14–3 record, including wins over Notre Dame,

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

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, and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Although Zummach did not score much, his intangible skills greatly contributed to the team's success. Marquette's men's basketball team registered eight straight losing seasons prior to Zummach and head coach Chandler's arrival, and in their first three seasons together led the Golden Eagles to consecutive winning seasons.

Coaching career

Frank Zummach enrolled at the

Marquette University Law School Marquette University Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state. Founded in 1892 as the Mil ...

in 1933 after finishing his undergraduate studies the year before. Coach Chandler insisted that Zummach become an assistant coach, and thus in 1933–34 he became Marquette's first-ever paid assistant men's basketball coach. He stayed as an assistant through the 1938–39 season. Other than the 1939–40 season, Zummach played for or coached Marquette basketball throughout the entire 1930s, one which saw the program have a 63% overall win percentage. On September 6, 1939, Zummach was officially appointed as the new head coach of the

, then of the NBL. At the time, the NBL was considered the premier professional basketball league in the country. He moved his law firm to

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, which has a pop ...

, and took over a franchise that had struggled to an 11–17 record the year before. In his first season as coach, the Red Skins tied the

for first place in the Western Division. They went on to lose to the All-Stars in the Western Division championship series two games to one. The next year, Sheboygan advanced to the championship series, again against Oshkosh, but lost in the NBL Finals three games to zero. In 1941–42, Zummach's final year as head coach, the Red Skins mustered just a 10–14 record. After the season, Zummach stepped down as coach "because of a dispute with business manager Carl Roth over Roth's insistence on paying rookie Kenny Buehler a greater salary than veterans

Eddie Dancker Edward Charles Dancker (March 14, 1914 – October 3, 1991) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'7" center who grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dancker began his professional career in 1938 with the Sheboygan Red Skins of the Nat ...

, Rube Lautenschlager and Kenny Suesens," according to ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' sports writer Brian Gaynor. The Red Skins, under the direction of new head coach Carl Roth, won the NBL championship in 1942–43.

Later life

After coaching the Red Skins, Zummach concentrated on his legal career as one of the partners at Wolters & Zummach. He stayed active in the Wisconsin Bar Association, the St. Clement Catholic Parish, the Knights of Columbus, and also raised a family with his high school sweetheart. When he died on Monday, April 30, Zummach was 101 years old and the oldest living Marquette basketball alumnus. He was survived by his two children, eight grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zummach, Frank 1911 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American men centenarians American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Milwaukee Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players Marquette University High School alumni Marquette University Law School alumni Sheboygan Red Skins coaches Sportspeople from Sheboygan, Wisconsin Wisconsin lawyers 20th-century American sportsmen