Jack Hirsch (born ) is an American former

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. He was the starting forward on the Bruins'

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

team in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, when he served as co-

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

along with

Walt Hazzard Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first natio ...

. 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 Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in New York City in an affluent Jewish family. His father ran a successful chain of

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

s. Hirsch attended a school of predominantly

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

students, and he played basketball on the asphalt courts of the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood. His family moved to the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

district of

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

when he was 14. In his senior year at

Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) is a public high school in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. The school is home to a Residential Program and three Magnet Programs—Math/Science, P ...

, the center won All-City Co-Player of the Year honors.

College career

After high school, Hirsch attended

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC, Valley College, or Valley) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, ...

for two years from 1959 to 1961, where he was a two-time All-Metropolitan Conference player. He attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) as a favor to his father, who promised to quit his five-packs-a-day smoking habit. Hirsch played for the Bruins from 1961 to 1964, starting at forward in his last two seasons. In 1963–64, the Bruins won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship, coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

'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-

of the team along with

, Hirsch averaged 14.0 points along with 7.6

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game, and he earned first-team All-AAWU honors that season. In 1994, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' 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 The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jews, American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distingui ...

. He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.

Coaching career

Former UCLA teammate Hazzard became a head coach, and Hirsch was his top assistant starting at

Compton College Compton College is a Public college, public community college in Compton, California. From 2006, when it lost its regional accreditation, to 2017, when it regained that accreditation, it operated as a part of El Camino College. Before and after ...

in 1980 for two years and Chapman College for another two. He followed Hazzard to UCLA in 1984. 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.

Personal life

Hirsch became a millionaire from the family bowling business. His family had gone into the

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

industry, which he said back in 1984 was "infinitely cleaner" than

college recruiting In college athletics in the United States, recruiting is the process in which college coaches add prospective student athletes to their roster each off-season. This process typically culminates in a Coach (sport), coach extending an athletic scho ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Jack Year of birth missing (living people) Year of birth uncertain Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City Forwards (basketball) Los Angeles Valley Monarchs men's basketball players UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Van Nuys High School alumni Jewish American basketball coaches Jewish American basketball players Jews from California