Jack D. "Jumping Jack" McCracken (June 15, 1912 – January 5, 1958) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player in the 1930s and 1940s. A native of

Chickasha, Oklahoma Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,051 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 0.1% increase from 2010. The city is named for and strongly ...

, McCracken went to Classen High School in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. He attended Northwest Missouri State Teachers College (now

Northwest Missouri State University Northwest Missouri State University (NW Missouri) is a public university in Maryville, Missouri, United States. It has an enrollment of 9,152 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for Forest Park (St. ...

) in Maryville, Missouri and played for coach

Henry Iba Henry Payne “Hank” Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwes ...

, who had also coached him in

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

. McCracken never turned professional. After leaving Northwest Missouri State Teachers College, he went to

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, to play in the AAU.

External links

Jack "Jumping Jack" McCracken biography
on hoophall.com * 1912 births 1958 deaths Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball players Sportspeople from Chickasha, Oklahoma Phillips 66ers players Basketball players from Oklahoma City American men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Classen School of Advanced Studies alumni 20th-century American sportsmen {{Oklahoma-sport-stub