James R. Needles (March 3, 1900 – July 22, 1969) 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 ...

coach best known for being the United States' first Olympic basketball coach in 1936. Born in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, in 1900, Needles studied at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

, then known as St. Ignatius College. Needles played basketball for the then-Grey Fog, becoming a player-coach during his senior year in 1924. He was appointed the basketball team's full-time coach upon his graduation. Needles coached Saint Ignatius College to two championships, capturing the Far Western Conference championship in 1928 and the Pacific Association title in 1929. Needles also coached Saint Ignatius'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team during this period, leading them to a runner-up spot in the 1928 Far Western Regionals. Illness forced Needles to resign from Saint Ignatius College in 1932, but he began coaching

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) basketball soon afterwards. Needles coached the

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team to the AAU championship finals, and as a result, he was appointed as head coach of the U.S.'s first team at the Olympic basketball team, which competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

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. Following the Berlin Olympics, Needles returned to the college ranks, this time at Loyola of Los Angeles, where he mentored future coaches

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 ...

Phil Woolpert Philipp D. Woolpert (December 15, 1915 – May 5, 1987) was an American basketball coach, best known as the head coach of the University of San Francisco Dons in the 1950s. He led them to consecutive national championships in 1955 Biograph ...

and future Loyola coach Edwin "Scotty" McDonald. He returned to the University of San Francisco in 1941 as its athletic director and was instrumental in Newell's appointment as head basketball coach in 1946. Needles died at his home, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, on July 22, 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Needles, Jimmy 1900 births 1969 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Olympic coaches for the United States Basketball coaches from Washington (state) Basketball players from Tacoma, Washington Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball coaches San Francisco Dons athletic directors San Francisco Dons football coaches San Francisco Dons men's basketball coaches San Francisco Dons men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team coaches