Joseph Reiff (June 5, 1911 – February 9, 1988) 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 and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. He was a three-time

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. Reiff, a 6'3 (1.91 m) center from

Crane Technical High School Richard T. Crane Medical Prep High School (formerly known as Crane Tech Prep or Crane Tech High School) is a public four-year medical prep high school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The school is ...

in Chicago, chose to attend nearby

and play for

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Dutch Lonborg Arthur C. "Dutch" Lonborg (March 16, 1898 – January 31, 1985) was an American college football, college basketball, and college baseball player, coach, and athletics administrator. Basketball The Gardner, Illinois native coached for 23 years a ...

. Reiff led the Wildcats to a Western Conference championship in his sophomore year. Reiff led the league in scoring with a 10.0 average. Northwestern finished 13-1 (11-1 in league play) and would later be retroactively named 1931 National Champions by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

and Reiff was named a consensus All-American. In his junior year, Reiff finished second in the conference in scoring to

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

senior

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 ...

. In his senior year, Reiff again led Northwestern to a conference title and led the league in scoring for a second time at 14.0 points per game. He was once again named a consensus All-American After graduating from Northwestern, Reiff played for Rosenberg-Avery of Chicago 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 was named to the All-AAU team. He then became a basketball referee in the Western Conference from 1937-1947. Joe Reiff was a charter inductee into the Northwestern athletics Hall of Fame, elected in 1984.Joseph Reiff HOF profile
accessed october 6, 2010]

References

1911 births 1988 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Basketball players from Oklahoma Basketball referees Centers (basketball) Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players People from Whitewater, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Jefferson County, Wisconsin Crane High School (Chicago) alumni {{1910s-US-basketball-bio-stub