George Wynden Levis (November 22, 1894 – October 8, 1980) was an American college basketball player and coach during the 1910s and 1920s, respectively. He was a two-time All-American as a player while at

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

from 1912–13 to 1915–16, and was also the Helms Foundation National Player of the Year as a

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 ...

in 1915–16. A native of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, Levis decided to stay in his hometown for college, and while enrolled he also played on the school's baseball team. Levis played the

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

position and helped lead the Badgers to a 20–1 overall record and the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship in 1915–16, and that season would also see them retroactively declared as national champions by the Helms Foundation. Levis also led the conference in scoring as a senior: in 12 Big Ten contests he scored 109 points, which was unusual for an era of basketball in which low-scoring games were standard. Levis was graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1916. In 1920, Levis became the head basketball coach at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He spent two seasons guiding the Hoosiers and compiled an overall record of 25–16, including a 9–12 record in conference play. He was set to start his third season as coach in 1922–23 but resigned during the preseason in order to work at his family's glass company in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It was at Illinois Glass Company where Levis was instrumental in helping to design the glass backboard, the predecessor to the plexi-glass backboards used in basketball today. Levis also coached baseball at Indiana University during the 1920, 1921 and 1922 seasons. Levis was born in

. He died on October 8, 1980, at Columbia Hospital in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Head coaching record

Basketball

References

Additional sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levis, George 1894 births 1980 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baseball players from Wisconsin Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin Forwards (basketball) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Indiana Hoosiers baseball coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers baseball players Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players