Hank Luisetti
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Angelo-Giuseppi "Hank" Luisetti (June 16, 1916 – December 17, 2002) was an American college men's
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 (appr ...
player. He is considered to be one of the great innovators of the sport. In an era that featured the traditional two-handed
set shot A set shot in Australian rules football is a kick for goal in which the player can 'set' themselves, rather than have to quickly react during the play. A set shot occurs when a player has been awarded a free kick, or has taken a mark within ki ...
, Luisetti developed the running one-handed shot, an early version of the jump shot. Equipped with such an offensive weapon, Luisetti became one of the most dominant players in American
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
history. While at Stanford, he joined
Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...
fraternity.


Biography

A graduate of
Galileo High School , motto_translation = And yet it moves , type = Public High school , established = , faculty = , district = San Francisco Unified School District , grades ...
in his native city,
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, he went on to play for
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
. He became the first player to score 50 points in a game on January 1, 1938, against Duquesne. Luisetti was named the second-best player of the mid-century (behind
George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of t ...
) by an Associated Press poll of sportswriters and broadcasters in 1950. Luisetti's influence was aided by a celebrated game between
Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...
and Luisetti's Stanford Indians. Long Island had a 43-game winning streak at the time of the game. The game was played in the evening of December 30, 1936, in
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
and a crowd of 17,623 was on hand to see Long Island, the nation's No. 1 team, play Stanford. Stanford was the defending
Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...
champion from the 1935 season and six years later would win an NCAA championship. Still, they were underdogs. The crowd, while not expecting to see their local favorites lose, were intrigued by Luisetti, then a 6-foot-2, 185-pound sophomore. They knew that he shot the ball with one hand while he hung in the air, in stark contrast to the two-handed set shots or hook shots that were commonly attempted in those days. Although Luisetti scored only 15 points on five field goals and five free throws, Stanford ended the LIU winning streak with a 45-31 victory. The fact that this occurred in the media capital of the country, however, resulted in something more far-reaching. The publicity surrounding Luisetti's shooting style changed the game forever. Luisetti is often credited with inventing the jump shot, although others were doing it during the 1930s as well. One possible originator was
John Miller Cooper John Miller Cooper (1912 – September 18, 2010) was an American educator. He is also regarded as one of the early innovators of the basketball jump shot and as a pioneer in the field of biomechanics and human movement. Biography Early years C ...
. Still, Luisetti definitely popularized it.The Forgotten Basketball Pioneer Who Made Stephen Curry Possible
/ref> Some have mistakenly said that Luisetti kept both feet planted on the court when taking his shots, but it seems clear that he was a jumper. "I'd get the ball, take a dribble or two and jump and shoot on the way up. I didn't jump and shoot at the height of my jump, the way they do now. I'd let the ball go right near my face; I'd push and shoot, off my fingertips." Furthermore, he shot "the ball with one hand while he hung in the air, in defiance of basketball style." He was an all-around player, whose play and shooting were exciting. "Hank could take over a game like Michael Jordan if he had to," said former Stanford teammate Don Williams. "He was an absolute artist on the basketball court." Luisetti contracted
spinal meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or a ...
while serving in the Navy, ending his basketball career. He never played in the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
, but "in 1950, the nation's sportswriters voted him the second-best player in the first half of the century." Among his other accomplishments, he was a naval officer during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He died in
San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...
, in 2002. Additional facts on Luisetti: * Luisetti shot a two-handed set shot as well as the running one-hander. He shot his foul shots under handed, like almost everyone else of that era. * Luisetti used the running one-hander during the transition game, as Stanford's offense of that time relied heavily upon on the fast break. He used the two-handed set shot in the half-court offense. * Those close to Luisetti never referred to him as "Hank", a chosen name he came up with in his high school days because "Angie" sounded girlish. As he matured in college, he preferred that close friends refer to him as "Ange." * For 12 consecutive seasons, in every league—from first year in high school to his final season in the service leagues of World War II—Luisetti either won a championship or played in the final game of a championship. * For several years prior to Luisetti showing up on the Stanford varsity for the 1935-36 season, Stanford did not have a winning season. For the three years Luisetti played varsity basketball, Stanford not only had winning seasons, they won the Pacific Coast Southern Division championship each year. Moreover, in those three years, Stanford went on to win the Pacific Coast championship in a best of 3 championship series with the Northern Division champions. * According to basketball promoter
Ned Irish Edward S. Irish (May 6, 1905 – January 21, 1982) was an American basketball promoter and one of the key figures in popularizing professional basketball. He was the founder and president of the New York Knicks from 1946 to 1974. He was enshrined in ...
, Luisetti was the only player who by himself could sell out Madison Square Garden during the 1930s. It was for this reason that Irish invited Stanford back for not one, but a two-game appearance during the 1937 December holiday season. Forced to play three games in four days in two cities, an exhausted
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
team lost to Temple in Philadelphia, for its only loss during the two seasons of East Coast trips. Two nights later, in Cleveland, a rested Stanford team demolished a respectable Duquesne outfit by the unheard of score of 92–27, during which Luisetti scored 50 points. * In his service league match-up in 1944 against former Stanford star and future five-time NBA All-Star
Jim Pollard James Clifford Pollard (July 9, 1922 – January 22, 1993) was an American professional basketball player and coach. As a player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Pollard was considered one of the best forwards in the 1950s and was k ...
, Luisetti outscored Pollard, 32 points to 9. *
Ned Irish Edward S. Irish (May 6, 1905 – January 21, 1982) was an American basketball promoter and one of the key figures in popularizing professional basketball. He was the founder and president of the New York Knicks from 1946 to 1974. He was enshrined in ...
intended that Luisetti would become the cornerstone of the nascent
New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
franchise in 1946. However, due to damage to his heart caused by life-saving sulfa drugs during his bout of spinal meningitis, Luisetti was unable to play again.


Notes


References

* Basketball, a History of the Game, by Alexander Wolff, Sports Illustrated Press, 1997 * The Game Changer: How Hank Luisetti Revolutionized America's Great Indoor Game, Author House, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Luisetti, Hank 1916 births 2002 deaths All-American college men's basketball players United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Italian descent Basketball players from San Francisco Forwards (basketball) Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Phillips 66ers players Stanford Cardinal men's basketball players American men's basketball players United States Navy officers