Konstantinas Savickas (Americanized his name as Connie Savickas; October 14, 1908, Punsk – 1992,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) was an American lawyer and Lithuanian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach. He is often regarded as ''the father of Lithuanian basketball''.

Biography

In 1909, he emigrated to the United States with his parents. In

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, he achieved

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

and graduated

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1929 by achieving

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

. As a student he actively exercised, in 1933-1935 he was editing Lithuanian youth newspaper "Vytis". In 1935-1936, he lived in Kaunas, worked at Physical Culture Palace as a sports instructor.

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

situation in Lithuania was deplorable at that time, tragic loss to Latvia with huge difference was a perfect proof of that. As a result, Savickas started coaching

Lithuania national basketball team Lithuania national basketball team may refer to: * Lithuania men's national basketball team * Lithuania women's national basketball team * Lithuania men's national under-20 basketball team * Lithuania men's national under-18 and under-19 basketba ...

in 1935 and improved it a lot. He invited well-known

Lithuanian-American Lithuanian Americans refers to American citizens and residents who are Lithuanian and were born in Lithuania, or are of Lithuanian descent. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in the United ...

basketball players

Pranas Talzūnas Pranas Talzūnas (born as Frank Konstant Talzunas; May 23, 1913 in Chicago – 1984) was a Lithuanian American basketball player. He won a gold medal with the Lithuania national basketball team during the EuroBasket 1937, held in Riga. Pranas was ...

Feliksas Kriaučiūnas Feliksas Kriaučiūnas (Americanized his name as Phil Krause; August 18, 1911 – October 28, 1977) was a Lithuanian American basketball player and coach. He won two gold medals with Lithuania national basketball team and silver medal with Lithuan ...

Juozas Žukas Jonas Juozas Žukas (October 29, 1915 in Chicago, Illinois - July 7, 1981) was a Lithuanian basketball and tennis player. He won a gold medal with Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1937. Žukas lived in northern Chicago, near ...

and B.Budrikas to Lithuania. In Kaunas, 1936, he published his book "Krepšinis" (English: "Basketball"), wrote various articles about physical education. In 1937, Lithuania lost to Latvia again but only with score of 29:41, which was a huge improvement. Just before

EuroBasket 1937 The 1937 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1937, was the second FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eight national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took pa ...

, he transferred his head coach post to

. Lithuania won EuroBasket for the first time during that competition in Latvia. After the end of

, he returned to United States without knowing that his home-country will be occupied soon. As a result, he had to stay in United States almost his whole life after

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

occupation and observe

Frank Lubin Frank John Lubin ( lt, Pranas Jonas Lubinas; January 7, 1910 – July 8, 1999) was a Lithuanian-American basketball player. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins from 1928 to 1931. In 1997, Lubin was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Ha ...

(5-times All-American) games in USA clubs and after many decades admire Sabonis, Marčiulionis, Chomičius, Kurtinaitis game play. He returned to Lithuania only in 1991, just one year before his death, to participate in IV Lithuanian World Sports Games. Giving interview to daily newspaper

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also ...

he said:

''"Tikiu, kad išaugs nauji saboniai ir marčiulioniai, ir vėl susiburs nauja gera komanda" (English: I believe that new Sabonis and Marčiulions will grow up and will create a new superb team again)''

He said that by observing future and without knowing that he will not have a chance to see future

victories. Savickas died in the beginning of June, 1992, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, just a few months before tremendous Lithuania national team victory in

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

against Unified Team (team formed from the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

countries, except the Baltic States) during the Olympic bronze game.Basketball road to Lithuania
', sviesa.lt''

References

* Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų lietuviai. (II t.) – Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras, Vilnius, 1998 * Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989. – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989 {{DEFAULTSORT:Savickas, Konstantinas 1908 births 1992 deaths Lithuanian basketball coaches Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States