Theodore Kiendl, Jr. (May 5, 1890 – July 26, 1976) was an American college basketball player at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in the early 1900s. He played in the era before national player awards or national championships existed, but the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively named him a three-time All-American. In 1944, the Foundation also retroactively named him its College Basketball Player of the Year for the 1910–11 season, and in February 1943 it retroactively named his Columbia team the national champions for the 1909–10 season. In Kiendl's four seasons the Lions compiled 42 wins and 16 losses. He was a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

in his final three seasons and was also a three-time All- Eastern Interscholastic League selection (1908–09, 1911). Kiendl played the forward position and weighed 215 pounds (98 kg) by the time he was a senior in 1910–11. He also played on the school's baseball team and served as a captain for three years. Kiendl was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. After completing his undergraduate schooling in 1911 he stayed at Columbia and earned his

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 ...

degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1913. In his later life he served as a

corporate lawyer A corporate lawyer or corporate counsel is a type of lawyer who specializes in corporate law. Corporate lawyers working inside and for corporations are called in-house counsel. Roles and responsibilities The role of a corporate lawyer is to ...

in New York state. He argued the landmark case ''

Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ''Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins'', 304 U.S. 64 (1938), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court held that there is no general American federal common law and that U.S. federal courts must apply state law, not federal law, t ...

'' before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in 1938.Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938).
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiendl, Ted 1890 births 1976 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Columbia Law School alumni Columbia Lions baseball players Columbia Lions men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) New York (state) lawyers Sportspeople from Brooklyn 20th-century American lawyers