Edward S. Steitz (November 7, 1920 – May 21, 1990) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and official, working for the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA). He was considered the leading worldwide authority on amateur basketball rules.

Early life

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Steitz was a lived in Beacon, New York. He was a graduate of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

before earning master's and doctoral degrees at Springfield College. After receiving his PhD, he started teaching at Springield in 1948.

Career

Coach and athletic director

Steitz became men's basketball coach at Springfield College from 1956 to 1966 and then became director of athletics from 1966 to 1990.

NCAA

He worked for the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee as a secretary, editor and national interpreter from 1965 to 1990. He was involved in most of college basketball's major changes over the years, most notably the advent of the 45-second shot clock in 1986 and the introduction of the 3-point field goal in 1987. He was also a longtime member of the NCAA executive committee.

International basketball

In 1974 he founded and served as a president for Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America (ABAUSA), now USA Basketball. He was a member of the Technical Commission of

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

. He was also a member of the United States Olympic Committee's executive committee.

Honors and awards

He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984. In 2007, he was enshrined as a contributor in the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

Edward S. Steitz Award

USA Basketball's Edward S. Steitz Award was created posthumously in 1991 to recognize an individual for her or his valuable contributions to international basketball.

References

External links

*
FIBA Hall of Fame page on Steitz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steitz, Ed 1920 births 1990 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from New York (state) Cornell University alumni FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees People from Beacon, New York Sportspeople from Brooklyn Springfield College alumni Springfield Pride athletic directors Springfield Pride men's basketball coaches