James R. Needles (March 3, 1900 – July 22, 1969) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach best known for being the United States' first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

basketball coach in 1936. Born in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

in 1900, Needles studied at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, then known as St. Ignatius College. Needles played basketball for the then-Grey Fog, becoming a player-coach during his senior year in 1924. He was appointed the basketball team's full-time coach upon his graduation. Needles coached Saint Ignatius College to two championships, capturing the Far Western Conference championship in 1928 and the Pacific Association title in 1929. Needles also coached Saint Ignatius'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team during this period, leading them to a runner-up spot in the 1928 Far Western Regionals. Illness forced Needles to resign from Saint Ignatius College in 1932, but he began coaching

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

basketball soon afterwards. Needles coached the

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team to the AAU championship finals, and as a result, he was appointed as head coach of the U.S.'s first team at the

Olympic basketball Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in Basketball at the 1904 Summer O ...

team, which competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Following the Berlin Olympics, Needles returned to the college ranks, this time at Loyola of Los Angeles, where he mentored future coaches

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college basketball, college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the San Francisco Dons men's basketball, University of ...

Phil Woolpert Philipp D. Woolpert (December 15, 1915 – May 5, 1987) was an American basketball coach, best known as the head coach of the University of San Francisco San Francisco Dons men's basketball, Dons in the 1950s. He led them to consecutive List of NC ...

and future Loyola coach Edwin "Scotty" McDonald. He returned to the University of San Francisco in 1941 as its athletic director and was instrumental in Newell's appointment as head basketball coach in 1946. Needles died at his home, in

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 ...

, on July 22, 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Needles, Jimmy 1900 births 1969 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American Olympic coaches Basketball coaches from Washington (state) Basketball players from Tacoma, Washington Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball coaches San Francisco Dons athletic directors San Francisco Dons football coaches San Francisco Dons men's basketball coaches San Francisco Dons men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team coaches