Rich Falk is an American former men's

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 ...

coach. He was head men's basketball coach at

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 ...

from 1978 to 1986. Falk is the Associate Commissioner of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. His primary responsibilities are men's basketball operations, managing the Big Ten men's basketball tournament, and supervising men's basketball officials. Falk joined the Big Ten Conference in 1989 after being a coach and athletic administrator for 20 years. As a player at Northwestern, he was captain of the 1964 NU team and was chosen Most Valuable Player as a junior and senior. As a senior, Falk set the NU and McGaw Hall single-game scoring record with a 49-point outing against Iowa. Also in that game, Falk set a school record with 19 field goals. He returned to Northwestern in 1966 to serve as an assistant coach for three seasons. Falk left the profession for three years but returned as an assistant in 1972. He was elevated to the position of head coach after the departure of

Tex Winter Morice Fredrick "Tex" Winter (February 25, 1922 – October 10, 2018) was an American basketball coach and innovator of the triangle offense. He was a head coach in college basketball for 30 years before becoming an assistant coach in the National ...

in 1978. While at NU, Falk compiled the second-winningest record in school history. In 1983, he directed Northwestern to the first postseason appearance in school history, winning 18 games and competing in the National Invitation Tournament. He is also President of REF Enterprises, a sports management and promotion firm specializing in camps, clinics, and special events across the country. He and his son, Geoff, run the Rich Falk Basketball Camp, which is the longest-running basketball camp in the Chicago area.

Background

In high school, Falk was All-State and All-American in both basketball and football (as a quarterback). As a senior, Falk led the state of Illinois in scoring with a 29.8 point per game average. He ranks second in Illinois high school history for the most games scoring more than 50 points (5 games) with his highest single-game total being 57. In 1975, Falk was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame. Falk received All-Big Ten recognition as a junior and a senior. While at Northwestern he became a member of

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapter ...

International Fraternity.The Rainbow, vol. 132, no. 4, p. 27 He also was a Helms All-American and Academic All-American in 1964. He finished his three-year varsity career with 1,001 points and was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1964.

References

External links

Rich Falk Basketball Camp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falk, Rich Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Basketball coaches from Illinois Boston Celtics draft picks College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball coaches Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players People from Galva, Illinois Year of birth missing (living people)