LENNY SACHS

Every now and then, instead of discussing one of my ancestors, I write about someone who had some sort of impact on my ancestors.  Today I am writing about my Dad's (Donald Sherlock) godfather.  I thought it was very appropriate, especially since we are in March Madness (yes, the tournament is longer these years, lasting into April) and that the team from Loyola Chicago is playing in the Final Four.

Growing up, my Dad told me that his godfather was Lenny Sachs, a basketball coach for Loyola Chicago.  According to him, he was rather legendary.  My Dad said that when he was a kid, that Lenny had brought his team out to Los Angeles to play the UCLA Bruins (okay, that is my team!) and that my Dad was the ball boy for the Loyola team.

I thought I should research Lenny Sachs to find out what I could learn about him.  I learned that he earned 11 varsity letters in high school.  Okay, that is impressive!   After graduating from high school, Lenny joined the Navy (this was during World War I).  After his stint in the Navy, he returned to Chicago to attend college and coach high school basketball.

Okay, here's where it gets interesting and even more fascinating!  While attending college, he also played in the NFL for the Chicago Cardinals.  Lenny even scored the first points in the history of the franchise. 

After he graduated from college, he became the college basketball coach for Loyola.  At the same time we was still playing in the NFL.  After a few years, he decided to just focus his energies on coaching basketball, which unsurprisingly got better when that was his sole focus.

Lenny used a 2-2-1 zone defense that was so successful, a goal tending rule was adopted in 1937.  That didn't really stop Lenny and Loyola since they were 21-0 before losing in the NIT Championship game in Madison Square Garden in 1939. 

Lenny became Athletic Director for Loyola in 1935 after earning a graduate degree there. He also coached a high school football team and at the age of 45 had a heart attack at the high school.  He died on 27 Oct 1942 at the age of 45.  Nineteen years later, Lenny was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame.

One has to wonder what other great accomplishments he could have achieved, had he lived longer.

Reference: "Loyola Hall of Fame Coach Lenny Sachs" by John C. Thomas, Ramblermania, Ramblermania.net