Jerry Norman (basketball)

Jerry Norman (born 1929/1930)[1] is an American former college basketball player and coach. He was an assistant coach under John Wooden with the UCLA Bruins for 11 seasons, helping Wooden earn the first four of his record 10 national titles. He is enshrined in the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.

Jerry Norman
Norman with UCLA during 1967–68 season
Personal information
Born1929/1930 (age 90–91)
NationalityAmerican
Career information
High schoolWashington (Los Angeles, California)
College
PositionForward
Coaching career1956–1968
Career history
As coach:
1956–1957West Covina HS
1957–1968UCLA (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
  • 4× NCAA champion (1964, 1965, 1967,1968)

Norman played basketball at UCLA and was co-captain during his senior year. After serving in the United States Navy and coaching in high school, he rejoined Wooden at UCLA as an assistant coach. He was a top recruiter for the Bruins, helping the program expand its recruiting radius from local to nationwide. Norman also introduced a pressuring zone press defense to UCLA, which was instrumental to their first two national championships. He retired from coaching in 1968 in order to enter the much more lucrative financial industry.

Early life

Norman attended Horace Mann Jr. High and Washington High in Los Angeles.[2] After graduating high school in 1947, he enrolled at East Los Angeles College,[3] where he led the Metropolitan Conference in scoring and was named first-team All-Southern California Junior College.[4] He received some athletic scholarship offers from Division I schools, and accepted UCLA's offer at the urging of Eddie Sheldrake, his best friend and a former Washington High teammate who was playing at UCLA.[2][5]

College career

In Norman's sophomore year in 1949–50, UCLA qualified for the NCAA tournament, the first in Coach John Wooden's career.[6] The following season, Norman was kicked off the team for two weeks after talking to a teammate during practice and not paying attention to Wooden.[6][7] Sheldrake, who was also friendly with Wooden, convinced the two to reconcile.[8] In 1951–52, Norman was co-captain of the team with fellow senior Don Johnson,[9][10] and the Bruins won the Pacific Coast Conference title and qualified for the 1952 NCAA tournament.[11]

Professional career

After graduating in 1952,[12] Norman served ​3 1⁄2 years in the Navy before teaching and coaching for a year at West Covina High, where Wooden's brother was the principal. In the fall of 1957, Norman returned to UCLA after accepting a teaching position in the physical education department. [7][13] Wooden asked him to moonlight as the coach of the freshman basketball team, and Norman compiled a 94–22 record in six seasons while successfully employing a zone press.[7][12] In July 1959, Norman became a varsity assistant.[14][15]

According to sportswriter Seth Davis, author of Wooden: A Coach’s Life, Norman is deserving of more credit for Wooden's success than people generally attribute to him.[16] Wooden began coaching UCLA in 1948–49, but the Bruins never advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament until after Norman was hired.[2][17] During the 1963–64 season, Norman convinced a reluctant Wooden to use the zone press, which the team had never utilized before.[1][2][18] The Bruins had employed a man-to-man press with some success in 1962–63, but it had been ineffective in their opening-game of the NCAA tournament—a 93–79 blowout loss to Arizona State.[19][20] Norman instead proposed a 2–2–1 full-court zone press,[21] which quickened the pace of the game and was influential in the first two national titles won by the Bruins, who were undersized.[1][22]

Norman was also UCLA's top recruiter, which complemented Wooden's aversion to recruiting.[23][24] He recruited 15 players who were later inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, including two players enshrined in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame: Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Gail Goodrich.[2] After becoming Wooden's top assistant, Norman encouraged UCLA athletic director J. D. Morgan to expand the recruiting budget and extend their recruiting from California to nationwide.[2][25][26][27] Previously, Wooden had a limited budget and was satisfied with landing players locally. Under Norman, UCLA's recruits included Alcindor from New York, Walt Hazzard from Philadelphia, and Lucius Allen from Kansas.[2][3]

Prior to the 1967–68 season, Norman contemplated quitting. He had grown weary of the workload and stress, and lamented his pay.[28] His $14,000 salary was not sufficient to support his wife and children.[29] Wooden himself was making only $17,000, less than contemporaries such as Dean Smith, who was estimated to have been making $85,000 at the time.[3] Norman had been working part-time in the financial industry with friends, and was primed to transition full-time. Morgan convinced him to stay, but Norman warned that it would likely be his last season.[28] UCLA claimed their fourth national title in five seasons.[1] In a rout of Houston in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament,[1] Wooden credited Norman for devising the diamond-and-one defense that the Bruins used to contain Elvin Hayes, who was averaging 37.7 points per game but was held to only 10.[15][30] The win avenged an upset loss to the Cougars in The Game of the Century earlier in the season.[1][29] Wooden's four titles, each with Norman as his assistant, matched the then-record held by Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp.[15]

Morgan promised Norman that if he stayed, he would become the Bruins' head coach once Wooden retired, which ended up being seven years later.[2] “If he’d paid Coach [Wooden] $100,000 like he deserved, and if I had gotten $50,000 I would have stayed,” Norman said.[29][31] According to Morgan, Wooden never asked for a raise.[29] In his final year in 1975, Wooden's salary maxed out at $32,000,[3] and he finished his career with a record 10 national titles.[32] Upon leaving UCLA in 1968 after 11 seasons with the team,[31] Norman became a stockbroker, earning $60,000 in his first year. He enjoyed a successful business career and became a multi-millionaire.[2][29]

In 1986, Norman was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.[12]

Personal life

Norman and his wife, June, were married for 63 years. She died in 2014. Together, they had three children and four grandchildren.[29]

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References
  1. Crowe, Jerry (March 19, 2007). "This right-hand man could use a pat on back". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  2. Chortkoff, Mitch (March 13, 2014). "What Might Have Been For UCLA Basketball". Culver City Observer. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  3. Waldner, Mike (March 3, 2014). "Jerry Norman an overlooked figure in UCLA basketball". The Daily Breeze. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  4. "Dan Ducich Grabs Helms Medal As Player of the Year For The Second Time" (PDF). la84.org. March 17, 1948. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 22, 2015.
  5. Soderburg, Wendy (October 1, 2010). "We Will Always Call Him Coach". UCLA Magazine. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  6. Davis, Seth (2014). Wooden: A Coach's Life. Macmillan. p. 121. ISBN 9780805092806. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  7. Wolff, Alexander (March 19, 2007). "Birth Of A Dynasty". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  8. Davis 2014, p. 124.
  9. Smith, John Matthew (2013). The Sons of Westwood. University of Illinois Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780252095054. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  10. "2014–15 UCLA Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). UCLA Sports Information Office. 2014. p. 166. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 22, 2015.
  11. "UCLA Coach Gives Spirit Credit For Bruins' Success". The Fresno Bee. March 12, 1952. p. 8-B. Retrieved July 20, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "UCLA Sports Hall of Fame Will Induct 8 New Members". Los Angeles Times. May 8, 1986. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  13. Davis 2014, p. 160.
  14. Davis 2014, p. 165.
  15. Esper, Dwain (March 25, 1968). "Bruins Hope Norman Stays". The Independent. Pasadena, California. p. 15. Retrieved July 22, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Wooden: A Coach's Life". 750thegame.com. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  17. UCLA Sports Information Office 2014, pp. 95, 166.
  18. Florence, Mal (June 2, 1994). "Don't Press It: New Wrinkle Was Norman's". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  19. Davis 2014, pp. 208–9, 213.
  20. Smith 2013, pp. 44–5.
  21. Lopresti, Mike (March 16, 2014). "Voices of Final Four: Gail Goodrich". NCAA.org. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  22. Whicker, Mark (March 8, 2014). "UCLA's first reign-drop". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  23. Whicker, Mark (August 21, 2013). "Former Bruin recalls when they were kings". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  24. "Recruiting Easy Chore For Wooden". Reading Eagle. AP. November 25, 1973. p. 71. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  25. Smith 2013, p. 70.
  26. Apodaca, Patrice (March 21, 2014). "Let's pause and recall the influence of Jerry Norman". Daily Pilot. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  27. Erickson, Andrew (November 8, 2013). "Q&A: Sports history professor talks about UCLA's John Wooden". Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  28. Davis 2014, p. 284.
  29. Neworth, Jack (December 15, 2014). "In the Shadow of a Legend". Santa Monica Daily Press. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  30. Gasaway, John (June 7, 2010). "John Wooden's Century". Basketball Prospectus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  31. "Norman Resigns UCLA Cage Post, Crum New Aide". Independent. Long Beach, California. May 28, 1968. p. C-3. Retrieved July 20, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. Goldman, Tom (June 4, 2010). "Legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden Dies". NPR.org. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
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