Joseph Truskowski

Joseph E. "Truck" Truskowski (c. 1906 – July 1959) was an American football, basketball and baseball player and coach. He played college football, basketball and baseball at the University of Michigan. He later served as the head baseball coach at Iowa State from 1936 to 1937 and at Wayne State in 1941 and from 1946 to 1959.

Joseph Truskowski
Truskowski, captain of 1929 Michigan football team
Biographical details
Bornc. 1906
Detroit, Michigan
DiedJuly 1959
Lion's Head, Ontario
Playing career
Football
1926Michigan
1928–1929Michigan
Basketball
1926–1927Michigan
1928–1930Michigan
Position(s)End (football)
Forward (basketball)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1930–1931Olivet
1932–?Iowa State (assistant)
1937–?Wayne State (MI) (assistant)
Baseball
1936–1937Iowa State
1941Wayne State (MI)
1946–1959Wayne State (MI)
Head coaching record
Overall8–8–1 (football)
115–133–1 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Basketball
1 Big Ten Conference (1928-29)
Baseball
1 PAC (1959)

Early years

Truskowski was born in Detroit in approximately 1906. He attended Detroit's Northwestern High School where he was a star athlete from 1923 to 1925.[1]

Athletic career

Truskowski played three years each at the end position for the Michigan football team and as a forward for the Michigan basketball team.[2][3] At the end of the 1928 season, he was selected as the captain of the 1929 Michigan Wolverines football team.[4][5][6] As a senior captain in 1929, he started games at three positions -- left end, quarterback, and right halfback.[4][7][8]

In basketball, Truskowski was a starting forward on the 1928–29 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team that won the Big Ten championship. He was also the leading scorer on the 1929–30 team with 113 points in 14 games.[9]

Truskowski also played as a catcher for the Michigan Wolverines baseball team and was the third player in Michigan history (after Harry Kipke and Bennie Oosterbaan) to win three varsity letter in the same academic year.[10] In all, Truskowski won a total of eight varsity letters at Michigan. While a student at Michigan, he joined Theta Kappa Nu Fraternity.[11]

Coaching career

Following his collegiate athletic career, Truskowski worked as a coach. He was the head football coach at Olivet College in 1931. He was hired assistant football coach at Iowa State University in March 1932.[12][13] He was also the head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones baseball team from 1935 to 1937.[14] Truskowski led Iowa State's baseball team to consecutive Big Six championships in 1935 and 1936.[15]

In 1937, Truskowski left Iowa State to become an assistant football coach and head basketball coach at Wayne State University.[16] Truskowski joined the Navy in 1942 and returned to Wayne State in 1945.[17] He also served as the head baseball coach at Wayne State in 1941 and again from 1946 to 1959.

Truskowski changed his name to Joe Truske. He died from a heart attack at his summer home in Lion's Head, Ontario, in July 1959.[18]

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References
  1. "Falcon Pilot Tops Scorers". Detroit Free Press. March 9, 1925. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "1926 Football Team Roster". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Archived from the original on May 29, 2011.
  3. "1928 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
  4. "1929 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
  5. "Joe Truskowski, of Detroit, Is Elected Captain of Michigan for Next Year". Detroit Free Press. November 28, 1928. p. 19.
  6. "Joe Truskowski, of Detroit, Is Elected Captain of Michigan for Next Year (part 2)". Detroit Free Press. November 28, 1928. p. 21.
  7. "Michigan Repulses Penn State, 32 to 11; Truskowski Leads Attack That Turns Back Easterners--Losers Trail at Half, 17-3". The New York Times. January 2, 1929.
  8. "Big Ten Grid Stars Keen for Basketball". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. January 31, 1930.
  9. "University of Michigan Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 25.
  10. "Joe Truskowski Proves To Be Another Iron Man". Detroit Free Press. April 28, 1929. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Lead Their Teams" The Theta News. October 1929.
  12. "Truskowski Takes Position at Iowa". Ludington Daily News. March 29, 1932.
  13. "Joe Truskowski Joins Ames Football Staff". The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette and Republican. March 29, 1932. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Diamond Reflections: List of Coaches". Iowa State University Library. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012.
  15. Iowa State University - Bomb Yearbook, Class of 1936, page 260.
  16. "Truskowski Quits Iowa State to Join Joe Gembis at Wayne". Detroit Free Press. August 16, 1937. p. 11.
  17. "Truskowski Come Back". Detroit Free Press. September 23, 1945. p. 16.
  18. "City Mourns Wayne's Joe Truske". Detroit Free Press. July 4, 1959. p. 15.
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