Jimmy Needles 3654808 163334882 2007-10-09T14:37:21Z AlleborgoBot 3813685 robot Adding: [[it:James Needles]] '''James R. Needles''' ([[March 3]], [[1900]] - [[July 22]], [[1969]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[basketball]] [[Coach (sport)|coach]] best known for being the [[United States]]' first [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] basketball coach in [[1936]]. Born in [[Tacoma, Washington]] in 1900, Needles studied at the [[University of San Francisco]], then known as Saint 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' [[college football|football]] 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]] basketball soon afterwards. Needles coached the [[Universal Pictures]] team to the AAU championship, and as a result, he was appointed as coach of the first U.S. Olympic basketball team, which competed in the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]. Following the Berlin Olympics, Needles returned to the college ranks, this time at [[Loyola Marymount University|Loyola of Los Angeles]], where he mentored future coaches [[Pete Newell]] and [[Phil Woolpert]]. 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]]. Jimmy Needles died in 1969. {{SanFranciscoBasketballCoach}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Needles, Jimmy}} [[Category:American basketball coaches]] [[Category:American basketball players]] [[Category:San Francisco Dons men's basketball players]] [[Category:San Francisco Dons men's basketball coaches]] [[Category:San Francisco Dons football coaches]] [[Category:Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball coaches]] [[Category:1900 births]] [[Category:1969 deaths]] [[it:James Needles]]