Jimmy Needles
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'''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.
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[[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]]