Harry Litwack
Harold "Chief" Litwack (September 20, 1907 – August 7, 1999) was an American college basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach at Temple University from 1952 to 1973, compiling a record of 373–193. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.
 Litwack during the 1964–65 season. | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 20, 1907 Poland |
| Died | August 7, 1999 (aged 91) Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania |
| Playing career | |
| 1927–1930 | Temple |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1952–1973 | Temple |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 373–193 |
| Tournaments | 7–6 (NCAA University Division) 9–6 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 NCAA Final Four (1956, 1958) NIT (1969) 2 MAC (1964, 1972) | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1976 (profile) | |
Coaching career
Litwack was born in Galicia, Austria but raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Temple in 1930. He began his coaching career at Simon Gratz High School (1930–31), then he became head coach of the freshman team at Temple. Meanwhile, he was playing pro basketball with Eddie Gottlieb's all-Jewish Philadelphia Sphas, from 1930 to 1936. Before he became head coach at Temple in 1952, he also served briefly as assistant coach for the Philadelphia Warriors (1948–51). He died at the age of 91 in 1999.[1]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple Owls (Independent) (1952–1958) | |||||||||
| 1952–53 | Temple | 16-10 | |||||||
| 1953–54 | Temple | 15-12 | |||||||
| 1954–55 | Temple | 11-10 | |||||||
| 1955–56 | Temple | 27-4 | NCAA Third Place | ||||||
| 1956–57 | Temple | 20-9 | |||||||
| 1957–58 | Temple | 27-3 | NCAA Third Place | ||||||
| Temple Owls (Middle Atlantic Conference) (1958–1964) | |||||||||
| 1958–59 | Temple | 6-19 | 4-7 | 9th | |||||
| 1959–60 | Temple | 17-9 | 9-2 | 3rd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1960–61 | Temple | 20-8 | 9-1 | 2nd | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1961–62 | Temple | 18-9 | 8-2 | 2nd | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1962–63 | Temple | 15-7 | 6-3 | 4th | |||||
| 1963–64 | Temple | 17-8 | 6-1 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| Temple Owls (Independent) (1964–1969) | |||||||||
| 1964–65 | Temple | 14-10 | |||||||
| 1965–66 | Temple | 21-7 | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||||
| 1966–67 | Temple | 20-8 | NCAA First Round | ||||||
| 1967–68 | Temple | 19-9 | NIT First Round | ||||||
| 1968–69 | Temple | 22-8 | NIT Champions | ||||||
| Temple Owls (Middle Atlantic Conference) (1969–1973) | |||||||||
| 1969–70 | Temple | 15-13 | 2-3 | T-3rd (Eastern) | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1970–71 | Temple | 13-12 | 3-3 | 4th (Eastern) | |||||
| 1971–72 | Temple | 23-8 | 6-0 | 1st (Eastern) | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1972–73 | Temple | 17-10 | 5-1 | 2nd (Eastern) | |||||
| Temple: | 373-193 | 58-23 | |||||||
| Total: | 373-193 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||