George Stanich

George Stanich
	Stanich, circa 1950
Personal information
Full name	George Anthony Stanich
Born	November 4, 1928 (age 96); Sacramento, California, U.S.
	Basketball career
Personal information
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	186 lb (84 kg)
Career information
College	UCLA (1947–1950)
NBA draft	1950: 2nd round, 21st overall pick
	Selected by the Rochester Royals
Position	Guard / Forward
Career history
As coach:
1955–1970	El Camino
1970–1971	Jugoplastika (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
	As player: 2× First-team All-PCC (1949, 1950); As assistant coach: Yugoslav League champion (1971);
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the United States
Olympic Games

George Anthony Stanich (born November 4, 1928) is an American former multi-sport athlete who won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in high jump.^[1] He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he was a two-time all-conference player in the Pacific Coast Conference (now the Pac-12 Conference). He is the brother of John Stanich.^[1]

Baseball

As a Bruin baseball player, he was a pitcher for 3 seasons, including throwing a 5-hit shutout as a sophomore as UCLA beat USC for the first time in five years.^{[citation needed]} He would become a professional baseball player after graduation, pitching for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, as well as Idaho Falls Russets and Stockton.^[1]

Basketball

College career

As a basketball player at the University of California, Los Angeles, Stanich was a guard and led his team to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1949–50.^[1] He scored 9 points in the East-West All-Star Game and was a first-team All-American (as named by Converse),^[1]^[2] the first of 24 Bruins who would earn this honor under John Wooden.^{[citation needed]}

Coaching career

Stanich coached basketball at El Camino College from 1955 to 1970 before going on a one-year sabbatical. During the 1970–1971 season, he was an assistant coach to Branko Radović at Jugoplastika in Split, Croatia, where he helped lead the team to the Yugoslav League championship.^[1]^[3] He retired from El Camino in 1992.^[1]

Olympics

The qualification for the high jump at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was held on the morning of July 30, 1948, with the finals later the same day. Stanich was one of twenty men who qualified for the finals which were held in the rain later. The gold medal was won with a jump of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m). Stanich was one of four competitors who cleared 6 ft 4.75 in (1.95 m). While he thought he had cleared the bar on his last attempt at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), his trail leg hit the bar. Officials from the International Amateur Athletic Federation initially announced that fewer misses would be used to determine the finishing places of the four tied jumpers; the IAAF then announced all four would share second place and the silver medal. Days later they reversed themselves again, and Stanich became the bronze medal winner.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Paterson, Bill (September 10, 1992). "Sweet memories". The Sacramento Bee. sec. City Neighbors, pp. 11, 12. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Johnson, Gary K. (October 2005). NCAA Men's Basketball's Finest (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 182. ISSN 1521-2955. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
^ "JU-GO-PLASTI-KA Žuti slave 40 godina od prvog naslova". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). April 3, 2011. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2024.