George Ireland

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. George Ireland (June 15, 1913 in Madison, Wisconsin-September 14, 2001 in Addison, Illinois) was an American basketball coach who led Loyola University Chicago to the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Ireland was an All-American basketball player at the University of Notre Dame during the 1930s. His first coaching job was at Marmion Military Academy in Aurora, Illinois, which he led to 262-87 record from 1936 to 1951. In 1951, he succeeded John Jordan, a former teammate at Notre Dame, as head coach at Loyola University Chicago, and he remained at Loyola until 1975. Ireland encouraged full-court press and a high-speed style of play, and in 1961 he became the first coach of a major college program to use a lineup of five African American players. (This was particularly notable at the time, as some schools refused to play against a team with even one black player.)