George Ireland

George Ireland (June 15, 1913 - September 14, 2001) was an American basketball coach who led Loyola of Chicago to the 1963 NCAA Championship.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Ireland was an All-American basketball player at the University of Notre Dame during the 1930s. His first coaching job was at Marmion 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. In 1962, he became the first coach of a major NCAA program to use five African American players in a game at the same time. (This was particularly notable at the time, as some schools refused to play against a team with even one black player.)

The highlight of Ireland's coaching career occurred in 1963, when he guided the Loyola Ramblers to the national collegiate championship. Ireland's team, led by Jerry Harkness and Les Hunter, compiled a 23-2 regular season record and finished first in the country in scoring. They defeated Tennessee Tech 111-42 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (still the largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game), and after victories over Mississippi State, Illinois and Duke, the Ramblers reached the finals, where they faced two-time defending champion Cincinnati. Loyola trailed Cincinnati by 15 points with 10 minutes left in the game, but the Ramblers rallied to force an overtime session, winning the game 60-58 with a last-second tip-in by Vic Rouse. Loyola remains the only school in Illinois to have won an NCAA Division I basketball championship. The 1963 Loyola team also broke racial barriers by being the first NCAA Division I team to have four African-American players in the everyday lineup.

...
Wikipedia