Jerry Norman (basketball)
Norman with UCLA during 1967–68 season
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1929/1930 (age 87–88) |
| Nationality | American |
| Career information | |
| High school | Washington (Los Angeles, California) |
| College |
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| Position | Forward |
| Coaching career | 1956–1968 |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1956–1957 | West Covina HS |
| 1957–1968 | UCLA (asst) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Jerry Norman (born 1929/1930) is an American former college basketball player and coach. He was an assistant coach under John Wooden with the UCLA Bruins for 11 seasons, helping Wooden earn the first four of his record 10 national titles. He is enshrined in the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
Norman was a basketball player with UCLA, and was co-captain during his senior year. After serving in the United States Navy and coaching in high school, he rejoined Wooden at UCLA as an assistant coach. He was a top recruiter for the Bruins, helping the program expand its recruiting radius from locally to nationwide. Norman also introduced a pressuring zone press defense to UCLA, which was instrumental to their first two national championships. He retired from coaching in 1968, and enjoyed a successful career in the financial industry.
Norman attended Horace Mann Jr. High and Washington High in Los Angeles. After graduating high school in 1947, he enrolled at East Los Angeles College, where he led the Metropolitan Conference in scoring and was named first-team All-Southern California Junior College. He received some athletic scholarship offers from Division I schools, and accepted UCLA's offer at the urging of Eddie Sheldrake, his best friend and a former Washington High teammate who was playing at UCLA.
In Norman's sophomore year in 1949–50, UCLA qualified for the NCAA tournament, the first in Coach John Wooden's career. The following season, Norman was kicked off the team for two weeks after talking to a teammate during practice and not paying attention to Wooden. Sheldrake, who was also friendly with Wooden, convinced the two to reconcile. In 1951–52, Norman was co-captain of the team with fellow senior Don Johnson, and the Bruins won the Pacific Coast Conference title and qualified for the 1952 NCAA tournament.
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