Elmer H. Ripley was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 college men's and professional basketball coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

. In over 30 years, he coached collegiately at seven different schools as well as professionally for several teams. Once celebrated, Ripley now is an almost forgotten figure in the history of American basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

.

Early life

Ripley was born in Staten Island

Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

, New York on July 21, 1891. After graduating from local Curtis High School, he attended Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

.

Playing career

Considered to be one of the great basketball coaches of the last century, Ripley began his career as a player before making the switch to coach in 1922. At age 19, Ripley decided to leave Brown to play basketball professionally with the Interstate League

Interstate League

The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. The longest tenured of these was the last incarnation, which played in the Middle Atlantic States from 1939 through 1952, and was one of the few mid-level minor...

 Brooklyn Trolly Dodgers, the New York League's Uyica Utes and the "Original Celtics

Original Celtics

The Original Celtics were a barnstorming professional basketball team in the 1920s. There is no relation to the modern Boston Celtics. The Original Celtics are often credited with extending the reach of basketball across America and for establishing the importance of aggressive defensive play...

" club. Ripley would enjoy numerous achievements including being voted among the ten best pro

Professional sports

Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...

 players from 1909 to 1926.

Coaching career

After playing, he went on to coach basketball at several major American universities and traveled the world teaching the game. Ripley began his first professional coaching tenure with Wagner College

Wagner College

Wagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...

 in 1922, before moving into a position at Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 in 1927. His skills as a coach were evident as he won 12 of his first 13 games. During his many years with the Georgetown, he achieved a 133–82 record and lead the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

 twice. Ripley was in high demand and was hied away by several prestigious colleges including Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

, and Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, which he coached to the 1933 Ivy League

Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 championship.

After leaving Georgetown for good in 1949, Ripley coached the Harlem Globetrotters

Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...

 (1953–1956), the Israeli Olympic team

1956 Summer Olympics

The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...

 (1956) and the Canadian Olympic team

1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

 (1960). Held in high regard, the U.S. Committee for Sports sent Ripley to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 in 1957 to teach basketball. Ripley continued to coach through his 80th birthday and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.

Ripley died on April 29, 1982 at the age of 89.