Rich Falk
Rich Falk is a former college basketball coach. He was head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats team from 1978 to 1986.[1] Falk is the Associate Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. His primary responsibilities are men's basketball operations, managing the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, and supervising men's basketball officials. Falk joined the Big Ten Conference in 1989 after being a coach and athletic administrator for 20 years.
While at NU, Falk compiled the second-winningest record in school history. In 1984, he became only the second man in NU history to guide the Wildcats to 32 or more victories in back-to-back seasons. In 1983, he directed Northwestern to its first postseason appearance while winning 18 games and competing in the National Invitation Tournament. Falk is from Galva, IL and took over as head coach from Tex Winter in 1978 after serving as an NU assistant coach for nine years. As a player at Northwestern, he was captain of the 1964 NU team and was chose Most Valuable Player as a junior and senior. As a senior, Falk set the NU and McGaw Hall single-game scoring record with a 49-point outing against Iowa. Also in that game, Falk set a school record with 19 field goals.
He is also President of REF Enterprises, a sports management and promotion firm specializing ini camps, clinics, and special events across the country. He and his son, Geoff, run the Rich Falk Basketball Camp, which is the longest-running basketball camp in the Chicago area. The summer of 2010 was the 31st year of the camp.
Background
In high school, Falk was All-State and All-American in both basketball and football (as a quarterback). As a senior, Falk led the state of Illinois in scoring with a 29.8 point per game average. He ranks second in Illinois high school history for the most games scoring more than 50 points (5 games) with his highest single-game total being 57. In 1975, Falk was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame.
Falk received All-Big Ten recognition as a junior and a senior. While at Northwestern he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.[2] He also was a Helms All-American and Academic All-American in 1964. He finished his three-year varsity career with 1,001 points and was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1964.
References
- ^ "Northwestern Fires Falk". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 1986-03-15. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
- ^ The Rainbow, vol. 132, no. 4, p. 27