Julius Goldman (1910-2001) was a four sport star (basketball, track, baseball and hockey) at what is now W. D. Lowe Secondary School in Windsor, Ontario. In 1973, he was named Lowe’s top student athlete of the century, 1872-1972. After high school, he crossed the border to attend Detroit Institute of Technology (DIT) from 1928-32. (When DIT closed in 1981, its remaining assets were gifted to Lawrence Tech, which assumed responsibility for student transcripts and alumni programs.)
Goldman was the national collegiate basketball scoring leader in 1932. In total, Goldman’s teams amassed 36 championships, according to his Wikipedia posting largely researched by Goldman’s family.
A father of modern basketball, Goldman was Canada’s representative on the 1936 Olympic Basketball Rules Committee, the first year that basketball was played as an Olympic sport. To speed up the pace of the game, increase scoring, and make the sport more exciting, Goldman suggested eliminating the rule that called for a “jump ball” after every field goal. The Rules Committee agreed with Goldman (the lone objecting vote was that of basketball’s creator James Naismith), and the game was forever changed. In 1958, NCAA rules committee chairman Ed Steitz credited Goldman’s rule change as the most radical change in the entire evolution of basketball.
Goldman was born in Mayesville, South Carolina to Lithuanian immigrants Isaac and Rebecca Goldman who moved to Canada when Julius was two. Goldman captained and was the leading scorer for the Windsor Ford V-8’s company team that won Canada's 1935–36 national championship, qualifying them to represent Canada in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. However, Goldman’s U.S. citizenship made him ineligible to play for another country, so he was made an assistant coach and appointed Canada’s representative to the Olympic Basketball Rules Committee. The Canadian basketball team won a silver medal, losing 19-8 to the U.S. in the gold medal game on a muddy clay court in a driving rainstorm outdoors.
From 1937 to 1950, Goldman was a math teacher, athletic director, and basketball coach at his alma mater, Detroit Tech. He led the basketball team to a 143-75 record. For 43 years, he also officiated basketball and football for the Detroit Catholic Schools Association.
Goldman was also an electrical engineer with a Master’s degree in business engineering. During World War II he worked for Smith, Hinchman & Grylls in Detroit as a principal designer of ammunition. In 1944, Goldman designed and developed the 155 mm howitzer anti-tank shell that allowed Allied Forces to turn the tide against Germany's “invincible” Tiger tanks. He later worked as an executive with both Federal Engineering and Fisher Body in Detroit, retiring in 1965. He then resumed his teaching career at Oakland Community College in 1970, teaching math until he finally retired for good in 1995 at the age of 85.
Goldman was married to Ann Goldman (née Warsh) (1913–90). They had two children; a son Alan (1940–2011) and daughter Nancy Kushkin (1944- ), and seven grandchildren.
In 1950, Goldman became a member of Mensa (98% or above on standardized IQ test). Among his recognitions are: 1969 Official of the Year, Detroit Catholic Schools Association; 1977 International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame; 1978 Detroit Catholic High School League Hall of Fame; 1981 Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame; 1990 Windsor-Essex County Sports Hall of Fame; and 1991 Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
