Frank Lubin

Frank Lubin during EuroBasket 1939
Personal information
Born	(1910-01-07)January 7, 1910 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 8, 1999(1999-07-08) (aged 89) Glendale, California, U.S.
Nationality	American / Lithuanian
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school	Lincoln (Los Angeles, California)
College	UCLA (1928–1931)
Position	Center
Medals Men's basketball Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1936 Berlin Team competition Representing  Lithuania FIBA EuroBasket 1939 Kaunas Team competition

Frank John Lubin (Lithuanian: Pranas Jonas Lubinas; January 7, 1910 – July 8, 1999) was a Lithuanian-American basketball player. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins from 1928 to 1931. In 1997, Lubin was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Helms Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Lubin was born on the east side of Los Angeles, California, to a family of Lithuanian immigrants, and he died in Glendale, California. A veteran with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, Lubin was buried at Riverside National Cemetery, in Riverside, California.^[1] His father, Konstantinas Lubinas, was from Vilkaviškis, while his mother, Paulina Vasiliauskaitė, was from Vabalninkas.^[2]

Basketball career

High school

When Lubin grew up to a height of 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) at Lincoln High School, classmates encouraged him to try out for the basketball team. Gangly and uncoordinated, Lubin struggled to improve his game, but was eventually named to the All-City Second Team as a senior in 1927.^[3]

College career

While playing college basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles, from 1928 to 1931, Lubin earned All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in his senior season with the Bruins.

U.S. national team

Following his college career, he worked as a stagehand at Universal Pictures, and joined the studio's AAU team, which earned the right to represent the U.S. as part of the first Olympic basketball tournament in 1936, where he won the gold.^[3][4]

Lithuanian national team

During the 1936 Summer Olympics, Lubin was invited to come to Lithuania, and he became their first national team head coach. They won the EuroBasket title in 1937, using American-born players of Lithuanian heritage.^[5] When the team hosted the EuroBasket in 1939, they again won the title, this time with Lubin, acting as a player-coach. Lubin the de facto MVP of EuroBasket 1939, however he was unable to receive the award, because he was taller than 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), and FIBA had a rule at the time, which prohibited the award to be given to players at such a height.^[6]

When World War II broke out in 1939, Lubin was in Italy, coaching a Lithuanian women's team. Given that Nazi Germany was directly on the path back to Lithuania, Italian officials had to help the team to get back, through train and boat, avoiding Germany.^[3] Afterwards, Lubin fled Lithuania to California with his family, in the face of the upcoming Soviet invasion that happened one year later.^[5] Lubin continued to play for the Universal Pictures team until 1955, when knee problems prompted him to retire. For his contributions and for introducing the now basketball-mad country of Lithuania to the sport, Lubin is often called the "grandfather of Lithuanian basketball".^[3][7]