George Stanich


George Anthony Stanich is an American former multi-sport athlete who won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in high jump. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he was a two-time all-conference player in the Pacific Coast Conference. He is the brother of John Stanich.

Baseball

As a Bruin baseball player, he was a pitcher for 3 seasons, including throwing a 5-hit shutout as a sophomore as UCLA beat USC for the first time in five years. He would become a professional baseball player after graduation, pitching for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, as well as Idaho Falls Russets and Stockton.

Basketball

College career

Stanich played at Sacramento City College during the 1946–47 season.
As a basketball player at the University of California, Los Angeles, Stanich was a guard and led his team to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1949–50 [UCLA Bruins men's basketball team|1949–50]. He scored 9 points in the East-West All-Star Game and was a first-team All-American, the first of 24 Bruins who would earn this honor under John Wooden.
Stanich was also an All-American high jumper for the UCLA Bruins track and field team, finishing 4th at the 1949 NCAA [Track and Field Championships].

Coaching career

Stanich coached basketball at El Camino College from 1955 to 1970 before going on a one-year sabbatical. During the 1970–1971 season, he was an assistant coach to Branko Radović at Jugoplastika in Split, Croatia, where he helped lead the team to the Yugoslav League championship. He retired from El Camino in 1992.

Olympics

The qualification for the high jump at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was held on the morning of July 30, 1948, with the finals later the same day. Stanich was one of twenty men who qualified for the finals which were held in the rain later. The gold medal was won with a jump of. Stanich was one of four competitors who cleared. While he thought he had cleared the bar on his last attempt at, his trail leg hit the bar. Officials from the International Amateur Athletic Federation initially announced that fewer misses would be used to determine the finishing places of the four tied jumpers; the IAAF then announced all four would share second place and the silver medal. Days later they reversed themselves again, and Stanich became the bronze medal winner.