Stan Szukala

Stan Szukala
Personal information
Born	June 12, 1918
Died	August 30, 2003 (aged 85); Park Ridge, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school	Carl Schurz (Chicago, Illinois)
College	DePaul (1937–1940)
Playing career	1940–1947
Position	Guard
Career history
1940–1942	Chicago Bruins
1945–1947	Chicago American Gears
Career highlights
	NBL champion (1947); 2× Second-team All-American – MSG (1939, 1940);

Stanley Szukala (June 12, 1918 – October 30, 2003) was an American basketball player. He was an All-American college player at DePaul University and played for four seasons in the American National Basketball League (NBL), a forerunner to the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a member of the 1947 NBL champion Chicago American Gears, playing alongside future Hall of Fame center George Mikan.^[1] He also would become the head coach for the Grand Rapids Rangers within the short-lived Professional Basketball League of America. Not only that, but during that brief period of time, he would enlist the future 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, as a business manager to the team to operate next to Szukala during his brief time as head coach for the Rangers.^[2]^[3]

References

↑ Jauss, Bill (September 1, 2003). "Stanley Szukala, 85: DePaul star beat champs, then became one". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
↑ Triptow, Richard F. (1997). The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears. Lake Bluff, Illinois: self-published. ISBN 0-9659280-0-4., pp. 171–172
↑ "Basketball Management – Ford in Focus". 14 March 2025.