Jerry Bush (1914-1976)

Teams coached: Toledo Rockets, Nebraska Cornhuskers
Toledo record: 127-58 (.686)
Nebraska record: 81-132 (.380)
Overall record: 208-190 (.523)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  1  (1954)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  0
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  0
• MAC Regular Season Champion:  1  (1954)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1954-1963	Nebraska
1947-1954	Toledo

Jerry Bush Facts

• Gerard Leon Bush
• Born September 6, 1914
• Died October 27, 1976
• Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
• Alma Mater: St. John’s University (BA, 1938)
• Played basketball at St. John’s for head coaches James “Buck” Freeman and Joe Lapchick
• Went on to play professionally in the NBL (precursor to the NBA) and ABL for four different teams over ten seasons
  • Played for the Akron Firestone Non-Skids, Wilmington Bombers, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons and Toledo Jeeps
    • Won 4x NBL championships as a player (1939, 1940, 1944, 1945) and 1x ABL championship (1942)
    • Named All-NBL First Team in 1939 and Second Team in 1943, 1944 and 1945
• Started his coaching career in 1947, taking over as head coach of the Toledo Rockets while still playing for the Jeeps
  • Went 127-58 in seven seasons at Toledo, culminating in a MAC title and NCAA Tournament berth in 1954
  • Inducted into the Toledo Athletics Hall of Fame (c/o 1986)
• Left Toledo for Nebraska in 1954, leading the Cornhuskers program for the next nine years
  • Did not achieve the same level of success, going just 81-132 during that tenure and finishing below .500 every season
  • Retired from coaching in 1963 with 208 total head coaching victories
• Died of an apparent heart attack at age 62; survived by his wife, Asta, and their three daughters, Bonnie, Karen and Jane
  • Bush’s grandson is Fred Hoiberg, a former NBA player-turned-coach who is currently the head coach at Nebraska

Jerry Bush Coaching Tree

• Bob Nichols (Toledo)