John Ecker

John Ecker
Player information
Full name	John Miles Ecker
birthday	1948
place of birth	Los Angeles (CA), USA
size	200 cm
position	Power Forward / Center
college	UCLA
Clubs as active
1967–1971 UCLA Bruins 1971–1983 TuS Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Clubs as coaches
000000000 TuS 1882 Opladen 1992–1993 BG Bonn 92 1994–1995 Post-SV Telekom Bonn

John Miles Ecker (* 1948 in Los Angeles , California ) is an American-German former basketball player and coach who played in the German basketball league for TuS Bayer 04 from Leverkusen . Born in the United States, he was a teacher at the District Administrator-Lucas-Gymnasium in Opladen and has been married to Heide Ecker-Rosendahl, a double Olympic champion in athletics, since 1974 . The two have two sons, with their second-born son Danny Ecker (* 1977) a three-time Olympian in the pole vault .

While studying in his home country at the University of California at Los Angeles, Ecker played on the college's basketball team. The team called Bruins was the dominant team in US college basketball at the time under the legendary coach John Wooden and won ten NCAA Division I basketball championships in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) between 1964 and 1975 . Ecker was involved in three championships 1969-71 and played as a substitute on the position of the forward and center. Ecker's teammates initially included basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , who was still active with the Bruins under his maiden name Lew Alcindor ; later Ecker played together with Terry Schofield , who, like him, would later play in the German BBL. Another successful Bruins player Greg Lee was later Ecker's teammate at Bayer Leverkusen.

After completing his studies in his home country, Ecker came to Germany and from 1971 played for Bayer Leverkusen, who had won the double in the two previous seasons . The championship title was successfully defended with Ecker in 1972 , and the cup win in 1974 . In 1976, the Leverkusen basketball team won the double of championship and cup victory again, and another championship in 1979. Ecker's teammates at Leverkusen included national players Norbert Thimm , Dieter Kuprella , Achim Kuczmann and Rudi Kleen . Ecker is one of the most successful point collectors in the history of the record champions Leverkusen. After his active time as a player, Ecker worked as a coach in the 2nd basketball league for TuS Opladen and the fusion association BG Bonn 92 , whose professional team was absorbed into the Telekom Baskets Bonn association , which has played in the first basketball league since 1995 . In addition, Ecker supervised school teams of the District Administrator Lucas-Gymnasium, so in 2005 a basketball team he supervised with the Spöler twins, who were later active for the Bayer Giants and Giants Düsseldorf in the BBL, won the title in Youth Trained for the Olympics .

successes

• NCAA Champion: 1969, 1970, 1971
• German champion: 1972, 1976, 1979
• German cup winner: 1974, 1976

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UCLA Bruins Media Guide 09/10 - Tradition. (PDF (3.23 MB)) CSTV.com, October 22, 2009, p. 72/73 , accessed on April 16, 2010 (English, part of the UCLA Bruins season booklet). 
2. ^ UPI : Ecker helps UCLA stay on top. News.Google.com, January 12, 1970, accessed April 14, 2010 (English, repro of an article in the Ellensburg Daily Record of January 12, 1970). 
3. ↑ Michael Zeihen: Traces from 40 years. (No longer available online.) Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , May 31, 2008, archived from the original on July 25, 2008 ; Retrieved on April 14, 2010 (reproduction of an article in the Leverkusener Anzeiger local edition). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Ten years ago, basketball in Bonn was on the brink. Telekom Baskets Bonn , September 8, 2003, archived from the original on April 12, 2013 ; Retrieved on February 12, 2015 (reproduction of an article in the Bonn local edition of the Kölnische Rundschau ). 
5. ↑ District Administrator Lucas high school students are German champions in school basketball. (No longer available online.) District Administrator-Lucas-Gymnasium , May 2005, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved April 14, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.