Friends of Basketball

John Ulrich

Year Inducted: 2002

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations:
Palatine Immanuel Lutheran Grade School, Immaculate Conception Grade School, St. Timothy Grade School, St. Ferdinand Grade School, Northwest Suburban Chinese Language School, North Shore Catholic Conference

Biography: 

John Ulrich was a major contributor in the development of boys and girls basketball in the Chicago area for more than 50 years. He won more than 1,000 games as a coach of boys and girls junior high teams at Immaculate Conception, St. Timothy, St. Ferdinand, Northwest Suburban Chinese Language School and Palatine Immanuel Lutheran.

From 1971-76, Ulrich organized and ran 32-team boys and girls Christmas tournaments. At St. Timothy, Ulrich served as co-chairman of the North Shore Catholic Conference basketball playoff scheduling committee.

At the Northwest Suburban Chinese Language School, Ulrich ran travel basketball programs for grade school and high school Chinese/American boys. In 1988, the school won the local and regional high school boys tournament and accepted an invitation to be flown to Taiwan for a goodwill tour and games.

At Immanuel Lutheran, Ulrich scheduled and conducted summer camps for 12 years, which involved thousands of boys and girls. He also scheduled extensive boys and girls tournaments, which attracted teams from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin. He continued to run his spring and summer basketball camps through his hall of fame induction.