Hoopster going to Rome
SANTA MONICA COLLEGE It might not be the Olympic Dream Team, but representing Team USA in the 12th European Maccabi Games is a huge honor for one SMC basketball player.
A freshman guard for the Corsairs, Noah Gottlieb was recently selected to play basketball with the American team in the Maccabi Games in Rome, an eight-day event beginning on July 4.
“I feel honored to even be asked to be a part of it,” Gottlieb said.
The former Venice High School standout will have the opportunity to play alongside Division 1 college players such as Derek Glasser, the starting point guard from Arizona State University, and Zach Evans from Bucknell University.
The European Maccabi Games is just one of the few regional games — along with the Australia Games and Pan Am Games — held around the quadrennial Maccabiah Games in Israel. Dubbed as the “Jewish Olympics,” the Maccabiah Games were established in 1932 to help get the new state of Israel into the Olympics, according to Jed Margolis, the executive director of Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel.
The Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel brought a team of 800 American athletes to the most recent Maccabiah Games in 2005, which drew more than 7,000 athletes from 55 countries. About 1,700 athletes from 38 countries are expected to participate in the European Maccabi Games.
“It’s an opportunity for people to feel proud of being Jewish, to represent their country and to see their world and meet their fellow Jews from around the world,” Margolis said.
Gottlieb was recommended to join the American Team by Howard Fisher, who coaches the men’s basketball team at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, SMC’s rival in the Western State Conference.
“That kind of a tournament, in the event of an injury, needs a couple of players that can play multiple positions.” — said Fisher. IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO FEEL PROUD OF BEING JEWISH, TO REPRESENT THEIR COUNTRY AND TO SEE THEIR WORLD AND MEET THEIR FELLOW JEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.” Jed Margolis, Executive Director of Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel
“He’s a pretty good competitor, just plays hard and can play both guard positions,”
Fisher coached the men’s team in the Australia games last year and had taken notice of Gottlieb when SMC took on College of the Canyons this year.
Gottlieb started playing basketball when he was 6, when his father introduced him to several sports at once, including soccer and baseball. By the time he was in fourth grade, basketball was the only sport that had really stuck.
He played his freshman year at Santa Monica High School, sat out one year, and transferred to Venice High School his junior year,where he closed out his high school basketball career playing on the varsity team in both his junior and senior years.
Though he had a couple of offers to play in Division II schools, Gottlieb, opted to join the Corsairs, where he felt he could start over academically.
In a world where there are few Jewish basketball players, it’s an honor to be able to participate in the Maccabi Games, Gottlieb said.
Though Gottlieb says he doesn’t know why there are so few Jewish basketball players, and athletes in general, he believes it might have something to do with upbringing — an emphasis on the safety of receiving a college degree and working rather than relying on athleticism for income.
Gottlieb will have to raise $5,000 for his trip to Rome and will look to raise funds in the best way he knows how — a free throw shootout at the SMC gymnasium on June 2.
In the two months that new SMC Coach Jesse Teplitzky has worked with Gottlieb, he has been impressed with the 18-year-old athlete’s work ethic and dedication to the sport.
“It’s a tremendous honor for anyone to represent our country in any international competition,” Teplitzky said. “I know he’s proud to represent this college and our country as well.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 23, 2007. Read the original PDF.