With “March Madness” in full swing, the Ledger took a look back at some of the Jewish basketball coaches and players who have
excelled in NCAA tournaments.
To do that, we turned to the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum for help. Housed in the Suffolk Y JCC in Commack, N.Y., the Hall of Fame includes outstanding professional Jewish figures from a variety of sports. The organization also inducts distinguished Jewish high school and college sports figures. Highlighted here are several basketball coaches and players who have excelled in NCAA tournaments and are Hall of Fame honorees.
For more information about the Hall of Fame and its 20th annual induction ceremony, on Sunday, Apr. 29: www.jewishsports.org

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Shay Doron

Shay Doron
Inducted Apr. 30, 2006
As a junior guard, Doron helped lead the University of Maryland women’s basketball team to the school’s first NCAA Championship in women’s basketball in 2006.
Born in Ramat HaSharon, Israel to Yehuda and Tamari Doron, she played basketball for Rotberg High School in Ramat HaSharon, and led her team to three state championships and two cup championships. Hoping to play basketball in college, and dreaming of playing professionally in the WNBA, she moved to New York to play her junior and senior years for the renowned Christ the King Regional High School women’s basketball team. She was the only Jewish/Israeli student among 1,800 Catholic students. Doron was the first girls’ basketball player from New York to be named a McDonald’s All American, and she was Gatorade Player of the Year during her last two seasons. She is the first U  of Maryland Terrapin since 1993 to be named a Kodak/WBCA Region II All-American. She was First Team All-ACC, Maryland’s first since 1994. Shay’s 39 points against Florida State on Jan. 16, 2005 tied a school record. In international competition, Doron guided the Under-20 Israeli National Team to the 2005 Division B European Championships, the first-ever international tournament title for an Israeli women’s team. In 2005, Shay also led the U.S. women’s team to the gold medal at the Maccabi Games.

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Seth Greenberg

Seth Greenberg
Inducted Apr.18, 2010
Seth Greenberg has been head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies men’s basketball team since 2004. In his first five seasons, he led the Hokies to an overall record of 100-70. After his initial season coaching the team in the Big East, he guided the Hokies through their first two full seasons in the Atlantic Coach Conference starting in 2004-2005, earning the team a first-round bye in the ACC tournament and their first post-season tournament appearance since 1996 with a trip to the NIT.
Greenberg’s success in 2005 earned him the ACC Coach of the Year award, given by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. He repeated this achievement in 2008.
In 2008, Greenberg bought 3,000 tickets for students in all three NIT games, played in Cassell Coliseum at Virginia Tech. During the 2006-2007 season, Greenberg led the Hokies to signature victories against #5 Duke on the road and #1 UNC at home in an eight-day span. The victories landed the Hokies in the AP Top 25 for the first time in over
a decade, and earned their first NCAA tournament appearance since the 1995-1996 season. They received a #5 seed in the West bracket, but fell to Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the second round. Another highlight in Greenberg’s career came on Jan. 21, 2009, when the Hokies defeated #1 Wake Forest 78-1. At the time, Wake Forest was the only remaining undefeated team in the nation.
Prior to coming to Virginia Tech in 2003, Greenberg was the head coach at the University of South Florida, where he amassed a record of 108-100. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Long Beach State University for six seasons, leading the 49ers to a record of 105-70, second behind legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian for the most wins in the program’s history.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Greenberg served as the chairman of the organizing committee of AllCoachesCare.com, an online sports memorabilia auction site to benefit Habitat for Humanity and aid in their efforts in helping to rebuild the Gulf Coast. He appeared numerous times on television and radio to promote this cause.
Greenberg has also worked as an analyst for College Sports Television’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament. He is often a guest on national, regional, and local sports talk shows, including ESPN Radio and the “Jim Rome Show.”

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Bruce Pearl

Bruce Pearl

Inducted June 8, 2008
Bruce Pearl was named the 17th coach in University of Tennessee history on Mar. 28, 2005. Before coming to Tennessee, Pearl led the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana to nine NCAA Tournaments, six Sweet 16s, a national championship in 1995, and a runner-up finish in 1994. He then moved to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he directed the Panthers to the Sweet 16 of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
In 15 seasons as a head coach, Pearl has compiled a 363-103 career record that includes a 46-19 record in two years in Tennessee. His teams have received post-season bids 14 times and have advanced to the Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament eight times. He has been named league coach of the year five times. His teams have registered at least 20 wins 14 times, including a school record of 26 at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005.
In 2005, Pearl led the Panthers to the most successful season in school history. In addition to winning regular season and conference tournament titles, UWM set a school record with 26 wins and made its first-ever appearance in the Sweet 16. During the Panthers’ run to the Sweet 16, Pearl received national acclaim, including being named a finalist for the Phelan Award.
Southern Indiana, a Division II school, was Pearl’s first head coaching opportunity. Inheriting a team that had won only 10 games the previous season, Pearl’s first squad at USI posted a 22-7 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Over the next nine seasons, the Screaming Eagles posted a 231-46 (.834) record and won four Great Lakes Valley Conference championships. They received NCAA Tournament bids in each of Pearl’s nine seasons and advanced to the Sweet 16 six times. After winning the national championship in 1995, Pearl was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Coach of the Year. Twice (1993 and 1994) he was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year, and in 2000, he garnered NABC Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year honors. Late in the 2000 season, Pearl earned his 200th career win, making him the fastest coach in NCAA history to reach the 200-victory mark at one school. Needing just 240 games, Pearl easily broke the record of 250 that had been held by North Carolina State’s Everett Case.
In 2001, Pearl’s final season at USI, the Screaming Eagles earned their sixth No.1 national title over a seven-season period while posting a 26-4 record and winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship.

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Leonard Rosenbluth

Leonard Rosenbluth
Inducted Apr. 29, 2007
In 1957, University of Kansas’ seven-foot giant, Wilt Chamberlain, was the most intimidating collegiate player in the U.S. But University of North Carolina’s 6’5” Lennie Rosenbluth was the country’s best player. The Tarheels’ consensus All-America led UNC to a 1957 undefeated season of 32-0 and the NCAA championship. Rosenbluth registered 27.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during the regular season. The Helms Hall of Fame named him “Collegiate Player of the Year.” The ‘57 NCAA title launched the Tarheels’ long and successful winning tradition and reputation as the “cradle for development” of basketball superstars.
In 1956, Rosenbluth led the Tarheels in scoring, with 26.7 points per game, and his All-America honors were split between various first- and second-team selections. In 1957, Rosenbluth and the university’s basketball program produced the first undefeated AAC team to win the NCAA. The ’57 final game match-up produced one of college basketball’s greatest battles, as Rosenbluth’s Tarheels defeated Chamberlain’s Kansas Jayhawks 54-53 in triple overtime. The UNC forward scored 20 points in the championship final, was the tournament’s overall top scorer with 28 points per game, and was named to the All-Tournament Team. In 1989, when the NCAA selected five ‘All-Decade Final Four’ teams, Rosenbluth was named to the All-1950s team. He is also a member of the Helms College Basketball Hall of Fame, and is listed as one of the “100 Greatest College Players of All Time.”
Lennie Rosenbluth’s honors include: three-time All-ACC selections (1955-1957); 1957 ACC Player and Athlete of the Year; MVP of the ‘57 ACC Tournament; and All-Tournament at three Dixie Classics. He and UNC’s Antawn Jamison, and Duke’s Christian Laettner are the only collegians to be named NCAA National Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP, and NCAA regional MVP in the same season.
As of 2005, the North Carolina court legend still holds eight Tarheel basketball records, including most points in a single season (895), and highest single season average (28.0). Rosenbluth was selected by the Philadelphia Warriors in the first round of the 1957 NBA draft and played for the Philadelphia Warriors from 1957 to 1959.

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Jonathan Scheyer

Jonathan Scheyer
Inducted Apr. 18, 2010
Jon Scheyer is a 6’ 5” guard on Duke 2010 NCAA Championship men’s basketball team, who moved over from shooting guard to point guard toward the end of the 2008-09 season. A high school All-American, he once scored 21 points in 75 seconds of play during a high school game. He played for Duke, for whom he was the MVP of the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. In March 2010, Scheyer was the only college basketball player under consideration for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, and the Bob Cousy Award. He is also considered one of the top candidates for the ACC Player of the Year Award.
Scheyer received a scholarship offer from Marquette University as an 8th grader. He attended Glenbrook North High School in Illinois, where he led the Glenbrook North Spartans to an Elite Eight appearance in the state playoffs three out of four years from 2003 to 2006, and an Illinois state championship as a junior. The Glenbrook North Spartans state championship team is the only high school state championship basketball squad known to have included an all-Jewish starting line-up.
Scheyer came to national fame in his senior year by scoring 21 points in 75 seconds of play during a one-man comeback effort in the last minute and a half of a high school game. He is the fourth leading scorer in Illinois state history, with 3,034 points, and is the only player in state history to finish his career ranked in the all-time top 10 in points, rebounds, steals, and assists.
As a freshman at Duke in 2006-07, Scheyer was in the Blue Devils starting lineup and led the team in three-point field goals attempted, free throws attempted, and free throw percentage (.846; third in the Atlantic Coast Conference). He was an ACC All-Freshman Team selection and three-time ACC Rookie of the Week selection. He tied the Duke freshman record with 115 free throws, and had a string of 40 consecutive free throws, the third-longest streak in Duke history. He was named one of three captains of the Duke Blue Devils for the 2008-09 season.
Scheyer was named the MVP of the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, after scoring 29 points in the title game. Reflecting his off-the-court accomplishments, he was a 2009 ACC Academic Honor Roll selection.
On Dec. 2, 2009, Scheyer became the first Duke player to record 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 250 assists, 200 three-point field goals, and 150 steals for a career. On Dec.16, 2009, he scored 24 of a career-high 36 points in the first half, to lead Duke past Gardner-Webb University. He shot 11 of 13, and hit a career-best seven three-pointers, while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out nine assists. As of Dec.19, he was leading the nation with a 6.4:1 assist-turnover ratio.
According to Doug Gottlieb of ESPN, Scheyer is probably not an NBA player, but as a  Jew, he could get an Israeli passport and he would be one of the most coveted players ever for a team like Maccabi Tel Aviv.