Jules Bender Signed 3x5 Card Early Basketball Player

Jules Bender (D. 1982) All-American at Long Island University, leading the Blackbirds to a 103-6 record over his career. Bender came to LIU to play for future Hall of Fame coach Clair Bee. During Bender's four-year career, the Blackbirds went a remarkable 103-6, including a perfect 24-0 in the 1935-36 season, with Bender leading the New York City metropolitan area in scoroing (a feat he also accomplished the previous season). At the completion of the 1936 season, Bender was named the winner of the inaugural Haggerty Award, presented to the top player in the metro area each year.After the 1936 season, the LIU Blackbirds were invited to try out for the 1936 Olympics, the first year in which basketball would be an event. In a move that surprised many, the largely Jewish team (including Jules Bender) boycotted the trials over the location in Berlin, Germany and the anti-semitic leanings of the country's leader Adolf Hitler. Bender was named a Consensus All-American in 1937. After his college career, Bender played in the American Basketball League for Kate Smith's Celtics, the Kingston Colonials, Wilkes-Barre Barons, Baltimore Clippers and the Paterson Crescents. We offer a very rare signed and lined 3x5 card.