Behr, Louie

Louis Behr

Louie played basketball for the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the 1920s and was the team's captain in 1928. He was the older brother of Sammy Behr, a star football player at the University of Wisconsin.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. March 20, 1906 - d. Nov. 1946

Career Highlights:
Behr was an outstanding schoolboy basketball player at Rockford High School, leading his team to the Illinois State High School tournament in 1923. That year, Rockford had a regular season record of 19-1 and made it to the state championship game, where they lost to Villa Grove. Behr, who scored a tournament-high 31 points in two games, was named to the all-tournament team.

After graduating from Rockford, Behr attended the University of Wisconsin and played three seasons of varsity basketball. As a sophomore in 1926, he was the Big Ten's third-leading scorer with 8.6 points per game, and the Badgers finished 4-8 in conference (8-9 overall).

The following year, the Badgers improved their overall record as well as their standing in the Big Ten. Behr was the conference's seventh-leading scorer with 82 points in Big Ten play, and Wisconsin finished fourth in the conference with a record of 7-5 (10-7 overall). As a senior in 1928, Behr was the team captain and led Wisconsin to a 13-4 overall record and a fourth place finish in the Big Ten (9-3).

According to Peter Levine in Ellis Island to Ebbets Field, in 1928, Behr was awarded the Kenneth Sterling Day Award, which was given annually to a Wisconsin senior of "reasonable intellectual and athletic ability [and an example of] Christian character." Behr, the first Jew to win the award, had an 89.5 average as an economics major (the highest average among all conference athletes), was a member of the National Honorary Economics Society, and was elected to Wisconsin's honor society as a junior and senior. Behr also served as the president of Wisconsin's B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation.

When asked how a Jew could be honored with an award for "Christian character," the chairman of the selection committee explained that the term 'Christian' meant "possession of certain qualities" regardless of religion. Behr's honor gained national recognition, but when asked about the award, the humble basketball player emphasized the role of his parents and his Orthodox religious beliefs.

Origin:
Illinois

Career Dates:
Behr played at Wisconsin from 1926-1928.

< Previous |  Next >