fi rst Maccabiah Games in Israel for
Team U.S.A. As the point guard, he
helped lead the U.S. to the gold medal
game against the home country. His
grandfather was in the stands for the
game alongside his mother.

He watched closely as Kieserman
led the U.S. to an early lead before
being benched for another point guard.

Kieserman’s coach wanted the other
kid to get some playing time. In the sec-
ond half, with the lead slipping away,
Litwack slapped his knee and walked
out of the gym. Th e American team
lost with Kieserman on the bench.

Lois Kieserman had to follow her
father out of the gym because he was
in his 80s.

“He could not believe what he was
watching,” she said.

“Th at was the fi rst time that he really
saw the other side of it, where he sided
with me as a player,” Jimmy added.

Litwack died in 1999, two years aft er
becoming an inaugural member of
the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame. Kieserman played for the
United States again in the Maccabiah
Games in 1997, 2017 and 2022, playing
in divisions for men in their 40s and
50s during the latter two trips. He
never got as close to winning gold as he
did that fi rst time — he won a bronze
medal this year — but he was OK with
that in the end.

“If I was a good basketball player in
his eyes that was all that mattered,”
the grandson said. “I’m going into this
hall of fame. Th at’s the only thing that
matters.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
SUMMER IS
FOR FRIENDS!
Jimmy Kieserman played basketball for the University of Miami.

Courtesy of Steven Murphy Sports Pictures Network
Litwack’s mantra about the “seven Ps”:
“Proper preparation prevents piss-poor
performance.” “Jimmy grew up quoting that,”
Lois Kieserman said. “Pop-Pop used
to say ...”
But at the camp, Litwack would give
the opening day speech and then go sit
out on the porch, smoking his cigar.

Other coaches would ask Jimmy what
his name was; when he informed them
he was the Temple coach’s grandson,
they were surprised.

Lois Kieserman said that her father
did not ignore or separate himself from
her son. He actually encouraged young
Jimmy. He just did not want to self-pro-
mote or show favoritism.

“He would watch him play. He would
have a smile on his face,” she recalled of
her father.

Kieserman grew up to become the
captain of Abington’s varsity basket-
ball team and earn a collegiate schol-
arship. Yet throughout high school,
his grandpa spent time in Florida and
could not attend many of his games.

Every article about Kieserman men-
tioned that he was Litwack’s grandson.

But the Hall of Fame coach, who led
Temple to two NCAA Final Fours and
an NIT championship in 1969 when it
meant something, did not seem to want
to embrace the obvious narrative of his
grandson’s career.

“He was a coach’s coach,” Jimmy
said. “He separated himself.”
As Kieserman explained, though,
Litwack did not separate himself in
general. When the family came over to
his house, he would turn off the televi-
sion and start asking the kids how they
were doing in school.

And since Kieserman was a natural
athlete who also became Abington’s
No. 1 golfer and boys’ tennis player,
Litwack took an interest in those other
sports. He would take his grandson to
the driving range and watch him hit
balls for an hour. He also “would tell
everyone” about his grandson’s golfi ng
exploits, Kieserman said.

“He would say, ‘You should see him
hit a golf ball,’” Kieserman added.

Th e only validation that eluded the
grandson was the one he really wanted.

But in 1993, a year aft er he graduated
from Miami, Kieserman played in his
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