Two former local stars lead U.S. into Maccabiah Games

Thursday, July 9, 2009 | by amanda pazornik & marc brodsky

Sandwiched between less experienced players on this year’s men’s basketball squad, Dan Grunfeld’s name — in the words of head coach Bruce Pearl — has become synonymous with “powering the team.”

Grunfeld, a former Stanford standout, is part of a 900-member contingent that will represent the United States at the 18th Maccabiah Games Sunday, July 12 to July 23 in Israel.

The U.S. athletes will be among some 8,000 Jewish athletes from more than 60 countries participating in the so-called Jewish Olympics, which are held every four years.

Participants as young as 16 will compete, as will high-profile stars such as U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak, a three-time Olympic gold medalist who decided to compete in this year’s Maccabiah Games rather than in the upcoming World Swimming Championships in Rome.

Opening ceremonies will be held July 13 at Ramat Gan Stadium. Twenty-eight sports will be contested in the open competitions, with 17 for juniors, four for youth and 13 for older athletes.

In his senior year at Stanford, Grunfeld, now 25, started 29 of the Cardinal’s 30 games, averaging 12 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He capped his collegiate career by being named to the Pac-10’s All-Academic first team. After graduating, the 6-foot-6 native of New Jersey went undrafted but played two years of pro ball in Europe; the New York Knicks signed him before last season, but he was cut at training camp.

Joining the 6-foot-6 Grunfeld on the men’s open squad will be another non-Californian who played for a Bay Area college team, Todd Golden from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga. The 6-foot-2 Arizona native played four years for the Gaels, helping lead them to the NCAA Tournament as a senior, when he averaged seven points and 2.6 assists per game. He currently plays for the Maccabi Haifa Heat of the Israeli Super League.

Burlingame resident Daniel Winters will compete with the U.S. men’s masters basketball team, and Jeremiah Kreisberg of Berkeley will play for the youth cohort. 

The host nation easily outdistanced the field in medals five years ago, bringing home 594 to 227 for the runner-up United States. The Israelis won 228 golds to 73 for the second-place United States.

Pearl, who has spent four seasons guiding the University of Tennessee, and enjoyed hugely successful tenures at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Division II University of Southern Indiana, says he hopes to improve on the bronze medal for men’s open basketball that the United States earned in 2005.

But, he adds, it will be challenging for his young squad to reach the championship game. That’s where Grunfeld comes in.

Grunfeld’s father, Ernie, a standout at the University of Tennessee and a solid NBA performer, averaged 20 points as a high school player for the U.S. team that earned a silver in the 1973 Maccabiah Games.

For Pearl, 49, his first trip to Israel will be a family affair: Son Steven is playing for the U.S. squad, daughter Jacqui is the team manager, and parents Bernie and Barbara from Boynton Beach, Fla., are coming along. His fiancée will be joining him, too.

While Pearl may be a Maccabiah novice, women’s field hockey coach Mim Chappell-Eber will be making her fifth appearance, her third as a coach. “Being there representing the United States as an American Jew,  you just become more immersed in the religious culture,” Chappell-Eber says.

For a complete list of Bay Area athletes at the Maccabiah Games, visit

www.jweekly.com/maccabiah.

Amanda Pazornik is a j. staff writer. Marc Brodsky is a JTA staff writer.