Sol Farber
Chicago Stags Coach | Northwestern Wildcats Basketball Player
Sol Farber, also known as Saul Farber, was born on September 30, 1910. He played college basketball at Northwestern University during the early 1930s and later coached semi-professional basketball in the Chicago area.
Farber later became involved with the Chicago Stags of the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Historical research credits Farber with serving as an interim head coach for the Stags during the 1947-1948 season while head coach Harold Olsen was recovering from an illness. He later served as an assistant coach for the Stags during their final season in 1949-1950.
Coach Farber passed away in September 1980 at the age of 69.
- Overall Coaching Record: 2-6 as interim head coach (Historical Record)
Coaching Career
During the 1947-1948 season, Chicago Stags head coach Harold Olsen became seriously ill with pneumonia and was forced to step away from the team. Assistant coach Phil Brownstein initially took over the team on an interim basis before returning to his full-time job outside of professional basketball.
Farber was then named the interim head coach until Olsen was able to return. Historical research credits Farber with coaching 8 games and going 2-6 before Olsen returned to the team in February 1948.
Farber’s interim coaching stint is not currently included in the official NBA coaching records, making his time as head coach one of the lesser-known parts of early BAA history. The Stags finished the season with a 28-20 record and reached the BAA playoffs.
Notable Players Coached
- Max Zaslofsky
- 4× All-BAA/NBA selection
- 1948 BAA Scoring Champion
- 1952 NBA All-Star
- Andy Phillip
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1961)
- 1957 NBA Champion
- Future NBA Head Coach
Farber returned to the Chicago Stags coaching staff during the 1949-1950 season as an assistant coach under head coach Phil Brownstein.
The Stags finished the regular season with a 40-28 record and qualified for the playoffs. Chicago lost a Central Division tiebreaker to the Fort Wayne Pistons before facing the Minneapolis Lakers in the Division Semifinals, where they were eliminated in 2 games.
The 1949-1950 season became the final season in Chicago Stags franchise history as the team folded before the following NBA season.
Notable Players Coached
- Max Zaslofsky
- 4× All-BAA/NBA selection
- 1948 BAA Scoring Champion
- 1952 NBA All-Star
- Andy Phillip
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1961)
- 1957 NBA Champion
- Future NBA Head Coach
- Kenny Rollins
- 1948 Olympic Gold Medalist