Alumnus, basketball star Tal Brody continues his charitable work for Israel

August 13, 2007

Thirty years ago, U of I alumnus Talbot “Tal” Brody put Israeli basketball on the international stage when his Maccabi Tel Aviv team won the European Cup Championship. He aims to make history again this October when the New York Knicks take on Brody’s team – the Knicks’ first-ever international opponent – in an exhibition game to benefit impoverished and orphaned children in Israel.

At the height of the cold war and a Soviet boycott of Israel, Middle East champion Maccabi was slated to take on Soviet Union champion ZSKA Moscow, winner of four previous European Cups, in a semifinal match. The Soviets refused to play in Tel Aviv and would not allow the Israelis to come to Moscow. Finally, Virton, Belgium was selected as a neutral game site. After Maccabi’s 91-79 defeat of Moscow, team captain Brody proclaimed, “We are on the map. And we are staying on the map, not only in sports, but in everything.”

The championship contest pitted Maccabi Tel Aviv against Italy’s Mobil Girgi in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Maccabi defeated Mobil Girgi to capture the title. At that time, winning the European Cup was considered Israel’s greatest international sporting achievement.

Brody, an All-American shooting guard at Illinois, graduated in 1965. Elected to the All Big Ten First Team and the Sporting News All-American Top Ten, he was the 13th overall selection in the 1965 NBA draft and the second pick by the Baltimore Bullets. Brody turned down the Bullets offer to complete his master’s degree in educational psychology at Illinois.

He continued his love of basketball by leading the United States squad to a gold medal in the 1965 Maccabiah Games before joining the Maccabi Tel Aviv team the following year. He was named Israel’s Sportsman of the Year after spearheading Tel Aviv’s second-place finish in the 1967 European Cup. Two years later, he led Israel to its first Maccabiah Games basketball gold medal.

During his playing career, Brody’s teams won 10 Israeli championships and six Israeli State Cups.  He appeared in 81 European Cup games, scoring nearly 1,400 points.

“It is said that there are 7,000,000 people in Israel and at least 6,000,000 of them know Tal,” said Richard Herman, Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. “Tal fondly remembers his time at Illinois and stays in touch with his alma mater. He is a source of pride for our University.”

Regarded as a national hero, Brody was the first sportsman to be awarded the Israel Prize -- the highest honor an Israeli citizen can receive – in 1980. He retired from basketball that same year, but continued as an assistant coach for his Tel Aviv team before becoming a sports commentator for Israeli television. Inducted into the Israeli Basketball Hall of Fame, Brody maintains his lifelong connection to the game. He continues to be associated with Maccabi Tel Aviv, handling special projects such as the Goodwill Games played in the U.S. and Tel Aviv against NBA teams.  

His Hoops Israel international summer basketball camp – founded four years ago with fellow Israeli basketball legends Tamir Goodman and Aulcie Perry – offers male Jewish high schoolers from around the world a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve their game. He is also involved in National Community Service Programs and is a board member in voluntary organizations such as the Spirit of Israel, which raises funds for at-risk children.

Proceeds from the historic Knicks-Tel Aviv match-up on October 11 will benefit Migdal Ohr – Hebrew for “Tower of Light” – which operates Israel’s largest youth village. The organization’s network of schools assists more than 6,500 orphaned, abused, and underprivileged Israeli children.