Vytautas Norkus - Wikiwand

Lithuanian-born American basketball player

Born28 January 1921
Kaunas, Lithuania^[1]

Died29 January 2014 (aged 93)
Waterbury, Connecticut^[1]

Height5 ft 8.5 in (1.74 m)

Weight155 lb (70 kg)

Vytautas Norkus

Vytautas Norkus in 1939

Personal information

Born

28 January 1921
Kaunas, Lithuania^[1]

Died

29 January 2014 (aged 93)
Waterbury, Connecticut^[1]

Height

5 ft 8.5 in (1.74 m)

Weight

155 lb (70 kg)

Medal record

Men's basketball

Representing Lithuania
FIBA EuroBasket
	1939 Kaunas	Team competition

Vytautas Petras Norkus (28 January 1921 – 29 January 2014^[1]) was a Lithuanian-born American basketball player. He won a gold medal with the Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1939.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Norkus was born in Kaunas and had a twin brother Algirdas.^[5]^[4] He studied at the Aušra Boys' Gymnasium.^[1]^[4] Since 1936 he started playing basketball at the age of 15.^[5]^[4] He was also interested in tennis, long jump, short-distance running and was a member of Kaunas Grandis athletic club. At Vytautas Magnus University, he studied physical education.^[1]

He was invited to join Lithuania national basketball team in 1938 which he participated in EuroBasket 1939. He became EuroBasket champion that year.^[1]

At the end of World War II in 1944 he moved to Germany, where he played for Kempten Šarūnas, a basketball team of Lithuanian emigrants.^[5] In 1949, he moved to the United States.^[6]^[4] He settled in Waterbury, Connecticut,^[6] where he worked at a bakery and at Uniroyal for 33 years.^[1] Norkus continued to participate in sports and was a member of the Knights of Lithuania.^[1]

In 2001, a book alleged that Vytautas Norkus and his brother Algirdas were complicit in the execution of Jews in Lithuania in 1941. The brothers denied the allegations, and charges were not filed.^[7]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Mirė paskutinis 1939-ųjų Europos krepšinio čempionas Vytautas Norkus". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). 2 February 2014.
↑ European Championships for Men, Lithuanian Basketball Research.
↑ Sinkevičius, Virginijus (February 5, 2014). "In memory of the last 1939 European Champion Vytautas P. Norkus". The Lithuania Tribune. Archived from the original on 2014-02-05. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
1 2 3 4 5 Stonkus, Stanislovas. "Vytautas Petras Norkus". Lietuvos sporto enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 9 August 2025.
1 2 3 "Vytautas P. Norkus". Republican American. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
1 2 "Naujausi naujakuriai". Dirva: Field. Cleveland, OH. May 20, 1949. p. 7. Retrieved September 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Singer, Stephen (April 18, 2004). "Brothers Deny War Crimes Allegations". Record-Journal. Meriden, CT. p. 15. Retrieved September 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

Sources

Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų lietuviai. (II t.) – Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras, Vilnius, 1998
Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989 – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989

v t e Lithuania squad – EuroBasket 1939 – Gold medal
Jurgėla Mažeika Norkus Andrulis Lubinas (MVP) Budriūnas Puzinauskas Baltrūnas Kriaučiūnas Ruzgys (MVP) Lesčinskas Nikolskis Petrauskas Šliūpas Coach: Lubinas

This biographical article relating to a Lithuanian basketball figure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Related Articles