Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

Jackson Winters was hired to coach the varsity basketball team by Loyola College Athletic Director Jack Kennedy in October of 1962. The addition of the personable 33-year-old former University of Portland star and Harlem Globetrotter brought great optimism to the campus.

Upon his arrival, the new coach boldly told the Loyola News he expected to have a top-flight team and wanted to win the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Athletic Conference championship. Winters and his rejuvenated team delivered. They had a 10-4 win-loss record in the regular season and beat the Sir George Williams Georgians in the semifinal and the Bishop’s Gaiters in the final. It was the first ever OSL championship for the basketball team and it earned Loyola a berth at the inaugural Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union championship tournament.

Loyola also played in the City Intercollegiate Basketball League where the team hit another milestone. In November of 1962, Winters and his players defeated the Georgians 49-48, marking the first time in nearly a decade that Loyola triumphed over its crosstown rival.

Winters coached Loyola for three seasons, earning respect for his cool, even temperament and for his new methods. During his years at the college, he also worked in the field of social work and served as a player-coach in the Montreal Basketball League.

Winters eventually left Montreal and went on to great success back in the United States. He moved his wife Marilyn and children to Southern California where he worked for more than 30 years as an investment advisor and in the oil industry.