Oosterbaan, "Bennie" (Benjamin G.)
Basketball, Football
b. Feb. 4, 1906, Muskegon, MI
d. Oct. 25, 1990
A baseball, basketball, and football star in high school, Oosterbaan was named to an All-American team as a senior after his school took part in the national interscholastic basketball tournament in Chicago in 1924. That was just the beginning. At the University of Michigan, he was a three-time All-American end in football and twice an All-American forward in basketball.
With quarterback Benny Friedmann, Oosterbaan formed one of college football's first great passing combinations in 1925. Friedmann threw 12 touchdown passes that season and Oosterbaan caught 6 of them. He was also a good passer. In the fashion of the day, Oosterbaan was often used on end-around plays or pulled into the backfield for a passing play. Against Ohio State in 1927, his senior season, he threw touchdown passes of 20 and 50 yards.
The 6-foot, 190-pounder had large hands that enabled him to make some spectacular catches. New York sportswriter George Trevor, who put Oosterbaan on his all-time All-American team in 1929, called him "probably the greatest of all pass receivers."
In basketball, he led the Western Conference (Big Ten) in field goals with 50 in 1926-27 and in field goals with 57 and scoring with 129 points in 1927-28. He batted .469 for the Michigan baseball team as a senior.
After graduating, Oosterbaan turned down offers to play professional football and baseball. He became an assistant football coach at Michigan instead. He was named head coach in 1948 and remained through the 1958 season, winning 63 games while losing 33 and tying 4.
The 1948 Michigan team won all nine of its games and shared the national championship with Notre Dame. Oosterbaan was named coach of the year.