Fallbrook High School gymnasium to be dedicated to Jack Sandschulte on January 8

FALLBROOK – On Sept. 9, the Fallbrook Union High School District Board of Trustees approved the dedication of the Fallbrook High School’s east gymnasium in memory of former Fallbrook High coach Jack Sandschulte. The name will become Jack Sandschulte Gymnasium.

A dedication ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, the date of a home basketball game with Oceanside High School. The dedication will begin with a reception at 5 p.m. in Room 201 at Fallbrook High School, followed by the program at 5:45 p.m., in the gymnasium, the dedication at 6:45 p.m., and the basketball game at 7 p.m.

The public is invited to attend the dedication event by sending an RSVP to Gina McInerny, secretary to the principal, at [email protected].

Sandschulte began his high school basketball coaching career with Cathedral High School in Los Angeles. After obtaining his master’s degree from the University of Southern California he came to Fallbrook as the Warriors’ varsity coach for the 1956-57 season. Sandschulte coached varsity boys’ basketball at Fallbrook Union High School for 25 years.

The 1972-73 season included the Avocado League championship, a 17-1 league record, and a 21-4 regular-season record. A 74-64 loss to Hoover High School in the first round of the CIF playoffs on Feb. 26 ended Fallbrook’s season and a 14-game winning streak. The 1972-73 school year also included a Feb. 9 home game against Poway with league championship implications, as both teams entered the game with 12-1 league records. It was one of the biggest games ever played at Fallbrook High School

Before Fallbrook’s return to the CIF finals in 1982, the Warriors won back-to-back Avocado League titles in 1975-76 and 1976-77 while winning 26 consecutive home games over that two-season span. The 1976-77 Warriors won 25 games, and Sandschulte earned Avocado League coach of the year honors in 1973, 1976, and 1977.

Fallbrook had a regular-season record of 19-3 in 1981-82, although two of those losses were in Avocado League competition against Vista. Sandschulte earned the Los Angeles Times San Diego Coach of the Year in 1982.

His teams won six league titles and were second or third in the league seven times. They were in the CIF finals twice. His teams were in the playoffs 17 times.

The San Diego Hall of Champions initiated the Coaching Legends program in 1999; Sandschulte was inducted in 2004.