Jewish basketball player Aaron Liberman. Photo: Yossi Goldstein.
Northwestern’s walk-on freshman Aaron Liberman got his first in-game action in the NCAA’s Big Ten basketball conference on Sunday, becoming the first player in the conference’s history to ever wear a Yarmulke during a game.
The 6-foot-10 power forward/center didn’t register a stat during his one minute appearance in the 74-51 blowout loss to Michigan, but became only the second player in Division-I history to wear a Yarmulke during competition.
The other player, of course, was Tamir Goodman, nicknamed the “Jewish Jordan,” who played for Towson in 2000 and 2001 before moving to Israel to ply his craft in the Holy Land.
Northwestern is providing Liberman with a purple-and-white head covering for all home games, and a purple-and-black one for the road.
Liberman also plans to wear tzitzit underneath his jersey, a Northwestern spokesperson confirmed, and he isn’t shy about his heritage.
Liberman spent a year studying in Israel after finishing high school in Los Angeles, where he led Valley Torah High School to a 25-5 record and a California Inter Scholastic Southern Section title during his senior year.
That was the first time a Jewish school of any sort had claimed a section title in basketball in the State of California.