PHILADELPHIA – University of Pennsylvania senior
Jake Silpe, who recently completed his college basketball career with the Quakers, has been named to the Open Men's Basketball Team for Maccabi USA and will be part of the team when it competes at the 15th European Maccabi Games from July 28-August 7, 2019 in Budapest, Hungary.
Silpe and the rest of the Open Men's Basketball Team were named by Maccabi USA Basketball Chair Adam Chaskin along with Open Men's head coach Jake Rauchbach—a former assistant coach at Drexel and Temple—and assistant coach Jeff Wulbrun, currently the James C. Gaither Associate Head Coach at Stanford University.
Silpe—who will graduate from Penn in May—played in all 31 games for Penn this season, making nine starts including each of the Quakers' last six games. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, had 48 assists, and was second on the team with 40 steals and fourth with 30 three-point baskets. He also had seven double-figure scoring games. A member of Penn's Ivy League championship team a year ago and the Quakers' Big 5 title team this past season, Silpe finished his career with 95 appearances for the Quakers, scoring 396 points and recording 209 rebounds, 163 assists and 80 steals.
Silpe's teammates on the Open Men's Basketball Team include Eli Abaev (Austin Peay); Robbie Feinberg (Harvard); Michael Feinberg (Yale); Spencer Freedman (Harvard); Grant Greenberg (University of Saint Mary/Kansas City Tornadoes); Jeremy Horn (Claremont McKenna); Sam Iorio (American); Austin Lavitt (Case Western Reserve); Julian Marx (Grinnell/Ireland ProA); Daniel Schreier (Manhattan); and Jared Wulbrun (Cal Lutheran).
In all, Maccabi USA will bring more than 200 athletes to the European Games; they will join 2,000 other Jewish athletes from 29 countries, participating in 22 different sports. The Games are a high-level athletic competition for Jewish athletes all over the world aimed at connecting Jews from the Diaspora. They are hosted by the European Maccabi Confederation and conducted in cooperation with Maccabi World Union. They are held every four years, two years after the Maccabiah is held.
Maccabi USA builds Jewish pride through sports, generating the emotional intensity, high ideals, and powerful camaraderie of competition. The organization connect athletes, volunteers, and supporters with the global Jewish community. These athletic, educational, and cultural experiences build Jewish identity, perpetuate Jewish continuity worldwide, and strengthen support for the State of Israel.
About the organization:
Maccabi USA (MUSA) is a federally-recognized not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with an extensive history of enriching Jewish lives through athletic, cultural and educational programs. The organization is the official sponsor of the United States Team to the World Maccabiah Games, and the Pan American and European Maccabi Games, as well as a sponsor of the JCC Maccabi Games for teens in North America. As the official Maccabi representative in the U.S., Maccabi USA supports Jewish athletic endeavors, enhanced by cultural and educational activities in the United States, Israel and throughout the Diaspora.
MUSA develops, promotes and supports international, national and regional athletic-based activities and facilities It strives to provide Jewish athletes all over the world the opportunity to share their heritage and customs in competitive athletic settings. MUSA supports programs that embody the Maccabi ideals of Jewish Continuity, Zionism and Excellence in Sport. Maccabi USA Builds Jewish Pride Through Sports.
Maccabi USA has been selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) as a Multi-Sport Organization (MSO). The nonprofit organization becomes one of 35 MSOs nationwide to be recognized by the USOC for its ability to cultivate a national interest in sport and increase opportunities for participation internationally, nationally and at the grassroots level.
