Max Glickman

Max Glickman was born on November 9, 1897, in Tennessee to Isaac Glickman and Katie Heiner. His family lived in Jellico during his early childhood, and he later attended Pineville High School in Kentucky. He entered the University of Kentucky with an interest in medicine and became involved in athletics, music, and fraternity life.

A 5-foot-9 guard, Glickman earned his basketball letter during the 1917–18 season under coach Stanley “Daddy” Boles. He appeared in nine games without scoring, but contemporary accounts reveal a contribution that scoring totals cannot convey. His defensive work earned repeated praise from the Kentucky Kernel, which recognized him as a capable member of a team that swept four games from Tennessee.

Against Tennessee, Glickman drew one of the season’s most colorful tributes. The Kernel compared his defense to Cerberus guarding the gates of the underworld, describing how he pursued an advancing Volunteer and stayed with him until he disrupted the attack. In its season assessment, the newspaper again praised Glickman and fellow guard Anthony Dishman, suggesting that greater playing opportunities would have brought them recognition comparable to other leading players in the state.

Glickman also helped Kentucky defeat Centre, 22–20, on February 21, 1918, in a struggle that required three overtime periods. Henry Thomas supplied the winning basket, while Glickman and Dishman earned the Kernel’s praise for their energetic defense against Centre’s forwards. The university yearbook remembered the contest as Kentucky’s best game of the season.

Away from the court, Glickman belonged to Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, the Pre-Medical Society, and the “K” Association. He also played E-flat clarinet in the university band. His older brother David attended Kentucky as well and shared his involvement in Sigma Alpha Mu and the band, where David played trombone.

After leaving Kentucky in 1918, Glickman entered Columbia University’s medical college. There he enlisted in the Student Army Training Corps and contracted an illness from which he never recovered. His health remained poor for more than two years, cutting short the future he had begun preparing for as a premedical student in Lexington.

Glickman died in May 1921 at age 23 at Kenilworth Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina; the Kentucky Kernel reported the date as May 10. His body was taken to Baltimore for funeral services and burial. He was survived by his mother, his sister Bessie, and two brothers. Reporting his death, the Kernel remembered both his participation in Kentucky athletics and the kind, pleasing character that had endeared him to his university friends. His Kentucky career was brief, but the surviving accounts preserve the story of a respected defender and aspiring physician whose life ended far too soon.