Taft Alumni Hall of Fame  TAA Logo


Jerome "Jerry" Krause, June 1957

Jerry Krause (Jan57)Growing up on the Northwest Side, Jerry wrote articles about Taft school sports and was the Aerie’s sports editor.  At Bradley University he was a baseball catcher and worked for the basketball coaching staff and was inducted into the Bradley Athletic Hall of Fame.

He switched to recruiting, spending 16 years as a scout and special assignment scout with major league teams in Cleveland, Oakland, Seattle and for the Chicago White Sox.  He shifted his sights to the NBA in 1966 and was signed by Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf in 1985.

In his years as vice president of Basketball Operations he recruited all of the stars but Michael Jordan, and brought the Bulls to their multiple world championships in the 1980s and 1990s. He was voted NBA Executive of the Year in 1987-88.

In 2003, Jerry retired as GM.  He is the only man is sports history to be an executive in both Major League Baseball and Basketball.