Career
The 6 foot 8 in. (203 cm) Gruenig is considered as one of the game"s first great big mentor The Chicago, Illinois native led his high school, Crane Technical, to the Chicago Public High School League championship in 1931. He attended Northwestern University, but withdrew after his freshman year without having played for the varsity.
While playing for several Amateur Athletic Union teams in the following decade, Gruenig was named Amateur Athletic Union All-America 10 times (1937-1940, 1942-1946, 1948).
Furthermore, he led the Denver Safeway (1937), Denver Nuggets (1939) and Denver American Legion (1942) teams to Amateur Athletic Union championships. On August 11, 1963, Gruenig was enshrined to the Basketball Hall of Fame.