Sports run in the blood! American tennis star, J.J. Wolf is currently running the headlines because he’s going to face the world number 3, Carlos Alcaraz in the first round of the 2024 French Open. But do you know the person who started the Wolf legacy way back in way back in the 1960s? J.J. Wolf’s grandfather, Charles Anthony Wolf was born on May 7, 1926, in Covington, Kentucky in the US. He was an American professional basketball coach who had coached two NBA teams: Cincinnati Royals (1960-1963) and Detroit Pistons (1963-1964).

Charles Wolf starred in football, baseball, and basketball for the Bombers. He graduated in 1944 and was inducted into St. Xavier’s inaugural Hall of Fame class. After high school, he went to the University of Notre Dame for one year. He played football at the University of Notre Dame. He planted the seed of sports in his family and the trees are still growing their branches wide and long! In total, 26 of Wolf’s relatives have taken up a sport at either the collegiate or professional level from baseball to basketball, volleyball, boxing, soccer, tennis, and even track & field. Charley Wolf is quite a popular figure in that part of the world.

Charles Wolf has even worked with ‘the Big O’ Oscar Robertson during his tenure with the Cincinnati Royal. Robertson was with the Cincinnati Royals from 1960 to 1970. He later on became a 12-time All-Star and 11-time member of the All-NBA Team.

Wolf had even coached basketball and baseball at Villa Madonna, which is now known as Thomas More University. Just before his next endeavor, Charles Wolf met his wife Loraine, who was on the Paul Dixon Show on television. Just after completing his stint with the Detroit Pistons, both Charley and Loraine moved back to Cincinnati. Over there, he started a rental car business that was eventually bought out by another company. The legendary NBA coach had six sons with his wife Loraine including Steve Wolf who is a college basketball analyst for CBS Sports Network and J.J. Wolf’s father Jeff Wolf (former tennis player & Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Famer). 

J.J. Wolf’s grandfather died at the age of 96 on November 26, 2022. But the 25-year-old American tennis star still recalls his fond memories with his grandfather. Once during an interview, he recalled, “My grandpa, one day each tournament, every year, would take all of the cousins to go watch the matches.” His family is full of athletes, but J.J. Wolf strongly believes his grandfather was built quite differently and he’s very much proud of what he has done throughout his life.

“My grandfather is a pretty big deal” – J.J. Wolf

Coming from a line of superstar athletic genes adds an extra bit of pressure to perform well on the global stage. Despite having so many talented athletes around him, J.J. Wolf believes Charley Wolf was the best athlete in the Wolf Family. Reflecting on what his grandfather did throughout his life, J.J. Wolf once said, “He played baseball, basketball, football at Notre Dame. [He played in the Cincinnati] Reds organisation, and coached in the NBA. He did it all, he started tennis at like 50 and played until he was 93.“

The American tennis star further went on to reflect a bit on how big the name of Charles Wolf is in Cincinnati. Wolf added, “If you go anywhere in Cincinnati, someone is going to know one of us. My grandfather is a pretty big deal. When I played Cincy qualifying [Western & Southern Open] for the first time, all the questions from the local news sites were about my grandfather coming out to watch. All of us got our starts because of him.” Share what are your thoughts on this legendary sports-loving family.