Joe Jares (2015) - USC Athletics Hall of Fame

Joe Jares

Induction:
2015
Class:
1959

Sportswriter Joe Jares covered the Southland sports scene, including Trojan athletics, since his days as the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. The 1959 USC graduate and one-time freshman basketball player went on to be a reporter for Los Angeles Herald-Express, UPI, Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated before becoming the sports editor and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News and then a contributor for USC Report. He also taught a sportswriting class at USC. Jares and John Robinson co-wrote “Conquest: A Cavalcade of USC Football” in 1981, a coffee-table book that details in words and pictures the history of the Trojan gridiron program. Among the other books Jares authored are “Whatever Happened to Gorgeous George?,” about the early days of pro wrestling (Jares’ father was a wrestler), as well as “Clyde,” “Basketball: The American Game,” “White House Sportsmen,” “The Athlete’s Body” and “The Golden Age of College Tennis.” He died on July 2, 2016, at age 78.