Ernie Grunfeld, born in Romania to Holocaust survivors, came to the United States with his parents at an age nine and grew up in Forest Hills, New York, where he became an outstanding high school basketball forward. He enrolled at UT in 1973. In the ensuing four years, he set a school scoring record of 2,249 points.
In his last three years at UT, Grunfeld was part of the most highly publicized basketball attractions in the nation—“the Ernie and Bernie Show.” He teamed up with Bernard King to dominate Southeastern Conference scoring for three seasons. Grunfeld was first team All-SEC for all four years as a Vol and was All America for the last two years. He played on US teams in International Cup and Pan American Games competition and was a member of the gold-medal US Olympic basketball team that won the gold medal in Montreal.
When Grunfeld signed a large bonus contract with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1977, he established the Ernie Grunfeld Scholarship Fund at UT, donating a handsome gift. He played for the Bucks (1977–79), the Kansas City Kings (1979–82), and the New York Knicks (1982–86). He then became a broadcaster, assistant coach, director of administration, and vice president for Player Development, and vice president and general manager for the Knicks. In 1999 he became general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks and then moved on to the Washington Wizards as president of basketball operations.