1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball season

The 1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball season began in December 1908, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1909.

HelmsNationalChampionsChicago (retroactive selection in 1943)

Player of the Year
(Helms)John Schommer, Chicago (retroactive selection in 1944)

Quick facts –09 IAAUS men's basketball season, Helms National Champions ...

1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Chicago (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	John Schommer, Chicago (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1907–08 1909–10 →

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Rule changes

A dribbler was allowed to shoot. Previously, a player could not shoot immediately after dribbling the ball.^[1]
The double dribble became illegal, with the dribble defined as "continuous passage of the ball."^[1]
A second official was added to games in an attempt to reduce rough play.^[2]

Season headlines

Chicago finished with a 12–0 record and won the Western Conference championship for a second straight season. The Maroons attempted to schedule a postseason competition for the mythical national championship with Columbia (15–1) or Pennsylvania (19–6) — both former members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League, which had collapsed after the previous season and would not resume conference play until the 1910–11 season — but without success.^[3]^[4]
In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Chicago as its national champion for the 1908–09 season.^[5]
In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Chicago as its top-ranked team for the 1908–09 season.^[6]

Conference membership changes

More information School, Former Conference ...

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Columbia Lions	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent
Cornell Big Red	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent
Penn Quakers	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent
Princeton Tigers	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent
Yale Bulldogs	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent

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Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners

More information Conference, Regular Season Winner ...

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[7]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Nebraska (North); Kansas (South)	None selected	No Tournament; Kansas was conference champion
Western Conference	Chicago	None selected	No Tournament

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Conference standings

More information Conf., Overall ...

1908–09 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
North Division
Nebraska	5	–	5	.500	8	–	15	.348
Iowa State	4	–	4	.500	4	–	10	.286
Drake	3	–	5	.375	3	–	7	.300
South Division
Kansas†	8	–	2	.800	25	–	3	.893
Missouri	3	–	5	.375	11	–	5	.688
Washington University	3	–	5	.375	3	–	5	.375

† Conference championship winner

1908–09 Western Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Chicago	12	–	0	1.000	12	–	0	1.000
Purdue	6	–	4	.600	8	–	4	.667
Wisconsin	5	–	4	.556	8	–	4	.667
Illinois	5	–	6	.455	7	–	6	.538
Minnesota	3	–	6	.333	8	–	6	.571
Indiana	2	–	6	.250	5	–	9	.357
Northwestern	1	–	4	.200	1	–	7	.125
Iowa	1	–	5	.167	8	–	7	.533

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Independents

A total of 113 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, California (10–0), New York University (13–0), Swarthmore (12–0), and Whittier (14–0) were undefeated, and Notre Dame (33–7) finished with the most wins.^[8]

More information Conf., Overall ...

1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
California		–		–	10	–	0	1.000
Illinois State		–		–	9	–	0	1.000
New Mexico		–		–	1	–	0	1.000
New York University		–		–	13	–	0	1.000
Swarthmore		–		–	12	–	0	1.000
Whittier		–		–	14	–	0	1.000
Widener		–		–	9	–	0	1.000
Columbia		–		–	15	–	1	.938
Williams		–		–	13	–	1	.929
Grinnell		–		–	12	–	1	.923
Ohio State		–		–	11	–	1	.917
Oregon Agricultural		–		–	10	–	1	.909
Trinity (N.C.)		–		–	8	–	1	.889
Hope		–		–	8	–	1	.889
Montana State		–		–	8	–	1	.889
Dayton		–		–	12	–	2	.857
Wake Forest		–		–	6	–	1	.857
Allegheny		–		–	11	–	2	.846
North Dakota		–		–	10	–	2	.833
Washington		–		–	5	–	1	.833
Wooster		–		–	10	–	2	.833
Notre Dame		–		–	33	–	7	.825
Army		–		–	9	–	2	.818
Nebraska Wesleyan		–		–	11	–	3	.786
New Mexico A&M		–		–	7	–	2	.778
Rhode Island A&M		–		–	7	–	2	.778
Pennsylvania		–		–	19	–	6	.760
Bucknell		–		–	9	–	3	.750
Wabash		–		–	9	–	3	.750
North Dakota Agricultural		–		–	11	–	4	.733
CCNY		–		–	8	–	3	.727
Navy		–		–	8	–	3	.727
Southern California		–		–	8	–	3	.727
Temple		–		–	8	–	3	.727
Butler		–		–	5	–	2	.714
Seton Hall		–		–	10	–	4	.714
Loyola (Md.)		–		–	12	–	5	.706
St. Lawrence		–		–	12	–	2	.857
Maine		–		–	7	–	3	.700
Marietta		–		–	7	–	3	.700
William & Mary		–		–	7	–	3	.700
Baylor		–		–	11	–	5	.688
Dartmouth		–		–	11	–	5	.688
Kansas State		–		–	6	–	3	.667
Michigan State		–		–	10	–	5	.667
Southwestern (Kan.)		–		–	6	–	3	.667
Texas		–		–	6	–	3	.667
Virginia		–		–	6	–	3	.667
Virginia Tech		–		–	4	–	2	.667
Denison		–		–	11	–	6	.647
Georgetown		–		–	9	–	5	.643
Brigham Young		–		–	7	–	4	.636
MIT		–		–	10	–	6	.625
Washington State		–		–	10	–	6	.625
Cincinnati		–		–	6	–	4	.600
Grove City		–		–	9	–	6	.600
St. John's (NY)		–		–	9	–	6	.600
Colorado		–		–	4	–	3	.571
Franklin		–		–	12	–	9	.571
Santa Clara		–		–	4	–	3	.571
Cornell		–		–	13	–	10	.565
Kentucky		–		–	5	–	4	.556
Washington and Lee		–		–	5	–	4	.556
Bloomsburg		–		–	6	–	5	.545
Washburn		–		–	6	–	5	.545
Colgate		–		–	7	–	6	.538
Penn State		–		–	7	–	6	.538
Fordham		–		–	13	–	12	.520
Arizona		–		–	1	–	1	.500
Lehigh		–		–	5	–	5	.500
Ohio		–		–	1	–	1	.500
Oklahoma		–		–	3	–	3	.500
VMI		–		–	3	–	3	.500
Wisconsin–Stevens Point		–		–	4	–	4	.500
Wyoming		–		–	3	–	3	.500
Yale		–		–	9	–	9	.500
Syracuse		–		–	7	–	8	.467
Akron		–		–	6	–	7	.462
Bradley		–		–	6	–	7	.462
Gettysburg		–		–	4	–	5	.444
Wesleyan (Conn.)		–		–	7	–	9	.438
Canisius		–		–	3	–	4	.429
Idaho		–		–	7	–	10	.412
Miami (Ohio)		–		–	4	–	6	.400
Westminster (Pa.)		–		–	4	–	6	.400
Fairmount		–		–	4	–	6	.400
Mount Union		–		–	7	–	11	.389
Princeton		–		–	8	–	13	.381
Denver		–		–	6	–	10	.375
Delaware		–		–	4	–	7	.364
Brown		–		–	5	–	10	.333
Davidson		–		–	1	–	2	.333
Holy Cross		–		–	4	–	8	.333
Lake Forest		–		–	3	–	6	.333
Oklahoma A&M		–		–	1	–	2	.333
Tulane		–		–	3	–	7	.300
Manhattan		–		–	4	–	10	.286
Springfield (Mass.)		–		–	2	–	5	.286
Utah		–		–	3	–	8	.273
Indiana State		–		–	2	–	7	.222
Niagara		–		–	2	–	7	.222
Trinity (Conn.)		–		–	2	–	7	.222
Union (N.Y.)		–		–	2	–	8	.200
Harvard		–		–	1	–	7	.125
Utah State		–		–	1	–	8	.111
Kalamazoo		–		–	0	–	3	.000
South Carolina		–		–	0	–	3	.000

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Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

The practice of selecting a Consensus All-American Team did not begin until the 1928–29 season. The Helms Athletic Foundation later retroactively selected a list of All-Americans for the 1908–09 season.^[9]

More information Player, Team ...

Player	Team
Biaggio Cerussi	Columbia
Julian Hayward	Wesleyan (Conn.)
Tommy Johnson	Kansas
Charles Keinath	Penn
Ted Kiendl	Columbia
Pat Page	Chicago
John Ryan	Columbia
Raymond Scanlon	Notre Dame
John Schommer	Chicago
Helmer Swenholt	Wisconsin

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Major player of the year awards

Helms Player of the Year: John Schommer, Chicago (retroactive selection in 1944)

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

More information Team, Former Coach ...

Team	Former Coach	New Coach	Reason
Akron	Dwight Bradley	Clarence Weed
Brown	J. Donald Pryor	Walter White
Butler	Jack McKay	Walter Gipe
Canisius	John Mahoney	Charles McCabe
Cincinnati	Amos Foster	C. A. Shroetter
Cornell	Walter Haggerty	David Coogan
Drake	Charles Pell	John L. Griffith
Fordham	Chris Mahoney	Edward Siskind
Indiana	Robert Harris	John Georgen
Indiana State	Eddy Conners	John Kimmell
Kansas	Phog Allen	W. O. Hamilton
Manhattan	John O'Donnell	Edward Hanrahan
Nebraska	R. G. Clapp	T. J. Hewitt
New Mexico A&M	V. Kays	George Lain
Niagara	Robert Yates	Claude Allen
North Dakota Agricultural	Paul Magoffin	Arthur Rueber
Penn	R. B. Smith	Charles Keinath
Purdue	E. J. Stewart	Ralph Jones
St. John's	P. Joseph Kersey	Harry A. Fisher
Seton Hall	William Caffrey	Dick McDonough
South Carolina	J. H. Brown	F. E. Schofield
TCU	Jesse R. Langley	Oscar Wise
Utah	Erastus Milne	Robert Richardson
Vanderbilt	Ed Hamilton	R. B. McGehee	Hamilton left to coach the baseball team.
Virginia Tech	R. M. Brown	Branch Bocock
VMI	Pete Krebs	F. J. Pratt
Wyoming	Elmer Hoefer	Harold I. Dean

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1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball season

Rule changes

Season headlines

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners

Conference standings

Independents

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Major player of the year awards

Coaching changes

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks