1934–35 NCAA men's basketball season

1934–35 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National ChampionsLSU
Player of the Year
(Helms)		Leroy Edwards, Kentucky (retroactive selection in 1944)

The 1934–35 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1934, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1935.

Rules changes

The regulation basketball was reduced in circumference, from 32 inches (81 cm) to between 29.5 and 30.25 inches (74.9 and 76.8 cm).[1]

Season headlines

  • Ned Irish began to promote college basketball doubleheaders between New York City-area teams at Madison Square Garden and intersectional games there between New York City-area teams and teams from other regions.[2] The first intersectional game — an NYU 25–18 victory over Notre Dame on December 29, 1934 — drew 16,138 fans, a world record for attendance at a college basketball game.[2] In the next game on January 5, 1935, NYU defeated Kentucky 23–22 before another new world record crowd of 16,539.[2][3] After the NYU–Kentucky game, Kentucky head coach Adolph Rupp called for the creation of a round-robin national championship college basketball tournament.[2]
  • The American Legion Bowl, promoted as a basketball game "for the national collegiate championship," took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the end of the season.[2] LSU defeated Pittsburgh 41–37 and called itself the national collegiate basketball champion for the 1934–35 season, although this assertion was unofficial.[2][4]

Conference membership changes

School Former conference New conference
Brooklyn Bulldogs Metropolitan New York Conference Non-major basketball program
Bucknell Bison Eastern Intercollegiate Conference Independent
Butler Bulldogs Missouri Valley Conference Independent
CCNY Beavers Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Fordham Rams Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Long Island Blackbirds Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Manhattan Jaspers Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
NYU Violets Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Pratt Cannoneers Metropolitan New York Conference Non-major basketball program
St. Francis (NY) Terriers Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
St. John's Redmen Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Tulsa Golden Hurricane Independent Missouri Valley Conference
Washburn Ichabods Independent Missouri Valley Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference Regular
season winner[5] 		Conference
player of the year 		Conference
tournament 		Tournament
venue (City) 		Tournament
winner
Big Six Conference Iowa State None selected No Tournament
Big Ten Conference Illinois, Purdue, & Wisconsin None selected No Tournament
Border Conference Texas Tech None selected No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Penn None selected No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Conference Pittsburgh & West Virginia None selected No Tournament;
Pittsburgh defeated West Virginia in a single-game conference playoff
Metropolitan New York Conference Did not play as a conference
Missouri Valley Conference Creighton & Drake None selected No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference Oregon State (North);
USC (South)		 No Tournament;
USC defeated Oregon State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Colorado State College (Eastern); Utah State (Western) No Tournament
Southeastern Conference Kentucky & LSU None selected No Tournament
Southern Conference North Carolina None selected 1935 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Thompson Gym
(Raleigh, North Carolina)		 North Carolina[6]
Southwest Conference Arkansas, Rice, & SMU None selected No Tournament

Conference standings

1934–35 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Iowa State 8 – 2   .800 13 – 3   .813
Kansas 12 – 4   .750 15 – 5   .750
Oklahoma 8 – 8   .500 9 – 9   .500
Missouri 7 – 9   .438 7 – 11   .389
Nebraska 3 – 7   .300 6 – 12   .333
Kansas State 4 – 12   .250 5 – 15   .250
1934–35 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Purdue 9 – 3   .750 17 – 3   .850
Illinois 9 – 3   .750 15 – 5   .750
Wisconsin 9 – 3   .750 15 – 5   .750
Indiana 8 – 4   .667 14 – 6   .700
Ohio State 8 – 4   .667 13 – 6   .684
Iowa 6 – 6   .500 10 – 9   .526
Minnesota 5 – 7   .417 11 – 9   .550
Northwestern 3 – 9   .250 10 – 10   .500
Michigan 2 – 10   .167 8 – 12   .400
Chicago 1 – 11   .083 2 – 18   .100
1934–35 Border Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Texas Tech 9 – 1   .900 15 – 9   .625
Arizona State–Flagstaff 10 – 4   .714 12 – 8   .600
New Mexico 7 – 9   .438 10 – 10   .500
Arizona 5 – 7   .417 11 – 8   .579
New Mexico A&M 4 – 6   .400 12 – 6   .667
Arizona State–Tempe 3 – 9   .250 8 – 11   .421
1934–35 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Penn† 10 – 2   .833 16 – 4   .800
Columbia 10 – 2   .833 13 – 6   .684
Dartmouth 7 – 5   .583 12 – 9   .571
Yale 5 – 7   .417 11 – 10   .524
Princeton 4 – 8   .333 6 – 14   .300
Harvard 3 – 9   .250 7 – 12   .368
Cornell 3 – 9   .250 5 – 15   .250
† Conference championship winner
1934–35 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Pittsburgh† 6 – 2   .750 18 – 6   .750
West Virginia 6 – 2   .750 16 – 6   .727
Temple 5 – 3   .625 17 – 7   .708
Carnegie Tech 2 – 6   .250 3 – 6   .333
Georgetown 1 – 7   .125 6 – 13   .316
† Postseason conference championship playoff game winner
1934–35 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Creighton 8 – 4   .667 12 – 8   .600
Drake 8 – 4   .667 14 – 11   .560
Grinnell 7 – 5   .583 11 – 8   .579
Washington University 6 – 6   .500 7 – 11   .389
Oklahoma A&M 5 – 7   .417 9 – 9   .500
Washburn 5 – 7   .417 7 – 13   .350
Tulsa 3 – 9   .250 6 – 10   .375
1934–35 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North
Oregon State 12 – 4   .750 19 – 9   .679
Washington 11 – 5   .688 16 – 8   .667
Oregon 7 – 9   .438 16 – 12   .571
Washington State 6 – 10   .375 12 – 12   .500
Idaho 4 – 12   .250 11 – 16   .407
South
USC † 11 – 1   .917 20 – 6   .769
California 5 – 7   .417 11 – 14   .440
Stanford 4 – 8   .333 9 – 18   .333
UCLA 4 – 8   .333 11 – 12   .478
† Conference playoff series winner
1934–35 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Eastern
Northern Colorado† 9 – 3   .750 12 – 14   .462
Wyoming 10 – 4   .714 11 – 5   .688
Colorado College 9 – 5   .643 13 – 10   .565
Denver 7 – 5   .583 13 – 7   .650
Colorado Agricultural 6 – 6   .500 6 – 6   .500
Western State 3 – 7   .300 3 – 7   .300
Colorado 3 – 9   .250 3 – 9   .250
Colorado Mines 3 – 11   .214 3 – 11   .214
Western
Utah State† 9 – 3   .750 17 – 5   .773
BYU 6 – 6   .500 18 – 10   .643
Utah 5 – 7   .417 10 – 9   .526
Montana State 4 – 8   .333 16 – 13   .552
† Division championship winner
1934–35 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
LSU † 12 – 0   1.000 14 – 1   .933
Kentucky † 11 – 0   1.000 19 – 2   .905
Tennessee 7 – 4   .636 11 – 5   .688
Vanderbilt 9 – 6   .600 9 – 11   .450
Florida 4 – 3   .571 8 – 7   .533
Alabama 8 – 7   .533 9 – 8   .529
Mississippi State 5 – 5   .500 12 – 6   .667
Georgia Tech 5 – 6   .455 6 – 8   .429
Georgia 4 – 5   .444 12 – 8   .600
Ole Miss 5 – 7   .417 8 – 10   .444
Auburn 3 – 9   .250 4 – 13   .235
Sewanee 1 – 7   .125 2 – 12   .143
Tulane 1 – 16   .059 1 – 16   .059
† Conference co-championship winner
1934–35 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Carolina † 12 – 1   .923 23 – 2   .920
Clemson 3 – 1   .750 15 – 3   .833
Duke 10 – 4   .714 18 – 8   .692
Virginia 7 – 5   .583 13 – 9   .591
Maryland 4 – 3   .571 8 – 10   .444
North Carolina State 6 – 5   .545 10 – 9   .526
South Carolina 5 – 7   .417 15 – 9   .625
Washington and Lee 4 – 8   .333 10 – 10   .500
VMI 2 – 9   .182 3 – 14   .176
Virginia Tech 1 – 11   .083 3 – 16   .158
† Southern Conference Tournament winner
1934–35 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Rice 9 – 3   .750 20 – 3   .870
SMU 9 – 3   .750 14 – 3   .824
Arkansas 9 – 3   .750 14 – 5   .737
Texas 5 – 7   .417 16 – 7   .696
Texas A&M 4 – 8   .333 10 – 10   .500
Baylor 4 – 8   .333 8 – 9   .471
TCU 2 – 10   .167 6 – 13   .316

Major independents

A total of 69 college teams played as major independents. Richmond (20–0) was undefeated. LIU (24–2) and Western Kentucky State (24–3) finished with the most wins.[8]

1934–35 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Richmond –   – 20 – 0   1.000
Duquesne –   – 18 – 1   .947
New York University –   – 18 – 1   .947
DePaul –   – 15 – 1   .938
LIU –   – 24 – 2   .923
Ohio Wesleyan –   – 17 – 2   .895
Western Kentucky State –   – 24 – 3   .889
Syracuse –   – 15 – 2   .882
Canisius –   – 14 – 2   .875
Cincinnati –   – 16 – 3   .842
Westminster (Pa.) –   – 22 – 5   .815
Navy –   – 13 – 3   .813
Rutgers –   – 13 – 3   .813
Toledo –   – 13 – 3   .813
St. Joseph's –   – 12 – 3   .800
Michigan State Normal –   – 14 – 4   .778
Xavier –   – 14 – 4   .778
Providence –   – 17 – 5   .773
Indiana State –   – 13 – 4   .765
Muhlenberg –   – 14 – 5   .737
Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 14 – 5   .737
La Salle –   – 15 – 6   .714
Brown –   – 12 – 5   .706
Santa Clara –   – 12 – 5   .706
George Washington –   – 14 – 6   .700
Springfield (Mass.) –   – 14 – 6   .700
Saint Louis –   – 11 – 5   .688
Western State Teachers –   – 11 – 5   .688
Manhattan –   – 13 – 6   .684
Niagara –   – 13 – 6   .684
Army –   – 10 – 5   .667
Rhode Island State –   – 12 – 6   .667
William & Mary –   – 10 – 5   .667
Butler –   – 13 – 7   .650
Villanova –   – 13 – 7   .650
CCNY –   – 10 – 6   .625
St. John's (N.Y.) –   – 13 – 8   .619
Marquette –   – 11 – 7   .611
Marshall –   – 12 – 8   .600
Notre Dame –   – 13 – 9   .591
Kent State –   – 8 – 6   .571
Davidson –   – 13 – 10   .565
Ohio –   – 11 – 9   .550
Furman –   – 9 – 8   .529
Loyola (Md.) –   – 9 – 9   .500
Saint Francis (N.Y.) –   – 12 – 12   .500
Penn State –   – 8 – 9   .471
Connecticut –   – 7 – 8   .467
Fordham –   – 7 – 9   .438
Bowling Green State –   – 6 – 9   .400
The Citadel –   – 6 – 9   .400
Colgate –   – 8 – 13   .381
Wake Forest –   – 6 – 10   .375
Louisville –   – 5 – 9   .357
Wichita Municipal –   – 7 – 13   .350
Lafayette –   – 5 – 10   .333
San Francisco –   – 7 – 14   .333
Detroit –   – 4 – 10   .286
Lehigh –   – 4 – 10   .286
Dayton –   – 4 – 11   .267
Seton Hall –   – 4 – 11   .267
Loyola (Ill.) –   – 5 – 14   .263
Montana –   – 6 – 18   .250
Miami (Ohio) –   – 3 – 12   .200
St. Bonaventure –   – 1 – 5   .167
Valparaiso –   – 2 – 13   .133
Boston University –   – 2 – 14   .125
Bradley –   – 1 – 13   .071
Bucknell –   – 0 – 14   .000

Statistical leaders

Awards

Consensus All-American team

Main article: 1935 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
Consensus Team
Player Class Team
Omar Browning Senior Oklahoma
Claire Cribbs Senior Pittsburgh
Leroy Edwards Sophomore Kentucky
Jack Gray Senior Texas
Lee Guttero Senior USC

Major player of the year awards

Coaching changes

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

Team Former
Coach 		Interim
Coach 		New
Coach 		Reason
Oregon William Reinhart Howard Hobson
Yale Elmer Ripley Ken Loeffler

References

  1. ^ Schleyer, Claudia, "The Rules of Basketball: Boy How They've Changed!", Youth Hoops 101 Accessed 15 May 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e f Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  3. ^ Kentucky vs. New York University (January 5, 1935) bigbluehistory.net Accessed May 6, 2021
  4. ^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  5. ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  6. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  7. ^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  8. ^ "1934-35 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 31, 2024.