1936–37 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

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1936–37 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
1936–37 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team.jpg
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
1936–37 record16–4 (9–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
CaptainJohnny Gee
Home arenaYost Field House
Seasons
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Illinois 10 2   .833 14 4   .778
Minnesota 10 2   .833 14 6   .700
Michigan 9 3   .750 16 4   .800
Purdue 8 4   .667 15 5   .750
Ohio State 7 5   .583 13 7   .650
Indiana 6 6   .500 13 7   .650
Northwestern 4 8   .333 11 9   .550
Iowa 3 9   .250 11 9   .550
Wisconsin 3 9   .250 8 12   .400
Chicago 0 12   .000 4 16   .200
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1936–37 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate basketball during the 1936–37 season. The team compiled a 16–4 record, and 9–3 against Big Ten Conference opponents. The team scored 741 points in 20 games for an average of 37.1 points per game – the highest point total and scoring per game in school history up to that time. Michigan finished in third place in the Big Ten.

The team opened the season with a 61–12 victory over Michigan Normal (now known as Eastern Michigan University), setting a new scoring record at Yost Field House. During the winter break, the team traveled to Seattle, Washington, to play three games against the University of Washington.[1][2] Team captain Johnny Gee (who later played professional baseball and basketball), was unavailable to play during the west coast trip due to a broken nose. Michigan won two out of the three games in Seattle.[1]

Franklin "Cappy" Cappon was in his sixth year as the team's coach. Cappon had played basketball and football at Michigan from 1919 to 1923.[3] As a senior, he was awarded the Western Conference Medal for all-around excellence in both athletics and academics.[4] After seven seasons as Michigan's head coach, Cappon served as the head basketball coach from 1938 to 1961 at Princeton University, where he mentored Butch van Breda Kolff, Bill Bradley and Frank Deford. He compiled a combined record of 340–242 at Michigan and Princeton and was inducted into the Helms Foundation College Basketball Hall of Fame in 1957.[5]

John "Jake" Townsend, a six-foot, four inch center from Indiana, was the team leading scorer for three straight seasons. He scored 154 points during the 1935–36 season, 191 points during the 1936–37 season, and 226 points during the 1937-38 season. Townsend's 191 points during the 1936–37 season broke the school's single season scoring record of 181 points set by Arthur Karpus in the 1918–19 season. His career total of 571 points also broke Karpus's career scoring record of 338 points. Townsend was selected as a unanimous All-Big Ten player at the end of the 1936–37 season and later played professional basketball in the National Basketball League for the Indianapolis Kautskys, Oshkosh All-Stars and Rochester Royals.[6]

Schedule[]

Date Opponent Score Result Location
Dec. 7, 1936 Michigan Normal 61–12 Win Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI
Dec. 12, 1936 Michigan State 34–21 Win Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI
Dec. 21, 1936 Washington 40–23 Loss Seattle, Washington
Dec. 22, 1936 Washington 34–32 Win Seattle, Washington
Dec. 23, 1936 Washington 39–33 Win Seattle, Washington
Jan. 1, 1937 Toledo 41–33 Win Toledo, Ohio
Jan. 5, 1937 Butler 36–27 Win Indianapolis, IN
Jan. 9, 1937 Purdue 37–26 Loss Lafayette, IN
Jan. 11, 1937 Northwestern 34–31 Win Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI
Jan. 16, 1937 Wisconsin 41–31 Win Madison, WI
Jan. 18, 1937 Chicago 35–29 Win Henry Crown Field House, Chicago, IL
Jan. 23, 1937 Ohio State 37–32 Loss Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI
Jan. 25, 1937 Chicago 32–19 Win Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 13, 1937 Michigan State 38–31 Win East Lansing, MI
Feb. 15, 1937 Indiana 55 31 Win Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 20, 1937 Northwestern 34–32 Win Evanston, IL
Feb. 22, 1937 Purdue 31–16 Win Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 27, 1937 Ohio State 38–24 Win Columbus, OH
March 1, 1937 Indiana 31–27 Loss Bloomington, IN
March 6, 1937 Wisconsin 41–27 Win Yost Field House, Ann Arbor, MI

Scoring statistics[]

Player Games Field goals Free throws Points Points per game[7]
John "Jake" Townsend 20 65 61-96 191 9.6
Johnny Gee 18 60 30-49 150 8.3
Herman Fishman 19 51 23-38 125 6.6
William Barclay 20 32 28-41 92 4.6
Matt Patanelli 20 33 18-29 84 4.2
Edmund Thomas 19 20 3-15 43 2.3
Daniel Smick 13 11 1-8 23 1.8
Leo Beebe 16 4 5-9 13 0.8
Manuel Slavin 4 3 0-1 6 1.5
Richard Long 11 2 1-2 5 0.5
Payne 1 1 1-2 3 3.0
Louis Levine 1 1 0-0 2 2.0
Richard Joslin 1 1 0-0 2 2.0
Ferris Jennings 10 1 0-1 2 0.2
William Lane 4 0 0-0 0 0.0
Totals 20 285 171-292 740 37.1

Coaching staff[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b 1937 Michiganensian, page 282.
  2. ^ "Michigan Victor In Yule Series: Wins Final Game from Huskies in Overtime Period Wednesday". The Daily News, Ludington, Michigan. December 24, 1936. p. 6.
  3. ^ "University of Michigan Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 12.
  4. ^ "Frank Cappon Gets Place On Michigan Staff". The Evening Independent. February 25, 1925.
  5. ^ "Cappon Has Heart Attack". Holland Evening Sentinel. January 19, 1961.
  6. ^ "John Townsend Sr. had been attorney, former professional basketball player". The Indianapolis Star. December 6, 2001. p. C10.
  7. ^ "University of Michigan Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 24.


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