1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season

1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season
1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season
National Championship	Patten Gymnasium; Evanston, Illinois
NCAA Champions	Oregon
Helms National Champions	Long Island (retroactive selection in 1943)
Other champions	Long Island (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Chet Jaworski, Rhode Island State (retroactive selection in 1944)
NCAA Division I basketball seasons
«1937–38	1939–40»

The 1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1938, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1939 NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 27, 1939, at Patten Gymnasium in Evanston, Illinois. The Oregon Webfoots won the first NCAA national championship with a 46–33 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Rule changes[]

After a team makes a free throw as a result of a technical foul, it retains possession and throws the ball in from out of bounds. Previously, a jump ball at center court had taken place after a team shot a free throw as a result of a technical foul.^[1]

Season headlines[]

The Skyline Conference began play, with seven original members. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference became a non-major conference after the departure of seven of its larger members for the Skyline Conference.
The practice of naming a Consensus All-American Second Team began.
The NCAA Tournament was held for the first time, operated by the National Association of Basketball Coaches rather than the National Collegiate Athletic Association itself. Eight teams competed. The tournament lost $2,500; although 5,000 fans attended the championship game, many of the tickets were given away.^[2] The NCAA viewed its champion as the official national champion, the National Invitation Tournament, which had debuted the previous year, widely was considered the more prestigious of the two tournaments and the "true" national championship tournament through at least the mid-1950s, with better teams often choosing the NIT over the NCAA or playing in both tournaments in the same year.^[2]
The Eastern Intercollegiate Conference and the both disbanded at the end of the season.
In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Long Island, the 1938 National Invitation Tournament winner, as its national champion for the 1938–39 season.^[3]
In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Long Island as its national champion for the 1938–39 season.^[4]

Conference membership changes[]

School	Former Conference	New Conference
BYU Cougars	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Skyline Conference
Colorado Buffaloes	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Skyline Conference
Colorado State Rams	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Skyline Conference
Denver Pioneers	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Skyline Conference
Utah Redskins	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Skyline Conference
Utah State Aggies	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Skyline Conference
Wyoming Cowboys	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Skyline Conference

Regular season[]

Conference winners and tournaments[]

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[5]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Big Six Conference	Missouri & Oklahoma	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	None selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	New Mexico State	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Dartmouth	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Conference	Carnegie Tech & Georgetown	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	Long Island	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Drake & Oklahoma A&M	None selected	No Tournament
New England Conference	Rhode Island State		No Tournament
	Santa Clara		No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon (North); USC (South)		No Tournament; Oregon defeated USC in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Skyline Conference	Colorado		No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None selected		Alumni Memorial Gym (Knoxville, Tennessee)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	Wake Forest	None selected	1939 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Clemson^[6]
Southwest Conference	Texas	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders[]

Post-Season Tournaments[]

NCAA Tournament[]

Semifinals & Finals[]

National Semifinals			National Finals

	Villanova	36

	Ohio State	53
				Ohio State	33

				Oregon	46
	Oregon	55

	Oklahoma	37

National Invitation Tournament[]

Semifinals & Finals[]

Semifinals			Finals

	Bradley	32

	Long Island	36
				Long Island	44

				Loyola-Chicago	32
	Loyola-Chicago	51

	St. John's	46

Third Place – Bradley 40, St. John's 35

Awards[]

Consensus All-American teams[]

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Class	Team
Ernie Andres	Senior	Indiana
Jimmy Hull	Senior	Ohio State
Chet Jaworski	Senior	Rhode Island State
Irving Torgoff	Senior	Long Island
Slim Wintermute	Senior	Oregon

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Class	Team
Bobby Anet	Senior	Oregon
Bob Calihan	Junior	Detroit
Bob Hassmiller	Senior	Fordham
Mike Novak	Senior	Loyola-Chicago
Bernard Opper	Senior	Kentucky

Major player of the year awards[]

Helms Player of the Year: Chet Jaworski, Rhode Island State (retroactive selection in 1944)

Other major awards[]

NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Irv Torgoff, Long Island

Coaching changes[]

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Kansas State			Jack Gardner
Wyoming	Willard Witte		Everett Shelton

References[]

^ orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
^ ^a ^b Anonymous, "How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, the NIT," Sport History Weekly, March 24, 2019 Accessed May 4, 2021
^ Scott, Jon (Nov 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved 2015-12-14.
^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[1] rangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes

[sportshistoryweekly-2] Anonymous, "How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, the NIT," Sport History Weekly, March 24, 2019 Accessed May 4, 2021

[3] Scott, Jon (Nov 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved 2015-12-14.

[ESPN_526-4] ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[5] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.

[6] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

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v t NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22