1921–22 NCAA men's basketball season explained

The 1921–22 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1921, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1922.

Rule changes

Running with the ball (traveling), previously a personal foul, became merely a violation.^{[1] [2]}

Season headlines

• The Southern Conference began play with 14 original members, 13 of which had major basketball programs during the 1921–22 season.
• The first national basketball championship tournament, the 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament, took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, from March 9 to 11, 1922. The Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League and Big Ten Conference declined invitations to participate, but six schools representing six other conferences took part. Wabash won and claimed the national championship. The tournament was not held again.^[3]
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Kansas as its national champion for the 1921–22 season.^[3]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Missouri as its national champion for the 1921–22 season.^[4]

Conference membership changes

School	Former Conference	New Conference
	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southern Conference
	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southern Conference
	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southern Conference
	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southern Conference
	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southern Conference
	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference
	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southern Conference
	Independent	Southern Conference
	Independent	Southern Conference
	Independent	Southwest Conference
	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference
	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southern Conference
	Independent	Southern Conference
	Independent	Southern Conference
	Independent	Southern Conference

NOTES: (1) The Southern Conference was founded in February 1921 during the 1920–21 season, but its first season of basketball competition was the 1921–22 season. (2) The University of Virginia did not adopt a nickname for its basketball team ("Cavaliers") until the 1923–24 season.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular Season Winner[5]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
			No Tournament
			No Tournament
		None selected	1922 Southern Intercollegiate men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	North Carolina[6]
		None selected	No Tournament

NOTE: The 1922 Southern Intercollegiate men's basketball tournament included teams from both the Southern Conference and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Although it was a regional rather than conference tournament whose champion claimed the mythical title of "Champions of the South," the Southern Conference considered it the "official" Southern Conference tournament for 1922.^[3]

Conference standings

Independents

A total of 115 college teams played as major independents. (12–0) was undefeated and Niagara (27–4) finished with the most wins.^[7]

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournament

National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament

See main article: 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament.

Semifinals & finals

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

See main article: 1922 NCAA Men's 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 1921–22 season.^[8]

Player	Team
Arthur Browning	Missouri
Herb Bunker	Missouri
Chuck Carney	Illinois
Paul Endacott	Kansas
George Gardner	Southwestern (Kan.)
William Grave	Pennsylvania
Marshall Hjelte	Oregon Agricultural
Arthur Lorb	Princeton
Ira McKee	Navy
Ray Miller	Purdue

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Chuck Carney, Illinois (retroactive selection in 1944)

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Georgetown	James Colliflower		Jackie Maloney	Colliflower had taken over as unpaid head coach when health problems forced coach John O'Reilly to miss the 1921–22 season. With O'Reilly also unable to return for the following season, Maloney took over from Colliflower after the end of the 1921–22 season.[9]
Pittsburgh	Andrew Kerr		Doc Carlson
Western Kentucky State	L. T. Smith		Edgar Diddle

Notes and References

1. http://www.orangehoops.org/NCAA/NCAA%20Rule%20Changes.htm orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
2. https://www.youthhoops101.com/rules-of-basketball.html Schleyer, Claudia, "The Rules of Basketball: Boy How They've Changed!", Youth Hoops 101 Accessed 15 May 2021
3. Web site: Jon. Scott. Nov 9, 2010. The truth behind the Helms Committee. 10 May 2021.
4. Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. ESPN. ESPN Books. New York, NY. 2009. 526, 529–587. 978-0-345-51392-2.
5. News: 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2009. NCAA. 2009-02-14.
6. http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/standingsandresults.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section
7. Web site: 1921-22 Men's Independent Season Summary . . July 29, 2024.
8. http://www.apbr.org/ncaa-aa.html The Association for Professional Basketball Research "NCAA All-American Teams, 1919–20 to 1998–99"
9. Web site: The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches . 2014-01-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170527235527/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/coaches/bb-coach.htm . 2017-05-27 . dead .