1905–06 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States

1905–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Dartmouth (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	George Grebenstein, Dartmouth (retroactive selection in 1944)

The 1905–06 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States began in December 1905, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1906.

Rule changes

NOTE: These rules were in effect for the 1905–06 season, but it is unclear whether they were changes introduced for the 1905–06 season itself or prior to a previous, unidentified season.^[1]

• Games were played in two 20-minute halves separated by a 10-minute rest time.^[1]
• A timeout called while the ball was in play resulted in a jump ball when play resumed. A timeout called when the ball was out of bounds resulted in the team in possession of the ball retaining possession.^[1]
• Personal fouls were separated into two types. Class A fouls were general fouls called for delay of game; "tackling" the ball (i.e., touching the ball while a teammate already was touching it); kicking, striking, advancing, or hugging the ball; shooting after dribbling; tackling, holding, or pushing an opponent; and addressing the game officials. Class B fouls were more flagrant in nature, defined as striking, kicking, shouldering, tripping, or hacking an opponent; unnecessary roughness; and using profane or abusive language. If a player committed two class B fouls, he was disqualified for the remainder of the game.^[1]
• If a player was fouled in the act of shooting, his team automatically received one point. In addition, if his shot resulted in a field goal, the field goal counted for an additional two points. He also was given one free throw, worth one more point if it was successful.^[1]
• If a player touched the ball or the basket when the ball was on the edge of the rim, the referee awarded one point to the shooting team. This rule was the ancestor of what later would become known as "defensive goaltending."^[1]
• Each game had a referee, an umpire, two inspectors, and an official scorer. The referee, who served as the senior official and ultimate authority for the game, mainly called fouls and was responsible for starting and stopping play. The umpire, who reported to the referee, also called fouls. The inspectors had no decision-making powers but served as the referee's assistants, with one stationed at each end of the court and responsible for determining whether goals were scored in accordance with the rules, which they reported to the referee. The official scorer kept track of the scoring and fouls for each player and each team.^[1]
• The home team appointed a timekeeper. The visiting team had the option of appointing an assistant timekeeper, but was not required to.^[1]
• The clock continued to run during dead-ball situations, such as when the ball was out of bounds or during free throws. The clock stopped only when ordered by the referee.^[1]

Season headlines

• The Western Conference (the future Big Ten Conference) sponsored its first conference basketball season and recognized a regular-season champion for the first time.
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Dartmouth as its national champion for the 1905–06 season.^[2]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Wabash as its national champion for the 1905–06 season.^[3]

Conference membership changes

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Harvard Crimson	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
Illinois Fighting Illini	No major basketball program	Western Conference
Northwestern Wildcats	Western Conference	No major basketball program

Regular season

Conferences

Conference	Regular Season Winner[4]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament[5]
Western Conference	Minnesota	None selected	No Tournament[6]

1905–06 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Penn 9 – 1   .900 16 – 4   .800 Columbia 7 – 3   .700 12 – 4   .750 Harvard 6 – 4   .600 12 – 4   .750 Yale 4 – 6   .400 11 – 17   .393 Princeton 3 – 7   .300 5 – 10   .333 Cornell 1 – 9   .100 2 – 10   .167

1905–06 Western Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Minnesota 6 – 1   .857 13 – 2   .867 Wisconsin 6 – 2   .750 12 – 2   .857 Indiana 2 – 2   .500 7 – 9   .438 Chicago 3 – 5   .375 5 – 5   .500 Purdue 3 – 6   .333 4 – 7   .364 Illinois 3 – 6   .333 6 – 8   .429 Iowa - – -   – 11 – 5   .688

Independents

A total of 84 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played 10 or more games, Oregon Agricultural (10–0) finished with the best winning percentage (1.000) and Baker (18–3) with the most wins.^[7]

1905–06 collegiate men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oregon Agricultural –   – 10 – 0   1.000 Rhode Island A&M –   – 5 – 0   1.000 Southwestern (Kan.) –   – 6 – 0   1.000 Wabash –   – 17 – 1   .944 Massachusetts Lowell –   – 16 – 1   .941 Brigham Young –   – 11 – 1   .917 Ohio State –   – 9 – 1   .900 Dartmouth –   – 16 – 2   .889 North Dakota –   – 8 – 1   .889 Fordham –   – 14 – 2   .875 Texas –   – 7 – 1   .875 Baker –   – 18 – 3   .857 Westminster (Pa.) –   – 12 – 2   .857 Michigan State –   – 11 – 2   .846 Auburn –   – 5 – 1   .833 Bucknell –   – 10 – 2   .833 Denison –   – 10 – 2   .833 Montana State –   – 5 – 1   .833 Williams –   – 14 – 3   .824 Western Reserve –   – 13 – 3   .813 Holy Cross –   – 12 – 3   .800 Nebraska –   – 12 – 3   .800 Virginia –   – 8 – 2   .800 William & Mary –   – 4 – 1   .800 Dayton –   – 7 – 2   .778 Illinois State –   – 6 – 2   .750 Syracuse –   – 9 – 3   .750 Swarthmore –   – 11 – 4   .733 Maine –   – 10 – 4   .714 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 10 – 4   .714 Allegheny –   – 12 – 5   .706 Wooster –   – 7 – 3   .700 Cincinnati –   – 2 – 1   .667 Connecticut –   – 6 – 3   .667 Grinnell –   – 8 – 4   .667 Niagara –   – 4 – 2   .667 Army –   – 7 – 4   .636 Gettysburg –   – 7 – 4   .636 Kansas –   – 12 – 7   .632 Tulane –   – 8 – 5   .615 Manhattan –   – 6 – 4   .600 Mount Union –   – 9 – 6   .600 Penn State –   – 6 – 4   .600 Wesleyan (Conn.) –   – 12 – 8   .600 Wyoming –   – 3 – 2   .600 Canisius –   – 10 – 7   .588 Washburn –   – 10 – 7   .588 Idaho –   – 4 – 3   .571 Lake Forest –   – 9 – 7   .563 North Dakota Agricultural –   – 5 – 4   .556 West Virginia –   – 5 – 4   .556 Colorado –   – 6 – 5   .545 Colgate –   – 7 – 6   .538 Butler –   – 1 – 1   .500 Colorado Agricultural –   – 2 – 2   .500 Indiana State –   – 6 – 6   .500 Lehigh –   – 6 – 6   .500 Miami (Ohio) –   – 3 – 3   .500 Nebraska Wesleyan –   – 7 – 7   .500 New Mexico –   – 2 – 2   .500 Wake Forest –   – 3 – 3   .500 Washington State –   – 5 – 5   .500 Akron –   – 6 – 7   .462 Denver –   – 6 – 7   .462 Bradley –   – 4 – 5   .444 Delaware –   – 3 – 4   .429 Temple –   – 3 – 4   .429 Bloomsburg –   – 2 – 3   .400 Trinity (N.C.) –   – 2 – 3   .400 Kansas State –   – 6 – 9   .400 Grove City –   – 3 – 5   .375 Brown –   – 4 – 7   .364 Kentucky –   – 5 – 9   .357 Augustana (Ill.) –   – 3 – 6   .333 Fairmount –   – 2 – 4   .333 Wisconsin–Stevens Point –   – 2 – 4   .333 Trinity (Conn.) –   – 3 – 7   .300 Washington University –   – 1 – 3   .250 Utah Agircultural –   – 2 – 7   .222 CCNY –   – 1 – 4   .200 Pittsburgh –   – 2 – 9   .182 Georgia –   – 0 – 2   .000 New Mexico A&M –   – 0 – 1   .000 Oregon –   – 0 – 5   .000

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Main article: 1906 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 1905–06 season.^[8]

Player	Team
Harold Amberg	Harvard
Garfield Brown	Minnesota
Eugene Cowell	Williams
George Flint	Penn
George Grebenstein	Dartmouth
Ralph Griffiths	Harvard
Marcus Hurley	Columbia
Charles Keinath	Penn
James McKeag	Chicago
John Schommer	Chicago

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: George Grebenstein, Dartmouth (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
Brown	Oscar Rackle		W. W. Reynolds
Chicago	Wilfred Childs		Joseph Raycroft
Indiana	Zora G. Clevenger		James M. Sheldon
Princeton	Frederick Cooper		William Kelleher

References

1. "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. pp. 2, 6, 7, 8. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
2. Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved May 13, 2021.
3. 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.
4. "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
5. "1905-06 Men's Ivy League Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
6. "1905-05 Men's Western Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
7. "1905-06 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
8. The Association for Professional Basketball Research "NCAA All-American Teams, 1919–20 to 1998–99"