1934–35 NCAA men's basketball season

1934–35 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	LSU
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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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

• Helms Player of the Year: Leroy Edwards, Kentucky (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
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. 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.