The 1936–37 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in intercollegiate

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

during the 1936–37 season. The team compiled a 16–4 record, and 9–3 against

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

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 Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

), setting a new scoring record at Yost Field House. During the winter break, the team traveled to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, to play three games against the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. Team captain

Johnny Gee John Alexander "Johnny" Gee, Jr. (December 7, 1915 – January 23, 1988), sometimes known as "Long John Gee" and "Whiz", was a professional baseball and basketball player. Gee played Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 19 ...

(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.1937 Michiganensian, page 282. 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. As a senior, he was awarded the Western Conference Medal for all-around excellence in both athletics and academics. After seven seasons as Michigan's head coach, Cappon served as the head basketball coach from 1938 to 1961 at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, where he mentored

Butch van Breda Kolff Willem Hendrik "Butch" van Breda Kolff (October 28, 1922August 22, 2007) was an American basketball player and coach. Biography Early life and career Butch was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, son of Dutch soccer player Jan van Breda Kolff. He g ...

, Bill Bradley and

Frank Deford Benjamin Franklin Deford III (December 16, 1938 – May 28, 2017) was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's ''Morning Edition'' radio program. Deford wrote fo ...

. 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. 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 Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

Oshkosh All-Stars The Oshkosh All-Stars were an American professional basketball team based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Founded in 1929 by Lonnie Darling, the team was a member of the National Basketball League, a forerunner to the NBA, from 1937 until 1949. Histor ...

and

Rochester Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

Schedule

Scoring statistics

Coaching staff

Franklin Cappon Franklin C. "Cappy" Cappon (October 17, 1900 – November 29, 1961) was an American college football and college basketball player and coach. He played football and basketball at Phillips University and the University of Michigan and coached at Lu ...

- coach *Assistant coaches:

Bennie Oosterbaan Benjamin Oosterbaan ( ; February 24, 1906 – October 25, 1990) was a three-time first team College Football All-America Team, All-American American football, football End (gridiron football), end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-tim ...

* Fielding H. Yost - athletic director

References

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons Michigan Wolverines basketball Michigan Wolverines basketball {{collegebasketball-season-stub