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 The 1939 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in Single-elimination tournament, single-elimination play to determine the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. It was the first NCAA basketball national championship ...

championship game on March 27, 1939, at

Patten Gymnasium Patten Gymnasium is the name of two multi-purpose gymnasiums (one past and one present) in Evanston, Illinois, United States, on the campus of Northwestern University. The original building, designed by George Washington Maher, opened in 1909 ...

in Evanston,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The Oregon Webfoots won the first NCAA national championship with a 46–33 victory over the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

Rule changes

After a team makes a

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

as a result of a

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

, it retains possession and throws the ball in from out of bounds. Previously, a

jump ball A jump ball is a method used to begin or resume play in basketball. It is similar to a face-off in ice hockey and field lacrosse and a ball-up in Australian rules football. Two opposing players attempt to gain control of the ball after an offic ...

at center court had taken place after a team shot a free throw as a result of a technical foul.

Season headlines

* The Mountain States Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Mountain States Conference and the

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The league was orig ...

, began play, with seven original members. The

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

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 The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Second Team began. * The NCAA tournament was held for the first time, operated by the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

rather than the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

itself. Eight teams competed.Anonymous, "How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, the NIT," ''Sport History Weekly'', March 24, 2019 Accessed May 4, 2021
/ref> In the first game, Villanova defeated

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

42–30 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on March 17, and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

defeated

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

46–33 in Evanston,

, in the first championship game on March 27.

Jimmy Hull James Robbins Hull Jr. (February 15, 1917 – November 2, 1991) was an American basketball forward who led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the championship game in the first-ever NCAA basketball tournament. The Buckeyes finished the season with a 16 ...

of Ohio State was named the

NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player The Most Outstanding Player (MOP) is awarded to one player after the conclusion of the championship game of the NCAA Division I NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, men's and NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, women's basketb ...

. The tournament lost $2,500; although 5,000 fans attended the championship game, many of the tickets were given away. The NCAA viewed its champion as the official national champion, the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

, 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. *

Howard Hobson Howard Andrew "Hobby" Hobson (July 4, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was an American basketball player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head basketball coach at Southern Oregon Normal School—now Southern Oregon Univer ...

of Oregon became the first head coach to win the NCAA tournament at his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

''. * Bruce Drake of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

became the first head coach to lead his team to a finish among the

final four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

teams in the NCAA tournament in his first season as a head coach. * The Eastern Intercollegiate Conference and the Northern California Conference both disbanded at the end of the season. * In February 1943, the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

retroactively selected

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, the

1938 National Invitation Tournament The 1938 National Invitation Tournament was the 1938 edition of the annual NCAA basketball competition. It was the inaugural National Invitational Tournament and was won by Temple. Selected teams Below is a list of the six teams selected for ...

winner, as its national champion for the 1938–39 season. * In 1995, the

Premo-Porretta Power Poll The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons. The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...

retroactively selected Long Island as its national champion for the 1938–39 season.

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference standings

Major independents

A total of 48 college teams played as major independents. (21–1) had the best

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

(.955). , (22–3) and (22–5) finished with the most wins.

Statistical leaders

Post-Season Tournaments

NCAA Tournament

Semifinals & final

National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year:

Chet Jaworski Chester Stanley Jaworski (November 8, 1916 – October 16, 2003) was an American basketball player. He was the University of Rhode Island (URI)'s first All-American selection in men's basketball. As a senior in 1938–39, he led the nation in sco ...

, Rhode Island State (retroactive selection in 1944)

Other major awards

* NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

metro area):

Irv Torgoff Irving Torgoff (March 6, 1917 – October 21, 1993) was an American professional basketball player. Early life Torgoff was born in Brooklyn, New York, and played basketball at Tilden High School. Education He attended Long Island Universi ...

Coaching changes

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1938-39 Ncaa Men's Basketball Season