The 1923–24 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1923, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1924.

Rule changes

A new rule required the player who was fouled to shoot his own

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 ...

s. Previously, a team could pick any player it wanted to shoot its free throws, and usually picked its best free-throw shooter to shoot all of them. The new rule thus brought to an end the practice of a team having a designated free-throw shooter.

Season headlines

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

went undefeated, going 26-0, under coach

Norman Shepard Norman Westbrook Shepard (August 20, 1897 – August 22, 1977) was a head coach of various college athletics at several American colleges and universities. He is best known for being the only Division I college basketball coach to go undefeat ...

. The record included the 1924 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament. *

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

won the annual

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

basketball tournament — which included both collegiate and amateur non-collegiate teams — becoming the third of only four college teams to do so and the first to win the tournament since

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. * 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 North Carolina as its national champion for the 1923–24 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 North Carolina as its national champion for the 1923–24 season.

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference standings

Independents

A total of 99 college teams played as major independents. (14–0) and (15–0) were undefeated, and (24–4) finished with the most wins.

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

The practice of selecting 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 ...

Team did not begin until the 1928–29 season. The

later retroactively selected a list of All-Americans for the 1923–24 season.The Association for Professional Basketball Research "NCAA All-American Teams, 1919–20 to 1998–99"
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Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Charlie T. Black,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

(retroactive selection in 1944)

Coaching changes

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1923-24 Ncaa Men's Basketball Season