1944–45 NCAA men's basketball season

1944–45 NCAA men's basketball season
NCAA Tournament	1945
Tournament dates	March 22, 1945 – March 27, 1945
National Championship	Madison Square Garden New York City
NCAA Champions	Oklahoma A&M Cowboys
Helms National Champions	Oklahoma A&M Cowboys
Other champions	DePaul (NIT)
Player of the Year (Helms)	George Mikan, DePaul

Season headlines

More than 18,000 fans attended Madison Square Garden for the final installment of an annual American Red Cross benefit game between the NCAA Tournament and NIT champions. Oklahoma A&M, led by Bob Kurland, defeated George Mikan's DePaul 52–44.^[1] Kurland scored 14 points while Mikan scored 9 before fouling out in only 14 minutes of playing time.^[1]

Major rule changes

Beginning in 1944–45, the following rules changes were implemented:

Along with the ball on the rim, defensive interference by touching the ball after it had started its downward flight during an opponent's field goal attempt was declared a goal for the shooting team.
Five personal fouls disqualify a player. An extra foul was not permitted in overtime games.
Unlimited substitution was permitted.
It became a violation for an offensive player to remain in the free-throw lane for more than three seconds.^[2]

Premo-Porretta power poll

The first official college basketball poll appeared during the 1948–49 season. St. Bonaventure University accounting professor Patrick M. Premo and computer programmer Phil Porretta researched teams before that year, back to the 1892–93 season. The Premo-Porretta Power Polls were compiled by reviewing results, opponents and margins of victory.^[1]^[3]

1945 Premo-Porretta Poll
Ranking	Team
1	Iowa (17–1)
2	Oklahoma A&M (27–4)
3	DePaul (21–3)
4	Rice (20–1)
5	Army (14–1)
6	Navy (12–2)
7	Ohio State (15–5)
8	Bowling Green (24–4)
9	Notre Dame (15–5)
10	Kentucky (22–4)
11	St. John's (21–3)
12	RPI (13–1)
13	Akron (21–2)
14	NYU (16–8)
15	Muhlenberg (24–4)
16	South Carolina (19–3)
17	Valparaiso (21–3)
18	Tennessee (18–5)
19	Rhode Island (20–5)
20	Hamline (20–4)
21	North Carolina (22–6)
22	Temple (16–7)
23	Illinois (13–7)
24	Penn (12–5)
25	Yale (14–4)

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[4]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Big Six Conference	Iowa State	None Selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Iowa	None Selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	New Mexico	None Selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate League	Penn	None Selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Oklahoma A&M	None Selected	No Tournament
Mountain States Conference	Utah	None Selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon	None Selected	No Tournament
Rocky Mountain Conference	Colorado College	None Selected	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky & Tennessee	None Selected	1945 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament	Louisville Gardens (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	South Carolina	None Selected	1945 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina)	North Carolina
Southwest Conference	Rice	None Selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1944–45 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
North
†Oregon	11	–	5	.688	30	–	15	.667
Washington State	11	–	5	.688	23	–	13	.639
Oregon State	10	–	6	.625	20	–	8	.714
Washington	5	–	11	.313	22	–	18	.550
Idaho	3	–	13	.188	13	–	20	.394
South
UCLA	3	–	1	.750	12	–	12	.500
USC	2	–	2	.500	15	–	9	.625
California	1	–	3	.250	7	–	8	.467

Rankings from AP Poll

1944–45 New England Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Rhode Island	5	–	1	.833	20	–	5	.800
Connecticut	4	–	2	.667	5	–	11	.313
Northeastern	2	–	4	.333	7	–	8	.467
Maine	1	–	5	.167	4	–	8	.333

Statistical leaders

Scoring leader – George Mikan averaged 23.3 points per game and was retroactively declared the "unofficial" season scoring leader. Between 1935–36 and 1946–47, there were no official NCAA scoring champions. The statistics during that era were compiled from the National Basketball Committee Official Basketball Guide, which was not regulated by NCAA authorities. Therefore, those players are included in the annual NCAA men's basketball media guide, but are listed as unofficial season scoring leaders.^[5] No other personal statistics were tracked during the 1944–45 basketball season.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Arnie Ferrin	F	Sophomore	Utah
Wyndol Gray	F	Junior	Bowling Green
William Hassett	G	Junior	Notre Dame
Bill Henry	C	Senior	Rice
Walt Kirk	G/F	Junior	Illinois
Bob Kurland	C	Junior	Oklahoma A&M
George Mikan	C	Junior	DePaul

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Howie Dallmar	F	Junior	Pennsylvania
Don Grate	G	Senior	Ohio State
Dale Hall	F	Senior	Army
Vince Hanson	C	Sophomore	Washington State
Dick Ives	F	Sophomore	Iowa
Max Morris	F	Senior	Northwestern
Herb Wilkinson	G	Sophomore	Iowa

Major player of the year awards

Helms Foundation Player of the Year: George Mikan, DePaul
Sporting News Player of the Year: George Mikan, DePaul

Other major awards

NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC area): Bill Kotsores, St. John's

References

1 2 3 ESPN (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Random House, Inc. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
↑ Official 2008 NCAA men's basketball records book. NCAA. 2007. p. 277
↑ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 529–87. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
↑ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
↑ "2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2011.

NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18

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