Men’s Basketball 1906-1935
Information from Wikipedia concerning Texas Longhorns men’s basketball program follows:
The University of Texas began competition in men’s basketball in 1906.
-
As of 2018, the Longhorns rank 17th in total victories among all NCAA Division I college basketball programs with 33 appearances in the NCAA tournament, 3 visits to the final 4 (1943, 1947, 2002), 7 visits to the Elite 8, and one National Champion recognition from the Premo-Porretta Power Poll in 1933.
-
Texas is second only to Kansas in both all-time wins and all-time win percentage in the Big 12 with 27 conference championships
-
Texas played in two Final Fours and one Elite Eight during the first decade of the NCAA Tournament.
-
Texas has the 4th longest winning streak in college basketball history.
Longhorn History in Tournament Play
The History of Longhorn Men’s Basketball (the early years)
1906-1941
In the early years, most coaches are hired primarily to coach football first and basketball second. Basketball coaches receive no pay.
Games in the early years are low-scoring because there is a jump ball for possession after each score.
There is no official recruiting system. Many of the players came from the UT intramural system or showed up on campus to try out for the team.
The players do not receive scholarships. Instead, UT helps the players procure part-time jobs to pay for room and board.
1906- 1907– 7-1 record Coach Magnus Mainland
Texas played its first basketball game on March 10, 1906, defeating Baylor 27-17. The team posted a 7-1 record.
Player/Coach Mainland has the “T” sweater in the picture below. His position was unpaid
Th
1908- basketball was canceled due to funding
MOMENT NO. 23
Feb. 6, 1909: Texas defeats Austin HS 56-4 in the first game after a one-year hiatus due to inadequate funding for the program. Morgan Vining was the man held mostly responsible for the revival of Texas Basketball. “We must give credit to Vining and his men for preserving a game that will mean much to Texas athletics in the future,” the 1909 Cactus Yearbook said.
1909-1911 Coach Metzenthin
1909-6-3 record Coach Metzenthin
Captains – teams played high schools and the School for the Deaf and Dumb
The Daily Texan and Morgan Vining Convince The UT administration that basketball is “Good Physical Training For Football Players In The Off-Season.” Texas reinstates basketball as a major sport, and the presentation of the “T” letter to UT basketball players is resumed. Teams on the Texas schedule include the Deaf and Dumb Institute and a San Antonio high school.
1910- 1919 Texas has the 4th highest winning percentage in the USA.
1910-1911 6-7 Record Coach W.E. Metzenthin
MOMENT NO. 73
Feb. 11, 1911: The Longhorns make their first trip east of the Mississippi River when they drop a 45-27 decision at Auburn. The contest marked the second of a three-game road trip that saw Texas play at Tulane, Auburn, and LSU in a five-day span. An excerpt from the 1911 Cactus Yearbook stated, “They took a Southern tour, which was disastrous from the standpoint of victory but glorious for spreading the Texas spirit of good sportsmanship. Our team had better individual players than the teams played, but the games were held indoors and at night, conditions which were entirely new to the Texas team.”
Texas adventures out of state for the First time to play Oklahoma.
1911 1-4 Record Coach Metzenthin
The decision is made not to play teams below the college level.
For the first time, Texas plays games East of the Mississippi—Tulane, Auburn, and LSU. Each of these Universities has indoor facilities, which requires the Texas team to adjust from outdoor games to indoor games.
Metzenthin quits coaching and is hired as Chairman of the Athletics Council.
1912 Coach Burton Rix 8-4
MOMENT NO. 68
1912-13 season: Texas finishes the year with an 8-4 record. More importantly, basketball had become a major athletic program at The University of Texas. “Basketball is no longer a minor sport at the University of Texas. It always has been so considered until this year when Professor Carl Cleveland Taylor took charge of the work and infused new life into it,” the 1913 Cactus Yearbook said.
Coach is unpaid
From 1913 to 1917, Texas enters the Record Books With A 44 Game Win Streak.
MOMENT NO. 89
Jan. 13, 1913: Texas defeats San Marcus Baptist 46-2 in its first indoor home game. The Cactus Yearbook said, “An innovation was made this season by playing all of the games on an indoor court at Ben Hur Temple. This proved very satisfactory, and as most of the games were played at night, they were well attended.” The Temple was located at the intersection of Lavaca and West 18th Street. This also marked the first year that UT began selling season tickets.
1913-1917
MOMENT NO. 3
1913-1917: Texas records a school-record 44 consecutive wins over a stretch of five seasons. The achievement still ranks as the fifth-longest winning streak in Division I history. The Horns began the streak with a 70-7 win at Southwestern on Feb. 15, 1913, before closing out the 1912-13 season with two home victories. Texas then posted three consecutive undefeated seasons: 11-0 in 1913-14, 14-0 in 1914-15, and 12-0 in 1915-16. The Horns open the 1916-17 campaign with four straight wins before dropping a 24-18 decision to Rice in Austin to end the streak. UT’s .789 winning percentage from 1910 through 1919 was the fourth-best mark in the NCAA for that decade. Only the Navy, California, and Wisconsin had better winning percentages in the 1910s.
1913-1914 8-4 record Coach Carl C. Taylor
1914-1915 14-0 Coach Theo Bellmont SWC Champs
Texas won the inaugural conference title game in 1914, finishing with a perfect 14-0 record and 5-0 in the conference, ahead of Baylor, Texas A&M, and Rice.
The coach is unpaid.
Theo Bellmont is the first Athletic Director hired at Texas
1914-1915 record 11-0 Coach Theo Bellmont
MOMENT NO. 32
1914-15 season: Under coach L. Theo Bellmont, the Horns post a perfect record en route to capturing their first Southwest Conference championship in the league’s first season of competition. Clyde Littlefield leads the SWC in scoring at 19.6 ppg, a mark that stood until the 1943-44 season.
WWI begins
The 1914 basketball team has the distinction of winning the first ever SWC conference championship.
Two football players- Clyde Littlefield and Gus “Pig” Dittmar- lead the team and Littlefield is the first Longhorn basketball player named as an All American.
Littlefield during his playing years at Texas led the basketball team to 40 straight victories.
Back- Bellmont, Littlefield, Ditmar, Eastland
Front- Leggett, Buddy, Edmond, Ross
1915- 1916 record 14-0 Coach Theo Bellmont
MOMENT NO. 84
Jan. 10, 1916: The Longhorns defeat San Marcus Baptist 102-1 to record the largest margin of victory in UT history. Robert Blaine scored 30 points, while Clyde Littlefield added 26. The game also marked the first time the Longhorns topped the century mark, a feat they did not accomplish again until the 1955-56 season.
Belmont, Blaine, Blackburn, Littlefield, Ross, Edmond
MOMENT NO. 28
End of 1915-16 season: Clyde Littlefield earns first-team All-America accolades from the Helms Foundation. Littlefield becomes the first player in school history to earn All-America honors
1916- 1917 12- 0 record Coach Roy Henderson
MOMENT NO. 46
Jan. 15, 1917: Texas defeats Southwest Texas 52-15 in the first game played in the newly-built Men’s Gym. The contest marked the first home game for the Horns to be played indoors. The $9,000 facility was built adjacent to Clark Field with a seating capacity of 2,500. It would serve as the home of the Longhorns for the next 12 years.
Coach Henderson has two SWC championships and one undefeated season
5 of the 6 starters are football players
Henderson still holds the Longhorn basketball record with the highest winning Conference percentage for two or more seasons as coach.
Texas and A & M play against each other for the first time.
MOMENT NO. 55
Feb. 27, 1917: The Longhorns defeat Texas A&M 24-16 in College Station to capture their third straight SWC Championship. It would be the only time in school history that the Longhorns captured three straight conference championships.
Thompson, Edmonds, Littlefeld, Ditmar, Blaine WagStaff manager, Henderson Coach
1917-1918 13-3 record Coach Eugene Van Gent
Men’s Gym is built at a cost of $8,500
44 game winning steak ends with a loss to Rice on January 30th 1917
5TH Longest winning streak in men’s college basketball belongs to the Longhorns
1.UCLA 88 1971-74 John Wooden
2.San Francisco 60 1955-57 Phil Woolpert
3.UCLA 47 1966-68John Wooden
4.UNLV 45 1990-91 Jerry Tarkanian
5. Texas 44 1913-17 Theo Bellmont, Roy Henderson, Eugene Van Gent
USA enters WWI
From 1917-1929, Texas played in a fire???? hazard built for $9000. The University constructed the Men’s Gym adjacent to Clark Field to serve as the temporary home of the Texas men’s basketball team, pending a permanent gymnasium. Built for a total cost of $8,500, the all-wood Men’s Gym measured 115′ by 105′ and 23′ high and featured a pinewood floor, an electric scoreboard, and seating for 2,500 spectators.
On March 25, 1928, the Men’s Gym caught fire and burned to the ground. The team had no home on campus for two seasons. No one was hurt.
For the 1928–29 season, the University played its home games in the School for the Deaf. The gym was small, so it precluded ticket sales to the general public and a lottery for fans and season ticket holders.
Prolonged inclement weather delayed the completion of Gregory Gymnasium, originally intended to debut in 1929–30. Texas was forced to play games an extra year at The School for the Deaf and the newly built Austin High School facility.
1918-1919 – 16-5 record Coach Roy Henderson
Captain Jimmie Greer above
James A. “Pete” Edmond Is KIA In October 1918. HORNS UP!!
WWI ends
1918-1919 17-3 Record Coach Roy Henderson
Coach Henderson
Texas wins the “state championship” on the last game against the Aggies. The team was composed of military men with their releases from the war effort. Ensign Al DeViney and Captain Greer joined the team
00 in Austin and all “gatherings” are banned. games are still played but no one except the players attends.
Standard’s are set to receive the T-man designation. The standards are set high to represent UT in sports.
1919-1920 10-6 Coach Berry Whitaker
1920- 1921 – 13-5 record Coach Theo Bellmont
1921-1922 20-4 RECORD COACH THEO BELLMONT
MOMENT NO. 69
Jan. 6, 1922: The Longhorns open the 1921-22 season with a resounding 55-10 home win against Southwest Texas. The contest marks the first time that the UT players take the court with the word “Texas” on their jerseys.
Hall of Honor Theo Bellmont. He leads team to first ever 20 win season
1922-1923 11-7 record Coach Milton Romney
MOMENT NO. 47
Jan. 8, 1923: Texas defeats Southwestern 29-13 in the first Longhorn basketball game broadcast on the radio.
Basketball coaches are still not paid
1923-1927 COACH E.J. “Doc” Stewart
Bellmont hires Doc Stewart as the head coach for football and basketball. Coach Stewart’s resume’ is impressive – a medical school graduate, pianist, sportswriter, orator, and an automobile dealer, but as Longhorn Coach, football and basketball’s fortune plummeted after his first-year successes.
1923 – 1924 23-0 record “Doc” Stewart
This is the last team in school history to go undefeated.
MOMENT NO. 76
Mar. 8, 1924: Texas posts a 17-11 victory against archrival Texas A&M in College Station. The win clinches the fourth and final undefeated season in school history, as the Horns register a 23-0 record. Texas also claims the SWC championship with a 20-0 record.
The 1924 undefeated team, number 3 in the nation
Coach Stewart Implements an offense that focuses on ball movement with minimal dribbling and man-to-man defense
Albert “Abb” Curtis, During His Senior Year At The University Of Texas, Played On Undefeated Teams In Football And Basketball And Was The School’s No. 1 Scholar-Athlete. Curtis Was Inducted Into The Texas Sports Hall Of Fame In 1973.
MOMENT NO. 58
Feb. 26, 1924: Texas makes its first trip to Fayetteville, Ark. and tops the Razorbacks 30-26. The game was the first of 149 games in the series against Arkansas. The following night the Longhorns defeated the Razorbacks again 32-21.
1924- 1925 17- 8 Record Coach Doc Stewart
The Fire Marshall determines that the “men’s Gym” is a fire trap, but no sanctions are enforced.
1925-1926 12-10 record Coach Doc Stewart
Doc Stewart is accused of paddling the players as a form of motivation, demanding the players practice on Sunday, and concedes defeat to Arkansas before the game is played. It is his last year to Coach the Longhorns.
1926- 13-9 Record Coach Doc Stewart
1927 -1928 record 12- 5 Coach Fred Walker
On March 25, 1928, the Men’s Gym caught fire and burned to the ground. No one was hurt.
1928-1929 – Record 18-2 Fred Walker
The team had no home on campus for two seasons. For the 1928–29 season, the University played its home games in the School for the Deaf. The gym was small, so it precluded ticket sales to the general public, and a lottery was used for ticket rights to fans and season ticket holders.
Prolonged inclement weather delayed the completion of Gregory Gymnasium, originally intended to debut in 1929–30. Texas was forced to play games an extra year at The School for the Deaf and the newly built Austin High School facility.
According to Longhorn Hoops, the History of Texas Basketball by Richard Pennington Coach Walker is accused of taking some of the Texas player’s complimentary tickets and selling them for his own benefit. Some of the team members ask the UT administration to dismiss Coach Walker. Captain Bull Elkins refuses to play any more games for Coach Walker.
Despite not winning the SWC in 1929 this team was touted by many critics as “The Greatest Team in the Southwest.
1929-1930- 12-8 Record Fred Walker
1930-1931 9-15 record Coach Walker
MOMENT NO. 67
Dec. 5, 1930: Texas defeats North Texas 34-33 in Austin to open the 1930-31 season. The contest marks the first game ever played in Gregory
Economic times are tough and attendance drops.
Ticket prices are reduced.
1931- 1934 Coach Ed Olle, master of the one-handed shot
Ed Olle has a special knack for coaching basketball. Ed Olle brought the Horns their first national championship in 1924. At Texas, he lettered in basketball, baseball, and football from 1925- 1927. and won the prestigious Norris Trophy in 1927. As a basketball coach his players mastered the one-handed shot, and his player Jack Gray was a master.
“
1931-1932 13-9 Coach Ed Olle
1932-1933 22-1 Coach Ed Olle
Premo-Porretta National Champs
Jerry Gray changes basketball shooting technique forever by shooting with just one hand instead of two.
Gray became the first Longhorn to score more than 300 points in a season.
A TCU coach attributes some of his success to a new idea called “recruiting” instead of selecting players through tryouts and scouting the intramural leagues.
MOMENT NO. 40
Mar. 4, 1933: The Longhorns defeat Texas A&M 51-20 in Gregory Gym to claim their sixth SWC Championship and first since 1924. Texas finished the season 22-1. Since then, no Longhorn team has finished with a better overall record.
1933 – 1934 14-8 Record Coach Ollie
By 1933, school spirit and attendance at athletic events started to grow, resulting in general admiration for athletic accomplishments. Jack Gray was one of them.
MOMENT NO. 21
Mar. 4, 1933: Jack Gray posts a school record 32 points to lead Texas to a 51-20 victory against arch-rival Texas A&M in Gregory Gym. The point total is a staggering number for this era of basketball when the game still featured the center jump and team scores in the ’40s. Gray’s single-game mark stands as the top mark in Southwest Conference play for the next 16 years.
Marty Karow coached the backfield and end coach for Texas in 1926. He was promoted to head basketball coach in 1934 but also was the boxing instructor and freshman basketball and baseball coach from 1933-1934.
The Longhorns play their home games in Gregory Gym from 1931 through 1977.
1934-1935 16-7 record Coach Marty Karow
MOMENT NO. 15
End of 1934-35 season: Jack Gray earns consensus first-team All-America honors. Gray becomes not only the first Longhorn (and one of only three UT players in school history) but also the first player in Southwest Conference history to garner first-team All-America accolades. Gray led the SWC in scoring three consecutive years
