The 1940–41 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1940, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1941 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 29, 1941, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The Wisconsin Badgers won their first NCAA national championship with a 39–34 victory over the Washington State Cougars.
Season headlines
The Border Conference and the Metropolitan New York Conference did not play as conferences during the season. Their members competed as independents. The National Invitation Tournament — considered by some until at least the mid-1950s to be more prestigious than the NCAA tournament — expanded from six to eight teams. The National Association of Basketball Coaches turned over operation of the NCAA tournament to the NCAA itself.Anonymous, "How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, the NIT," Sport History Weekly, March 24, 2019 Accessed May 4, 2021 George Glamack of North Carolina became the first player to score 30 or more points in an NCAA tournament game, scoring 31 points against Dartmouth in a regional third-place game of the 1941 NCAA basketball tournament on March 22, 1941. In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Wisconsin as its national champion for the 1940–41 season. In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Long Island as its top-ranked team for the 1940–41 season.
Conference membership changes SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Southeastern Conference Independent
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerBig Six Conference Iowa State & Kansas None selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Wisconsin None selected No TournamentBorder Conference Did not play as conferenceEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Dartmouth None selected No TournamentMetropolitan New York Conference Did not play as conferenceMissouri Valley Conference Creighton None selected No TournamentMountain States (Skyline) Conference Wyoming No TournamentNew England Conference Connecticut & No TournamentPacific Coast Conference ; No Tournament;Washington State defeated in best-of-three conference championship playoff seriesSoutheastern Conference Tennessee None selected 1941 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) TennesseeSouthern Conference North Carolina None selected 1941 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Thompson Gym(Raleigh, Duke2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southwest Conference Arkansas None selected No Tournament
Conference standings
Major independents A total of 73 college teams played as major independents. (25–2) had the best winning percentage (.926) and finished with the most wins.
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Semifinals & final
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
+ Consensus First Team Player Class Team John Adams Senior Arkansas Gus Broberg Senior Dartmouth Howard Engleman Senior Kansas Gene Englund Senior Wisconsin George Glamack Senior North Carolina
+ Consensus Second Team Player Class Team Frank Baumholtz Senior Ohio Bob Kinney Junior Rice Paul Lindemann Senior Washington State Stan Modzelewski Junior Rhode Island State Oscar Schectman Senior Long Island
Major player of the year awards
Helms Player of the Year: George Glamack, North Carolina (retroactive selection in 1944)
Other major awards
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Jack Garfinkel, St. John's
Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonBaylorRalph WolfBill HendersonWolf stayed with the school to become the athletic director.BYUEdwin KimballFloyd MilletKimball continued being BYU's athletic director.The CitadelBen ParkerBen Clemons ColgatePaul BixlerKarl J. Lawrence IdahoForrest TwogoodGuy WicksTwogood left to coach San Francisco.HarvardWes FeslerEarl Brown La SalleLeonard TanseerObie O'Brien LehighPaul R. CalvertMarty Westerman New MexicoBenjamin SacksWillis Barnes San FranciscoWally CameronForrest Twogood SienaHenry BunoskiDan Cunha TCUMike BrumbelowHerb McQuillanTexas A&MHerb McQuillanMarty Karow McQuillan left to coach TCU.TulsaJack SterrettTex Ryon Sterrett left to coach Wichita Municipal.USCSam BarryJulie BescosUtah StateDick RomneyRobert Burnett ValparaisoJake ChristiansenLoren Ellis VanderbiltJim BufordNorm Cooper Wichita MunicipalBill HennighJack Sterrett
References