The 1901–02 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States began in December 1901, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1902.
Rule changes
An early form of dribbling became legal; previously, players were not allowed to bounce the ball at all and could advance it only by passing.Hoop Tactics "The Evolution of Basketball: A Chronological Look At The Major Refinements" Accessed 15 May 2021 The new dribbling rule did not permit continuous dribbling in the modern sense; instead, a player could bounce a ball only once and then recover it, and the bounce had to be higher than his head. A player was allowed to bounce and recover the ball in this way as many times in a row as he wanted or pass the ball to another player after any single-bounce dribble, but he was not allowed to shoot the ball after a dribble.Schleyer, Claudia, "The Rules of Basketball: Boy How They've Changed!", Youth Hoops 101 Accessed 15 May 2021 The rule limited dribbling to a defensive tactic in which a player in effect passed the ball to himself. Continuous dribbling — dribbling in its modern sense — was not permitted until the 1909–10 season.
Season headlines
The Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League began play, with five original members. It played the first college conference basketball season. Minnesota went undefeated (15–0). Citing this unblemished record and a win over eastern champion Yale, Minnesota claimed the mythical national collegiate championship for the 1901–02 season. Minnesota also claimed that its win over the amateur champion Company E team of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, entitled it to a mythical overall amateur basketball championship of the United States for the season. In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Minnesota as its national champion for the 1901–02 season. In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Minnesota as its top-ranked team for the 1901–02 season.
Conference membership changes SchoolFormer ConferenceNew Conference Independent Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League No major basketball program Western Conference No major basketball program Independent Independent Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
Regular season
Conferences
ConferenceRegular Season WinnerConference Player of the YearConference TournamentTournament Venue (City)Tournament WinnerEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Yale None selected No TournamentWestern Conference None None selected No Tournament NOTE: The Western Conference (the future Big Ten Conference) did not sponsor an official conference season or recognize a regular-season champion until the 1905–06 season, although a few intramural games took place within the conference during the 1901–02 season. and won 10 or more games.
Independents
A total of 50 college teams played as major independents. Among them, (13–1), (13–1), Bucknell (12–2), (13–3), (11–3), and (11–5) won more than 10 games.
References