1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season

1943–44 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1943–44 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
NCAA Tournament	1944
Tournament dates	March 24 – 28, 1944
National Championship	Madison Square Garden; New York, New York
NCAA Champions	Utah
Helms National Champions	Army
Other champions	St. John's (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	George Mikan, DePaul

The 1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1943, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1944 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 28, 1944, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The Utah Redskins won their first NCAA national championship with a 42–40 victory over the Dartmouth Big Green.

Season headlines

The Metropolitan New York Conference and the Skyline Conference did not compete during the season. Their members played as independents.
Arkansas was selected for the NCAA tournament but was forced to withdraw after a March 1944 automobile accident injured two Razorbacks starters and killed a physical education teacher who traveled with the team as a coaching assistant.[1][2]
Utah replaced Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament and became the first team to play in both the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA tournament in the same season.
Army went undefeated (15–0), and the Helms Athletic Foundation selected Army rather than 1944 NCAA Tournament winner Utah as its national champion. It was the third time in history that the Helms champion differed from the NCAA champion.
In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Army as its national champion for the 1943–44 season.[3]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Brooklyn Bulldogs	Metropolitan New York Conference	Independent
CCNY Beavers	Metropolitan New York Conference	Independent
Fordham Rams	Metropolitan New York Conference	Independent
Georgetown Hoyas	Independent	No athletic programs
Harvard Crimson	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent
Manhattan Jaspers	Metropolitan New York Conference	Independent
NYU Violets	Metropolitan New York Conference	Independent
Northeastern Huskies	New England Conference	Independent
St. Francis (NY) Terriers	Metropolitan New York Conference	Independent
St. John's Redmen	Metropolitan New York Conference	Independent
Yale Bulldogs	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent

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 & Oklahoma	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	None selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	New Mexico & Arizona State–Flagstaff	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Dartmouth	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	Did not play as conference
Missouri Valley Conference	Oklahoma A&M	None selected	No Tournament
New England Conference	Connecticut		No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington (North); California (South)		No Tournament
Skyline Conference	Did not play as conference
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None selected	1944 SEC men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	North Carolina	None selected	1944 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Duke[5]
Southwest Conference	Arkansas & Rice	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Semifinals & finals

National semifinals		National Finals

Dartmouth	60

Ohio State	53
		Dartmouth	40

		Utah	42
Iowa State	31

Utah	40

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals			Finals

	Oklahoma A&M	38

	DePaul	41
				DePaul	39

				St. John's	47
	Kentucky	45

	St. John's	48

Third Place – Kentucky 45, Oklahoma A&M 29

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Bob Brannum	C	Sophomore	Kentucky
Audley Brindley	F	Sophomore	Dartmouth
Otto Graham	F	Senior	Northwestern
Leo Klier	F	Junior	Notre Dame
Bob Kurland	C	Sophomore	Oklahoma A&M
George Mikan	C	Sophomore	DePaul
Allie Paine	G	Junior	Oklahoma

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Bob Dille	F	Sophomore	Valparaiso
Arnie Ferrin	F	Freshman	Utah
Don Grate	G	Junior	Ohio State
Dale Hall	F	Junior	Army
Bill Henry	C	Junior	Rice
Dick Triptow	G	Senior	DePaul

Major player of the year awards

Other major awards

NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Dick McGuire, St. John's

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
North Carolina	Bill Lange		Ben Carnevale

References

Chipman, Kit (April 30, 2010). "University of Utah 1944 NCAA Basketball Championship". Utah Communication History Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Reed, William F. (April 1994). A Barn Raising. Sports Illustrated. p. 8.
ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
"2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

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[1] Chipman, Kit (April 30, 2010). "University of Utah 1944 NCAA Basketball Championship". Utah Communication History Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[2] Reed, William F. (April 1994). A Barn Raising. Sports Illustrated. p. 8.

[ESPN_526-3] ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[4] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

[5] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 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 1999–2000 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 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24