1916–17 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1916–17 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1916, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1917.

1916–17 NCAA men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Washington State (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Ray Woods, Illinois (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1915–16 1917–18 →

Season headlines

• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Washington State as its national champion for the 1916–17 season.^[1]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Washington State as its national champion for the 1916–17 season.^[2]

Conference membership changes

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Oregon Webfoots	No basketball team	Pacific Coast Conference
Southwestern Pirates	Southwest Conference	No major basketball program
Stanford Indians	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference

NOTE: Although Oregon joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915, it did not field a basketball team during the 1915–16 season, and its first season of Pacific Coast Conference play was 1916–17.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners

Conference	Regular Season Winner[3]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Yale	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Kansas State	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington State	None selected	No Tournament
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado College		No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas	None selected	No Tournament
Western Conference	Illinois & Minnesota	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1916–17 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Yale 9 – 1   .900 19 – 5   .792 Princeton 8 – 2   .800 15 – 5   .750 Penn 5 – 5   .500 11 – 7   .611 Dartmouth 4 – 6   .400 10 – 12   .455 Columbia 3 – 7   .300 6 – 8   .429 Cornell 1 – 9   .100 6 – 10   .375	1916–17 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Kansas State 10 – 2   .833 15 – 2   .882 Missouri 10 – 4   .714 12 – 4   .750 Iowa State 6 – 4   .600 12 – 6   .667 Kansas 9 – 7   .563 12 – 6   .667 Nebraska 4 – 8   .333 12 – 10   .545 Washington University 1 – 11   .083 6 – 13   .316 Drake 0 – 4   .000 5 – 7   .417	1916–17 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Washington State 8 – 1   .889 25 – 1   .962 California 5 – 1   .833 15 – 1   .938 Washington 7 – 5   .583 8 – 8   .500 Oregon Agricultural 7 – 6   .538 11 – 7   .611 Stanford 0 – 6   .000 8 – 8   .500 Oregon 0 – 8   .000 0 – 11   .000
1916–17 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Colorado College 7 – 1   .875 10 – 1   .909 Colorado 6 – 2   .750 6 – 2   .750 Denver 4 – 4   .500 4 – 4   .500 Colorado Agricultural 3 – 5   .375 8 – 5   .615 Colorado Mines 0 – 8   .000 0 – 8   .000	1916–17 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas 7 – 1   .875 13 – 3   .813 Texas A&M 3 – 3   .500 11 – 8   .579 Baylor 0 – 6   .000 7 – 10   .412	1916–17 Western Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Minnesota 10 – 2   .833 17 – 2   .895 Illinois 10 – 2   .833 13 – 3   .813 Purdue 7 – 2   .778 11 – 3   .786 Wisconsin 9 – 3   .750 15 – 3   .833 Indiana 3 – 5   .375 13 – 6   .684 Chicago 4 – 8   .333 13 – 15   .464 Ohio State 3 – 9   .250 15 – 11   .577 Northwestern 2 – 10   .167 3 – 11   .214 Iowa 1 – 8   .111 7 – 9   .438

Independents

A total of 129 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, Navy (11–0) and Washington and Lee (13–0) were undefeated, and Louisiana State (20–2) and Trinity (20–4) finished with the most wins.^[4]

1916–17 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Navy –   – 11 – 0   1.000 Washington and Lee –   – 13 – 0   1.000 Washington College –   – 2 – 0   1.000 Montana State –   – 19 – 1   .950 Western Reserve –   – 12 – 1   .923 Kalamazoo –   – 12 – 1   .923 Louisiana State –   – 20 – 2   .909 Wabash –   – 19 – 2   .905 Canisius –   – 9 – 1   .900 Creighton –   – 18 – 2   .900 Virginia Tech –   – 17 – 2   .895 Georgia –   – 8 – 1   .889 North Dakota –   – 8 – 1   .889 Akron –   – 14 – 2   .875 Brigham Young –   – 14 – 2   .875 Roanoke –   – 7 – 1   .875 Central Missouri –   – 13 – 2   .867 Carleton –   – 12 – 2   .857 The Citadel –   – 6 – 1   .857 Penn State –   – 12 – 2   .857 SMU –   – 12 – 2   .857 Wisconsin–Stevens Point –   – 11 – 2   .846 Arizona –   – 10 – 2   .833 CCNY –   – 15 – 3   .833 Trinity (N.C.) –   – 20 – 4   .833 Denison –   – 13 – 3   .813 Seton Hall –   – 13 – 3   .813 Southwestern (Kan.) –   – 13 – 3   .813 Syracuse –   – 13 – 3   .813 Clemson –   – 8 – 2   .800 Miami (Ohio) –   – 12 – 3   .800 New Mexico –   – 4 – 1   .800 Santa Clara –   – 8 – 2   .800 Colgate –   – 15 – 4   .789 Lehigh –   – 15 – 4   .789 St. Joseph's –   – 18 – 5   .783 Indiana State –   – 13 – 4   .765 New York University –   – 9 – 3   .750 Oklahoma A&M –   – 11 – 4   .733 Augustana (Ill.) –   – 8 – 3   .727 Dayton –   – 8 – 3   .727 Fordham –   – 8 – 3   .727 Marquette –   – 8 – 3   .727 North Dakota Agricultural –   – 10 – 4   .714 Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 15 – 6   .714 Duquesne –   – 7 – 3   .700 Millikin –   – 14 – 6   .700 Nebraska Wesleyan –   – 14 – 6   .700 Grinnell –   – 9 – 4   .692 Bucknell –   – 11 – 5   .688 Gettysburg –   – 11 – 5   .688 Michigan State –   – 11 – 5   .688 Tulane –   – 11 – 5   .688 Marietta –   – 13 – 6   .684 Boston University –   – 6 – 3   .667 Georgetown –   – 8 – 4   .667 Nevada –   – 6 – 3   .667 New Mexico A&M –   – 10 – 5   .667 North Central –   – 10 – 5   .667 Pittsburgh –   – 12 – 6   .667 Rice –   – 10 – 5   .667 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 10 – 5   .667 Tennessee –   – 10 – 5   .667 Toledo –   – 2 – 1   .667 Davidson –   – 11 – 6   .647 VMI –   – 9 – 5   .643 Richmond –   – 7 – 4   .636 Bradley –   – 10 – 6   .625 Lafayette –   – 15 – 9   .625 Oklahoma –   – 13 – 8   .619 Notre Dame –   – 8 – 5   .615 Utah State –   – 8 – 5   .615 Ole Miss –   – 11 – 7   .611 Tulsa –   – 11 – 7   .611 Mississippi A&M –   – 6 – 4   .600 Wake Forest –   – 9 – 6   .600 Virginia –   – 7 – 5   .583 St. John's (N.Y.) –   – 11 – 8   .579 Delaware –   – 8 – 6   .571 Union (N.Y.) –   – 9 – 7   .563 Detroit –   – 5 – 4   .556 North Carolina –   – 5 – 4   .556 North Carolina State –   – 10 – 8   .556 Catholic –   – 6 – 5   .545 Butler –   – 7 – 6   .538 Western State Normal –   – 7 – 6   .538 Temple –   – 10 – 9   .526 Auburn –   – 2 – 2   .500 DePauw –   – 7 – 7   .500 Idaho –   – 8 – 8   .500 Loyola (Md.) –   – 6 – 6   .500 Millsaps –   – 5 – 5   .500 Stevens Institute –   – 3 – 3   .500 Utah –   – 3 – 3   .500 Washington & Jefferson –   – 5 – 5   .500 West Virginia –   – 8 – 8   .500 Wyoming –   – 4 – 4   .500 George Washington –   – 7 – 8   .467 Manhattan –   – 7 – 8   .467 South Carolina –   – 7 – 8   .467 Grove City –   – 5 – 6   .455 Saint Louis –   – 5 – 6   .455 Rutgers –   – 4 – 5   .444 Alabama –   – 6 – 8   .429 Buffalo –   – 6 – 8   .429 Mount Union –   – 6 – 8   .429 Northern Colorado –   – 5 – 7   .417 Connecticut –   – 4 – 6   .400 Kentucky –   – 4 – 6   .400 Southern California –   – 8 – 12   .400 Wooster –   – 5 – 8   .385 Swarthmore –   – 4 – 7   .364 Franklin –   – 1 – 2   .333 Muhlenberg –   – 2 – 4   .333 Washburn –   – 5 – 11   .313 William & Mary –   – 4 – 9   .308 Niagara –   – 2 – 5   .286 Army –   – 3 – 8   .273 Cincinnati –   – 3 – 8   .273 Vanderbilt –   – 3 – 8   .273 Montana –   – 4 – 11   .267 Bowling Green State –   – 2 – 6   .250 Kent State –   – 2 – 6   .250 Rhode Island State –   – 2 – 6   .250 Rochester (N.Y.) –   – 4 – 12   .250 Texas Christian –   – 2 – 6   .250 Fairmount –   – 2 – 11   .154 Ohio –   – 2 – 14   .125 Tempe Normal –   – 0 – 1   .000

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Main article: 1917 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

The practice of selecting a Consensus All-American Team did not begin until the 1928–29 season. The Helms Athletic Foundation later retroactively selected a list of All-Americans for the 1916–17 season.^[5]

Player	Team
Clyde Alwood	Illinois
Cyril Haas	Princeton
George Hjelte	California
Orson Kinney	Yale
Harold Olsen	Wisconsin
F. I. Reynolds	Kansas State
Francis Stadsvold	Minnesota
Charles Taft	Yale
Ray Woods	Illinois
Harry Young	Washington and Lee

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Ray Woods, Illinois (retroactive selection in 1944)

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Alabama	Thomas Kelley		B. L. Noojin
Tempe Normal	George Schaeffler		George E. Cooper
Army	Arthur Conrad		Ivens Jones
Bucknell	George Cockill		MAlcolm Musser
California	Ben Carrington		Walter Christie
Cincinnati	Ion Cortright		Whitelaw Morrison
Clemson	Country Morris		Edward Donahue
Colorado	James N. Ashmore		Bob Evans
Columbia	Carl Merner		John Murray
Dartmouth	J. A. Pelletier		Mysterious Walker
Dayton	Alfred McCray		Al Mahrt
Drake	Ralph Glaze		S. W. Hobbs	Glaze left to coach at Northern Colorado.
George Washington	George Colliflower		Bertram Groesbeck & Murphy
Georgia	W. A. Cunningham		Alfred Scott
Indiana	Guy Lowman		Dana Evans
Indiana State	Alfred Westphal		O. E. Sink
Kentucky	William P. Tuttle		Stanley A. Boles
Lafayette	J. B. Quig		Bill Anderson
Miami (Ohio)	George Little		George Rider
Missouri	John F. Miller		Walter Meanwell
New Mexico A&M	Clarence W. Russell		John G. Griffith
Niagara	Tom Tracey		John O'Shea
Northern Colorado	Paul Abbott		Ralph Glaze
Northwestern	Fred J. Murphy		J. Norman Elliott
Oklahoma A&M	John G. Griffith		Earl A. Pritchard
Oregon	Hugo Bezdek		Bill Hayward
Oregon Agricultural	Everett May		Howard Ray
Purdue	Ward Lambert		J. J. Maloney
Rice	Robert Cummings		Wilbur Tisdale
Richmond	Frank Dobson		Dave E. Satterfield Jr.
USC	Motts Blair		Dean Cromwell
St. John's	Joseph O'Shea		John Crenny
Temple	William Nicholai		Elwood Geiges
Tennessee	John R. Bender		R. H. Fitzgerald
Texas	Eugene Van Gent		Roy Henderson
Texas A&M	W. H. H. Morris		William L. Driver
Tulsa	Francis Schmidt		Hal Mefford
Utah	Nelson Norgren		Thomas M. Fitzpatrick
Vanderbilt	Guy T. Denton		Ralph Palmer
Virginia Tech	Harlan Sandborn		Charles A. Bernier
VMI	Frank Gorton		Earl Abell
Wake Forest	J. R. Crozier		E. T. MacDonnell
West Virginia	George E. Pyle		H. P. Mullenex
William & Mary	Samuel H. Hubbard		Harry Young
Yale	A. Bernie Tommers		Walter Mace