Tradition1 P.115-125
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TheThe TTRRAADDIITTIIOONN IN THIS SECTION Basketball Program History • Chronology of Important Dates • By The Numbers The Greatest Games • The Greatest Names • Award Winners • All-Americans Current NBA Players • Friars In The Pros • In-Season Tournaments Post-Season Tournaments • Notebook/Streaks • Alumni Hall 115 BASKETBALL PROGRAM HISTORY 1926-1943: Early Glory Year W L When Providence attempted to field a basketball team on 1926-27 8 8 an informal basis in 1921 and 1922, the Friars’ seasons were 1927-28 7 9 1928-29 17 3 cut short by a lack of coach, lack of facilities and lack of 1929-30 15 4 1930-31 14 5 interest. When the school reinstated basketball as a varsity 1931-32 19 5 sport in 1926-27, however, the team was ready to go. Archie 1932-33 13 3 1933-34 12 5 Golembeski, the school’s football coach, took the reins and 1934-35 17 5 1935-36 14 7 led the Friars to a .500 record that included a key upset of 1936-37 12 10 eastern power St. John’s. 1937-38 7 9 1938-39 4 7 After Golembeski left to devote more time to football, 1939-40 5 9 1940-41 11 6 Providence brought in Al “The General” McClellan and the pro- 1941-42 13 7 gram began to flourish. The Gen established PC almost imme- 1942-43 15 5 1943-44 No Team - WWII diately as perhaps the dominant team in New England and 1944-45 5 7 1945-46 5 12 garnered eastern and national attention for the fledgling pro- 1946-47 8 11 1947-48 10 10 gram. During McClellan’s eleven years as hoop boss, 1948-49 7 19 Providence won seventy percent of its’ games, captured four 1949-50 14 9 1950-51 14 10 Eddie Wineapple won first team New England championships (1929, 1930, 1932, and 1935) 1951-52 14 9 All-America honors after scoring and finished second in the region four times. In addition PC 1952-53 11 11 13.9 ppg in 1929. Wineapple 1953-54 13 13 was the only New England school in the twenties and thirties 1954-55 9 12 left PC after one year to play 1955-56 14 8 professional basketball with willing to venture outside of the region to play the powers in 1956-57 15 9 Syracuse. Wineapple was also a the East like St. John’s, CCNY, Villanova and Seton Hall, fur- 1957-58 18 6 baseball standout, pitching 1958-59 20 7 briefly for the Washington ther enhancing its’ growing reputation. 1959-60 24 5 Senators. 1960-61 24 5 Perhaps McClellan’s most acclaimed team was the 1929 1961-62 20 6 1962-63 24 4 squad that finished 17-3 and featured All-Americans Ed 1963-64 20 6 Wineapple, John Krieger and Bill McCue. That team gained 1964-65 24 2 1965-66 22 5 national attention by defeating St. John’s “Wonder Five” in 1966-67 21 7 1967-68 11 14 Brooklyn, and finished third in the East. The 1936 team was 1968-69 14 10 one of two New England teams selected to participate in the 1969-70 14 11 1970-71 20 8 U. S. Olympic playoffs. 1971-72 21 6 1972-73 27 4 When McClellan left after the 1938 season, PC suffered 1973-74 28 4 1974-75 20 11 through two subpar years, then began to rebuild under Coach 1975-76 21 11 Ed Crotty. Led by Ted McConnon, Chet Zabek and Horace 1976-77 24 5 1977-78 24 8 Marone, the Friars stunned Rhode Island State in 1942 before 1978-79 10 16 1979-80 11 16 5800 fans at the R. I. Auditorium – at the time, the largest 1980-81 10 18 crowd ever to see a basketball game in New England. In 1981-82 10 17 1982-83 12 19 1943, the Friars had set their sights on an NIT berth and 1983-84 15 14 1984-85 11 20 were undefeated through eight games and ranked first in New 1985-86 17 14 England before World War II began robbing them of their star 1986-87 25 9 1987-88 11 17 players. The Friars limped to the finish line with a 15-5 1988-89 18 11 1989-90 17 12 record, but with all of their players heading 1990-91 19 13 for the service, the school decided to shut 1991-92 14 17 1992-93 20 13 down the basketball program for the 1943- 1993-94 20 10 1994-95 17 13 44 season. 1995-96 18 12 1996-97 24 12 1997-98 13 16 1998-99 16 14 Allan Bracken was the Friars’ 1999-00 11 19 dominant player of the thirties. 2000-01 21 10 Bracken led the team in scoring 2001-02 15 16 for four years and set a record ALL-AMERICANS (1926-43) 2002-03 18 14 with 773 career points that would Edward Wineapple - 1929 2203-04 20 9 stand until 1951. John Krieger - 1930, 1931 William McCue - 1931 Allen Bracken - 1932, 1933 Larry Drew - 1942 Ted McConnon became the first Background photo: The New England Championship Friar to average 15 ppg for a 1928-29 Friars, PC’s first great team. season when he turned the trick in 1942. 116 BASKETBALL PROGRAM HISTORY 1944-1955: Small College Stature Year W L When the Friars returned to the court for the 1944-45 sea- 1926-27 8 8 1927-28 7 9 son they played a schedule made up mostly of service teams. 1928-29 17 3 Most of the Friars’ stars were gone – either still in the service 1929-30 15 4 1930-31 14 5 or transferred to other schools. After the war, the landscape 1931-32 19 5 1932-33 13 3 of college basketball would change. Now there was an unoffi- 1933-34 12 5 cial large school division and a small school division, similar 1934-35 17 5 1935-36 14 7 to today’s Division I and Division II. Providence, with its small 1936-37 12 10 1937-38 7 9 enrollment, was considered a small school by the NCAA, and 1938-39 4 7 their schedule began to reflect that. Gone were the eastern 1939-40 5 9 1940-41 11 6 powers like St. John’s and Villanova, replaced by schools like 1941-42 13 7 1942-43 15 5 St. Anselm and Bates. 1943-44 No Team - WWII 1944-45 5 7 Through the remainder of the forties and into the early 1945-46 5 12 fifties, the Friars only games with top level programs 1946-47 8 11 1947-48 10 10 occurred when they played regional rivals Rhode Island, 1948-49 7 19 1949-50 14 9 Brown, Holy Cross and Boston College; and most of those 1950-51 14 10 games ended in lopsided losses for PC. Unable to attract top 1951-52 14 9 1952-53 11 11 talent because of their small-school stature, the Friars bot- 1953-54 13 13 John Ritch was a standout 1954-55 9 12 rebounder for Vin Cuddy’s tomed out with a 7-19 record in 1949. 1955-56 14 8 teams of the mid-1950’s. Several factors combined to start turning the program 1956-57 15 9 1957-58 18 6 around. First, school President Father Slavin took in a Big 1958-59 20 7 1959-60 24 5 Five doubleheader while attending a conference in 1960-61 24 5 Philadelphia, and realized that a small Catholic school like 1961-62 20 6 1962-63 24 4 PC could compete in big-time college basketball – he had 1963-64 20 6 1964-65 24 2 seen Villanova, LaSalle and St. Joseph’s do just that. His 1965-66 22 5 1966-67 21 7 dream was for the Friars to compete with Holy Cross, 1967-68 11 14 which had just won a national championship. Second, 1968-69 14 10 1969-70 14 11 there was a move afoot on campus to raise money to 1970-71 20 8 1971-72 21 6 build an on-campus gym. During the thirties, PC played in 1972-73 27 4 a tiny auditorium in Harkins Hall – a real home court 1973-74 28 4 1974-75 20 11 advantage but not a true basketball court with its low 1975-76 21 11 1976-77 24 5 ceilings and small dimensions. Then, in the forties and 1977-78 24 8 early fifties, city high school gyms, with seats for 500 1978-79 10 16 1979-80 11 16 fans, were used. A state-of-the-art on-campus gym would 1980-81 10 18 1981-82 10 17 give the Friars a legitimate home. Third, Slavin hired Vin 1982-83 12 19 Cuddy to coach the team, and Cuddy began to turn 1983-84 15 14 1984-85 11 20 things around, going 14-9 in his first year. 1985-86 17 14 1986-87 25 9 With scoring stars like Jim Schlimm (the school’s first 1987-88 11 17 1000 point scorer), Bob Moran and 1988-89 18 11 1989-90 17 12 Mike Pascale, PC qualified for several 1990-91 19 13 1991-92 14 17 small-school postseason tournaments 1992-93 20 13 1993-94 20 10 and in 1951, won the NAIB regional 1994-95 17 13 tournament and advanced to the 1995-96 18 12 Coach Vin Cuddy helped to revive 1996-97 24 12 Providence’s program after several lean nationals in Kansas City.