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1935, Sam Barry, 20-6
Sam Barry's second of three Conference Championships, and first of three 20 win seasons. To appreciate how good this team was we need to understand where basketball was at this time. After the good players left college there was no professional league, so they played for company teams to keep their amateur status as basketball was first going to be played as an Olympic sport in 1936. The most powerful company/pro team in the County was the Universal Studios team, which would send six players and the coach to the Berlin Olympics, winning the gold medal. One of those players was one of Barry's best players at Iowa, Duane Swanson, who left Iowa to join Barry at SC, but the Iowa coach put up a stink so Barry didn't let him on the team and he turned pro with Universal Studios. Of the six games SC lost that year two were to Universal Studios, which they did beat the third and final time they played. SC then went 11-1 in conference to win the Southern Division. In the three game conference championship series SC lost the first game at Oregon State, then won at the Shrine to force a third game at home. In that final game Ernie Holbrook, who would go on to coach the 1943 team, made his only shot of the game in the last 30 seconds to give SC a one point win and the Conference Championship. The NCAA tournament was still four years away, and the NIT three years away, so that was the end of the season. SC was led by consensus First Team All American Lee Guttero, the dominant player that year in college hoops who's 15.5 points a game average was the school record for 14 years until Bill Sharman broke it.
Sam Barry's second of three Conference Championships, and first of three 20 win seasons. To appreciate how good this team was we need to understand where basketball was at this time. After the good players left college there was no professional league, so they played for company teams to keep their amateur status as basketball was first going to be played as an Olympic sport in 1936. The most powerful company/pro team in the County was the Universal Studios team, which would send six players and the coach to the Berlin Olympics, winning the gold medal. One of those players was one of Barry's best players at Iowa, Duane Swanson, who left Iowa to join Barry at SC, but the Iowa coach put up a stink so Barry didn't let him on the team and he turned pro with Universal Studios. Of the six games SC lost that year two were to Universal Studios, which they did beat the third and final time they played. SC then went 11-1 in conference to win the Southern Division. In the three game conference championship series SC lost the first game at Oregon State, then won at the Shrine to force a third game at home. In that final game Ernie Holbrook, who would go on to coach the 1943 team, made his only shot of the game in the last 30 seconds to give SC a one point win and the Conference Championship. The NCAA tournament was still four years away, and the NIT three years away, so that was the end of the season. SC was led by consensus First Team All American Lee Guttero, the dominant player that year in college hoops who's 15.5 points a game average was the school record for 14 years until Bill Sharman broke it.