Jewish success in the early tournaments, by Ari Sclar

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Jewish players had more of a presence in the NIT than in the NCAA tournament.  The NCAA divided the country into eight geographic districts (four in the west and four in the east), and included only one team from each district.  The NCAA’s regional seeding minimized the number of Jews who would appear in that tournament.  Relatively few Jews played at top Midwestern or Western colleges and only two Jewish players appeared in the NCAA tournament between 1939-1942.  A New York City team did not qualify for the NCAA until 1943 or play in the championship game until 1945.  In contrast, the NIT had no geographic limitations and invited the best teams in the country.  It also included New York teams because of commercial concerns.  The MBWA recognized the appeal of local teams and two city teams played in each NIT from 1938-1942.[1]

The high number of New York schools contributed to the success of Jewish basketball in the early years of the NIT.  Eastern teams with a prominent Jewish presence won five of the first seven tournaments.  Temple captured the first tournament championship, LIU won in 1939 and 1941, and St. John’s became the first team to win back-to-back titles in 1943 and 1944.  Yet, even as New York schools had this success, the power of college basketball briefly shifted away from the east in the mid-1940s.

World War II altered the structure of college basketball and its postseason tournaments.  The war forced many schools to cancel their programs while others played freshmen to field complete teams.  In 1943, the NCAA tournament joined the NIT at Madison Square Garden, which increased the Garden’s importance within college basketball.  Following both of St. John’s’ NIT victories, the team lost to the NCAA champion (Wyoming in 1943 and Utah in 1944) in Red Cross benefit games, which legitimized the NCAA tournament and provided western schools with national exposure.[2]  In the minds of coaches, fans, sportswriters and players, however, the NIT remained the more prestigious tournament for the remainder of the decade.  Jewish basketball thus retained its prominent presence in mainstream basketball.

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[1] On tournaments and results, see Mike Douchant, with special guest Jim Nantz, Inside College Basketball, Rev. ed. (New York: Visible Ink Press, 1997).  The two Jewish players were Harry Platt of Brown University (1939) and Moe Becker of Duquesne (1940).  In 1941, the NIT expanded from six to eight teams.

[2] On the Garden, see Applin, “From Muscular Christianity to the Marketplace,” 246-247. “West Meets East and Trims It In Year-End Basketball Spurt,” Newsweek, January 8, 1940.  After the University of Southern California ended LIU’s 42 game winning streak, Clair Bee declared “the balance of basketball power for 1940 lies west of the Mississippi.”