Howard Hobson
Encyclopedia
Howard Andrew "Hobby" Hobson (July 4, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a college basketball
coach
, who authored numerous books on the subject. He also has the distinction of coaching the team who won the National Collegiate Athletic Association
Championship with the Oregon Ducks
in its inaugural year of 1939.
for four years at Franklin High School
in Portland, Oregon
, from which he graduated in 1922. During his time there, he was team captain for two years, and led the state
championship-winning team in 1921.
He was captain of the University of Oregon
's basketball team from 1924 to 1926, and in 1925, his team tied Oregon State Agricultural College
for the conference title. However, they lost in the playoff
s. A year later, the team won the conference title, but lost to the University of California
in the playoffs. This 1926 team was nevertheless undefeated in the conference, with a win record of 10-0. In the same year, he graduated
from the University with a bachelor's degree
. He went on to obtain a master's degree
in 1929 and a doctorate
in 1945, both from Columbia University
.
in 1928, where his team won the league
championship
. In 1929, he was the head football coach at the Cortland Normal School, now known as State University of New York College at Cortland. From 1930 to 1932, he coached Benson High School
in Portland. They won the championship in his final year there. Hobson subsequently led Southern Oregon State College
to three consecutive league championship victories from 1933 to 1935.
In 1936, Hobson took over as head basketball coach of the University of Oregon Ducks, leading them to three consecutive Pacific Coast Conference
titles from 1937 to 1939, culminating in the first-ever NCAA basketball championship in 1939
. His 1939 team
was known as the "Tall Firs" because of their size: the players averaged about 6', which was considered very tall for a basketball player at the time.
Hobson coached Oregon's basketball and baseball teams from 1936 to 1947, when he left to coach basketball at Yale University
. He coached at Yale until 1956, during which time his teams won or shared five Big Three
crowns (in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1953, and 1956). The 1949 team was the first NCAA entry in the school's history and won the Eastern Intercollegiate League title for the first time in 16 years.
. His overall record for 27 years as a coach was 495-291.
In 1947, Hobson was named President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches
(NABC). For 12 years, he was also a member of the U.S. Olympic
Basketball Committee. He served four years as a member and treasurer
of the National Basketball Rules Committee, and conducted basketball clinics in the U.S. and in 15 foreign countries. On October 13, 1965, Howard Hobson was enshrined as a coach in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, having also been inducted into the Portland High School, Helms Foundation, Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
, and Portland Metro Hall of Fame.
In 1988, he attended the 50th Anniversary
celebration of the founding of the NCAA Tournament. Howard Hobson died on June 9, 1991.
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, who authored numerous books on the subject. He also has the distinction of coaching the team who won the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Championship with the Oregon Ducks
Oregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks refers to the sports teams of the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Ducks are part of the Pacific-12 Conference in the Division 1 of the NCAA. With seventeen varsity teams, the Oregon Ducks are best known for their football team and Track and Field...
in its inaugural year of 1939.
Playing career
Hobson played basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
for four years at Franklin High School
Franklin High School (Oregon)
Benjamin Franklin High School is a public high school in Portland, Oregon, United States. Franklin is located in central southeast Portland in the South Tabor neighborhood, at the foot of Mt. Tabor.-History:...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, from which he graduated in 1922. During his time there, he was team captain for two years, and led the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
championship-winning team in 1921.
He was captain of the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
's basketball team from 1924 to 1926, and in 1925, his team tied Oregon State Agricultural College
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
for the conference title. However, they lost in the playoff
Playoff
The playoffs, postseason, or finals of a sports league are a game or series of games played after the regular season by the top competitors, usually but not always with a single-elimination system, to determine the league champion or a similar accolade.In the U.S...
s. A year later, the team won the conference title, but lost to the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
in the playoffs. This 1926 team was nevertheless undefeated in the conference, with a win record of 10-0. In the same year, he graduated
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
from the University with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
. He went on to obtain a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1929 and a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1945, both from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Coaching career
Hobson began his coaching career at Kelso High School in Kelso, WashingtonKelso, Washington
Kelso is a city in southwest Washington State, United States, and is the county seat of Cowlitz County. At the 2010 census, the population was 11,925. Kelso is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 102,410. Kelso shares its long western border...
in 1928, where his team won the league
Sports league
League is a term commonly used to describe a group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on weekends; at its most complex, it can be an...
championship
Championship
Championship is a term used in sport to refer to various forms of competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.- Title match system :...
. In 1929, he was the head football coach at the Cortland Normal School, now known as State University of New York College at Cortland. From 1930 to 1932, he coached Benson High School
Benson Polytechnic High School
Benson Polytechnic High School is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. Its campus is located in the center of Portland's Eastside commercial area. Students are given a special emphasis in a technical area...
in Portland. They won the championship in his final year there. Hobson subsequently led Southern Oregon State College
Southern Oregon University
is a public liberal arts college located in Ashland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1926, it was formerly known as Southern Oregon College and Southern Oregon State College . SOU offers criminology, natural sciences, including environmental science, Shakespearean studies and theatre arts programs...
to three consecutive league championship victories from 1933 to 1935.
In 1936, Hobson took over as head basketball coach of the University of Oregon Ducks, leading them to three consecutive Pacific Coast Conference
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pacific-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis...
titles from 1937 to 1939, culminating in the first-ever NCAA basketball championship in 1939
1939 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.-See also:* 1939 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament...
. His 1939 team
1938–39 Oregon Ducks men's basketball team
The 1938–39 Oregon Ducks men's basketball team was a Division I college basketball team that represented the University of Oregon. The Ducks, coached by Howard Hobson, played in the Pacific Coast Conference and compiled a 29–5 won–loss record in regular and postseason competition...
was known as the "Tall Firs" because of their size: the players averaged about 6', which was considered very tall for a basketball player at the time.
Hobson coached Oregon's basketball and baseball teams from 1936 to 1947, when he left to coach basketball at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. He coached at Yale until 1956, during which time his teams won or shared five Big Three
Big Three (colleges)
The Big Three is a historical term used in the United States to refer to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. The phrase Big Three originated in the 1880s, when these three colleges dominated college football. High schools' college admissions counselors and colleges' admissions guides sometimes use the...
crowns (in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1953, and 1956). The 1949 team was the first NCAA entry in the school's history and won the Eastern Intercollegiate League title for the first time in 16 years.
Legacy
Hobson was the first coach to win championships at a major college level on both coasts. He also pioneered intersectional play at Oregon, making the Ducks the first Western team to travel East for games. He repeated this type of intersectional play at Yale, and the 1948-49 team was the first Yale team to appear on the Pacific CoastPacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
. His overall record for 27 years as a coach was 495-291.
In 1947, Hobson was named President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches
National Association of Basketball Coaches
The National Association of Basketball Coaches , headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of college men's basketball coaches...
(NABC). For 12 years, he was also a member of the U.S. Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
Basketball Committee. He served four years as a member and treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
of the National Basketball Rules Committee, and conducted basketball clinics in the U.S. and in 15 foreign countries. On October 13, 1965, Howard Hobson was enshrined as a coach in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, having also been inducted into the Portland High School, Helms Foundation, Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall...
, and Portland Metro Hall of Fame.
In 1988, he attended the 50th Anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
celebration of the founding of the NCAA Tournament. Howard Hobson died on June 9, 1991.
Further reading
- Hobson, Howard A. Shooting Ducks: A History of University of Oregon Basketball Portland: Western Imprints/Oregon Historical Society Press, 1984. ISBN 0-87595-142-2