San Diego State’s 2010-11 basketball season has been deeply memorable. The Aztecs emerged as a surprise contender for the national championship earlier in the season. But is it the best season of the show?
Maybe not.
Eighty years have passed since San Diego State’s last national men’s college basketball title. That team was so exciting that it earned the nickname The Wonder Team from fans of the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament (the oldest national college championship). Arguably, the Aztecs were the first Cinderella team in college basketball history.
While the NIT and NCAA tournaments were still in the early formative years of eight and sixteen team tournament pitches, the NAIB Tournament, founded by Emil Liston and Dr. James Naismith in 1937, was an uninterrupted week of 32 teams from exciting college basketball. . In 1939 and 1940, the state of San Diego earned a reputation for exciting surprises and incredible victories. Each year, the Aztecs advanced to the national championship game, only to finish as runners-up.
But the allure finally came in San Diego State’s third national title attempt.
The preview of the Kansas City Star NAIB Tournament for March 9, 1941 read:
San Diego, the marvelous team that scored victories in the closing seconds of the game last year, is making its third visit here, bringing back favorites like “Milky” Phelps, the one-handed push-shooter artist, [Andy] Echle and others. Twice the Californians have reached the final only to lose both times.
“It may be our turn to win that title this year,” San Diego coach Morris Gross telegraphed. “I’m bringing the best team we’ve ever had in San Diego.”
Phelps was an All-American kid both on and off the court. He was one of the most agile guards in the nation. While most basketball players were still pushing the ball toward the basket with both hands, Phelps’ one-handed jump shot was fascinating to basketball fans.
He worked at the campus malt shop and trained to become a military pilot.
At the 1941 NAIB Tournament, Phelps led the Aztecs in the early rounds of the tournament and defeated the West Texas “Giants,” the highest college basketball team at the time. At the end of the tournament, he was limping from a sprained right knee so swollen that it was difficult to distinguish it from his thigh. Despite his injury, Phelps gave everything he had to offer as San Diego State triumphantly battled Kentucky State for the national championship.
On March 16, 1941, the Kansas City Star reported:
At the climax of a 3-year campaign to the championship, the “miracle men” of San Diego, California, State last night captured the national intercollegiate basketball title with a landslide finish that defeated the 36-year-old Kentucky State College Thoroughbreds. to 34, before 6,500 people in the Auditorium.
On two denied occasions in the finals of this court classic, the California Aztecs took a huge lead in the first half, lost it midway through the final period and then, as they have done on several other occasions, gave a powerful boost. . to roar to victory.
The following year, the Aztecs returned without graduate Phelps. After a failed attempt to defend their national championship, many fans who had grown to love the San Diego team came together to create a special award. The tournament organizers granted them permission to present the Aztecs with a plaque honoring their “fighting spirit, outstanding play, and sportsmanship,” according to the Kansas City Times of March 12, 1942.
The story of the San Diego State Wonder Team is one of many told in the “National Title” The Improbable Tale of the NAIB Tournament. “The book demonstrates how the NAIB (now NAIA) picked up on Dr. Naismith’s mission to utilize sports. in a way that would benefit mankind It can be found at naibbook.com or can be downloaded from most e-book readers.