1901–02 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States explained

Year:	1901
Helmschamp:	Minnesota (retroactive selection in 1943)

The 1901–02 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States began in December 1901, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1902.

Rule changes

• An early form of dribbling became legal; previously, players were not allowed to bounce the ball at all and could advance it only by passing.^[1] The new dribbling rule did not permit continuous dribbling in the modern sense; instead, a player could bounce a ball only once and then recover it, and the bounce had to be higher than his head.^[1] A player was allowed to bounce and recover the ball in this way as many times in a row as he wanted or pass the ball to another player after any single-bounce dribble, but he was not allowed to shoot the ball after a dribble.^{[1] [2]} The rule limited dribbling to a defensive tactic in which a player in effect passed the ball to himself.^[1] Continuous dribbling — dribbling in its modern sense — was not permitted until the 1909–10 season.^[1]

Season headlines

• The Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League began play, with five original members. It played the first college conference basketball season.^[3]
• Minnesota went undefeated (15–0).
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Minnesota as its national champion for the 1901–02 season.^[4]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Minnesota as its national champion for the 1901–02 season.^[5]

Conference membership changes

School	Former Conference	New Conference
	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
	No major basketball program	Western Conference
	No major basketball program	Independent
	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League

Regular season

Conferences

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[6]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
		None selected	No Tournament^[7]
	None	None selected	No Tournament^[8]

NOTE: The Western Conference (the future Big Ten Conference) did not sponsor an official conference season or recognize a regular-season champion until the 1905–06 season, although a few intermural games took place within the conference during the 1901–02 season. and won 10 or more games.^[8]

Independents

A total of 50 college teams played as major independents. Among them, (13–1), (13–1), Bucknell (12–2), (13–3), (11–3), and (11–5) won more than 10 games.^[9]

Statistical leaders

Notes and References

1. https://hooptactics.net/premium/basketballbasics/bb8rulesevolution.php Hoop Tactics "The Evolution of Basketball: A Chronological Look At The Major Refinements" Accessed 15 May 2021
2. https://www.youthhoops101.com/rules-of-basketball.html Schleyer, Claudia, "The Rules of Basketball: Boy How They've Changed!", Youth Hoops 101 Accessed 15 May 2021
3. Web site: Playing Rules History . . . ncaa.org . NCAA . June 25, 2024 . 11.
4. Web site: Jon. Scott. Nov 9, 2010. The truth behind the Helms Committee. 13 May 2021.
5. Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. ESPN. ESPN Books. New York, NY. 2009. 526, 529–587. 978-0-345-51392-2.
6. News: 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2009. NCAA. 14 February 2009.
7. Web site: 1901-02 Men's Ivy League Season Summary . . July 17, 2024.
8. Web site: 1901-02 Men's Western Conference Season Summary . . July 17, 2024.
9. Web site: 1901-02 Men's Independent Season Summary . . July 17, 2024.