1943–44 Army Cadets men's basketball team

The 1943–44 Army Cadets men's basketball team represented the United States Military Academy (known as "Army" for their sports teams) during the 1943–44 intercollegiate basketball season in the United States. The head coach was Ed Kelleher, coaching in his first season with the Cadets. The team finished the season with a 15–0 record^[2] and was named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation.^[1] The Helms and NCAA Division I Tournament champions were the same except for 1939, 1940, 1944, and 1954 when Oregon, Indiana, Utah, and La Salle respectively won the tournament. The Cadets were later additionally named national champions by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.^[3][4]

1943–44 Army Cadets men's basketball
Helms Foundation National Champions[1] Premo-Porretta National Champions
Conference	Independent
Record	15–0
Head coach	Ed Kelleher (1st season)
MVP	Dale Hall
Captain	Ed Christl
Home arena	Gillis Field House
Seasons ← 1942–43 1944–45 →

Dale Hall was named a consensus All-American as well as the Sporting News National Player of the Year. Other players of note on the team included Doug Kenna '45, John Hennessey '44 (who served with the 70th Infantry Division in World War II and ultimately retired as a general officer), Robert Faas '44 (who flew in the Pacific theater as a P-47N pilot in the waning days of World War II), and Edward C. Christl '44, who was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross and for whom Army's Christl Arena is named.^[5]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
*		Swarthmore	W 80–29	1–0
*		Colgate	W 69–44	2–0
*		St. John's	W 49–36	3–0
*		Columbia	W 55–37	4–0
*		Wesleyan	W 49–38	5–0
*		Coast Guard	W 55–37	6–0
*		West Virginia	W 58–31	7–0
*		Rochester	W 57–43	8–0
*		Pittsburgh	W 66–32	9–0
*		Hobart	W 69–36	10–0
*		Penn	W 55–38	11–0
*		Villanova	W 34–22	12–0
*		NYU	W 46–36	13–0
*		Maryland	W 85–22	14–0
*		Navy	W 47–40	15–0
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source^[6]

References

1. Fraley, Oscar (April 6, 1944). Written at New York. "In Cage Selections Made By Helms Foundation Army Is Voted Top Quintet". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. United Press. Retrieved December 25, 2023. Army was rated as the nation's No. 1 team despite the fact that Utah's Cinderella Kids won mythical national honors in postseason tournament play which was ruled out for the Cadets.
2. "Army season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
3. "NCAA Division I Men's Basketball – NCAA Division I Champions". Rauzulu's Street. 2004. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
4. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 532. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
5. Noles, Jim (2018). Undefeated: From Basketball to Battle - West Point's Perfect 1944 Season. Philadelphia: Casemate Publishers.
6. "2013–14 Army Black Knights Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). History & Records (p. 82). United States Military Academy. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.