# 1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball season

The 1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball season began in December 1908, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1909.

## Rule changes

* A dribbler was allowed to shoot. Previously, a player could not shoot immediately after dribbling the ball.
* The double dribble became illegal, with the dribble defined as "continuous passage of the ball."
* A second official was added to games in an attempt to reduce rough play.

## Season headlines

* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Chicago as its national champion for the 1908–09 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Chicago as its national champion for the 1908–09 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former Conference | New Conference |
| Columbia Lions | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Independent |
| Cornell Big Red | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Independent |
| Penn Quakers | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Independent |
| Princeton Tigers | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Independent |
| Yale Bulldogs | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Independent |

## Regular season
### Conferences
#### Conference winners

| Conference | Regular Season Winner | Conference Player of the Year | Conference Tournament | Tournament Venue (City) | Tournament Winner |
| Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Nebraska (North); Kansas (South) | None selected | No Tournament; Kansas was conference champion | No Tournament; Kansas was conference champion | No Tournament; Kansas was conference champion |
| Western Conference | Chicago | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1908–09 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings :
| 1908–09 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Division Nebraska5–5 .5008–15  .348 Iowa State4–4 .5004–10  .286 Drake3–5 .3753–7  .300 South Division Kansas†8–2 .80025–3  .893 Missouri3–5 .37511–5  .688 Washington University3–5 .3753–5  .375 † Conference championship winner | 1908–09 Western Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Chicago12–0 1.00012–0  1.000 Purdue6–4 .6008–4  .667 Wisconsin5–4 .5568–4  .667 Illinois5–6 .4557–6  .538 Minnesota3–6 .3338–6  .571 Indiana2–6 .2505–9  .357 Northwestern1–4 .2001–7  .125 Iowa1–5 .1678–7  .533 |

### Independents

A total of 113 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, California (10–0), New York University (13–0), Swarthmore (12–0), and Whittier (14–0) were undefeated, and Notre Dame (33–7) finished with the most wins.
1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball independents standings :
* 1908–09 IAAUS men's basketball independents standings
* vteConf.Overall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* California– –10–0
* 1.000
* Illinois State– –9–0
* 1.000
* New Mexico– –1–0
* 1.000
* New York University– –13–0
* 1.000
* Swarthmore– –12–0
* 1.000
* Whittier– –14–0
* 1.000
* Widener– –9–0
* 1.000
* Columbia– –15–1
* .938
* Williams– –13–1
* .929
* Grinnell– –12–1
* .923
* Ohio State– –11–1
* .917
* Oregon Agricultural– –10–1
* .909
* Trinity (N.C.)– –8–1
* .889
* Hope– –8–1
* .889
* Montana State– –8–1
* .889
* Dayton– –12–2
* .857
* Wake Forest– –6–1
* .857
* Allegheny– –11–2
* .846
* North Dakota– –10–2
* .833
* Washington– –5–1
* .833
* Wooster– –10–2
* .833
* Notre Dame– –33–7
* .825
* Army– –9–2
* .818
* Nebraska Wesleyan– –11–3
* .786
* New Mexico A&M– –7–2
* .778
* Rhode Island A&M– –7–2
* .778
* Pennsylvania– –19–6
* .760
* Bucknell– –9–3
* .750
* Georgia– –6–2
* .750
* Wabash– –9–3
* .750
* North Dakota Agricultural– –11–4
* .733
* Vanderbilt– –11–4
* .733
* CCNY– –8–3
* .727
* Navy– –8–3
* .727
* Southern California– –8–3
* .727
* Temple– –8–3
* .727
* Butler– –5–2
* .714
* LSU– –5–2
* .714
* Seton Hall– –10–4
* .714
* Loyola (Md.)– –12–5
* .706
* St. Lawrence– –12–2
* .857
* Maine– –7–3
* .700
* Marietta– –7–3
* .700
* William & Mary– –7–3
* .700
* Baylor– –11–5
* .688
* Dartmouth– –11–5
* .688
* Kansas State– –6–3
* .667
* Michigan State– –10–5
* .667
* Southwestern (Kan.)– –6–3
* .667
* Texas– –6–3
* .667
* Virginia– –6–3
* .667
* Virginia Tech– –4–2
* .667
* Denison– –11–6
* .647
* Georgetown– –9–5
* .643
* Brigham Young– –7–4
* .636
* MIT– –10–6
* .625
* Washington State– –10–6
* .625
* Cincinnati– –6–4
* .600
* Grove City– –9–6
* .600
* St. John's (NY)– –9–6
* .600
* Auburn– –4–3
* .571
* Colorado– –4–3
* .571
* Franklin– –12–9
* .571
* Santa Clara– –4–3
* .571
* Cornell– –13–10
* .565
* Kentucky– –5–4
* .556
* Washington and Lee– –5–4
* .556
* Bloomsburg– –6–5
* .545
* Washburn– –6–5
* .545
* Colgate– –7–6
* .538
* Penn State– –7–6
* .538
* Fordham– –13–12
* .520
* Arizona– –1–1
* .500
* Lehigh– –5–5
* .500
* Mississippi A&M– –5–5
* .500
* Ohio– –1–1
* .500
* Oklahoma– –3–3
* .500
* VMI– –3–3
* .500
* Wisconsin–Stevens Point– –4–4
* .500
* Wyoming– –3–3
* .500
* Yale– –9–9
* .500
* Syracuse– –7–8
* .467
* Akron– –6–7
* .462
* Bradley– –6–7
* .462
* Gettysburg– –4–5
* .444
* Wesleyan (Conn.)– –7–9
* .438
* Canisius– –3–4
* .429
* Idaho– –7–10
* .412
* Miami (Ohio)– –4–6
* .400
* Westminster (Pa.)– –4–6
* .400
* Fairmount– –4–6
* .400
* Mount Union– –7–11
* .389
* Princeton– –8–13
* .381
* Denver– –6–10
* .375
* Delaware– –4–7
* .364
* Brown– –5–10
* .333
* Davidson– –1–2
* .333
* Holy Cross– –4–8
* .333
* Lake Forest– –3–6
* .333
* Oklahoma A&M– –1–2
* .333
* Tulane– –3–7
* .300
* Manhattan– –4–10
* .286
* Springfield (Mass.)– –2–5
* .286
* Utah– –3–8
* .273
* Indiana State– –2–7
* .222
* Niagara– –2–7
* .222
* Trinity (Conn.)– –2–7
* .222
* Ole Miss– –1–4
* .200
* Union (N.Y.)– –2–8
* .200
* Harvard– –1–7
* .125
* Utah State– –1–8
* .111
* Kalamazoo– –0–3
* .000
* South Carolina– –0–3
* .000

### Statistical leaders
## Awards
### Helms College Basketball All-Americans

The practice of selecting a Consensus All-American Team did not begin until the 1928–29 season. The Helms Athletic Foundation later retroactively selected a list of All-Americans for the 1908–09 season.
| Player | Team |
| Biaggio Cerussi | Columbia |
| Julian Hayward | Wesleyan (Conn.) |
| Tommy Johnson | Kansas |
| Charles Keinath | Penn |
| Ted Kiendl | Columbia |
| Pat Page | Chicago |
| John Ryan | Columbia |
| Raymond Scanlon | Notre Dame |
| John Schommer | Chicago |
| Helmer Swenholt | Wisconsin |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: John Schommer, Chicago (retroactive selection in 1944)