# 1921–22 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1921–22 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1921, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1922.

## Rule changes

Running with the ball (traveling), previously a personal foul, became merely a violation.

## Season headlines

* The Southern Conference began play with 14 original members, 13 of which had major basketball programs during the 1921–22 season.
* The first national basketball championship tournament, the 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament, took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, from March 9 to 11, 1922. The Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League and Big Ten Conference declined invitations to participate, but six schools representing six other conferences took part. Wabash won and claimed the national championship. The tournament was not held again.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Kansas as its national champion for the 1921–22 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Missouri as its national champion for the 1921–22 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former Conference | New Conference |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southern Conference |
| Auburn Tigers | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southern Conference |
| Clemson Tigers | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southern Conference |
| Georgia Bulldogs | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southern Conference |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southern Conference |
| Idaho Vandals | Independent | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Mississippi A&M Aggies | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southern Conference |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | Independent | Southern Conference |
| North Carolina State Wolfpack | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Oklahoma A&M Aggies | Independent | Southwest Conference |
| USC Trojans | Independent | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Tennessee Volunteers | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southern Conference |
| Virginia basketball team | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Washington and Lee Generals | Independent | Southern Conference |
NOTES: (1) The Southern Conference was founded in February 1921 during the 1920–21 season, but its first season of basketball competition was the 1921–22 season. (2) The University of Virginia did not adopt a nickname for its basketball team ("Cavaliers") until the 1923–24 season.

## Regular season
### Conferences
#### Conference winners and tournaments

| Conference | Regular Season Winner | Conference Player of the Year | Conference Tournament | Tournament Venue (City) | Tournament Winner |
| Big Ten Conference | Purdue | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Princeton | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Kansas & Missouri | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Idaho | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado College | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Virginia | None selected | 1922 Southern Intercollegiate men's basketball tournament (see note) | Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia) | North Carolina |
| Southwest Conference | Texas A&M | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
NOTE: The 1922 Southern Intercollegiate men's basketball tournament included teams from both the Southern Conference and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Although it was a regional rather than conference tournament whose champion claimed the mythical title of "Champions of the South," the Southern Conference considered it the "official" Southern Conference tournament for 1922.

#### Conference standings

1921–22 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1921–22 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Purdue8–1 .88915–3  .833 Michigan8–4 .66715–4  .789 Wisconsin8–4 .66714–5  .737 Illinois7–5 .58314–5  .737 Iowa5–6 .45511–7  .611 Chicago5–7 .41715–15  .500 Ohio State5–7 .4178–10  .444 Minnesota4–7 .3645–8  .385 Indiana3–7 .30010–10  .500 Northwestern3–9 .2507–11  .389 | 1921–22 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Princeton†8–2 .80020–5  .800 Penn8–2 .80024–3  .889 Dartmouth6–4 .60013–7  .650 Cornell5–5 .50014–5  .737 Columbia2–8 .2006–13  .316 Yale1–9 .1006–21  .222 † Conference championship winner | 1921–22 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Missouri15–1 .93816–1  .941 Kansas15–1 .93816–2  .889 Drake12–4 .75014–4  .778 Iowa State8–8 .50010–8  .556 Oklahoma8–8 .5009–9  .500 Nebraska8–8 .5008–9  .471 Kansas State3–13 .1883–14  .176 Grinnell2–14 .1255–14  .263 Washington University1–15 .0631–18  .053 |
| 1921–22 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Idaho7–0 1.00019–2  .905 Oregon Agricultural10–2 .83321–2  .913 California10–4 .71419–6  .760 Washington11–5 .68813–5  .722 Stanford4–6 .4008–7  .533 Washington State4–11 .2679–17  .346 USC1–3 .2507–5  .583 Oregon0–16 .0007–24  .226 As of 1922 | 1921–22 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings ConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Colorado College7–1 .87513–2  .867 Colorado Mines6–2 .7508–2  .800 Colorado3–5 .3753–5  .375 Colorado Agricultural2–6 .2504–7  .364 Denver2–6 .2503–6  .333 |
| 1921–22 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Virginia5–0 1.00017–1  .944 Alabama6–1 .85715–4  .789 Georgia4–1 .80010–5  .667 Washington and Lee6–2 .75011–3  .786 Kentucky3–1 .75010–6  .625 Auburn2–1 .6675–6  .455 North Carolina†3–3 .50015–6  .714 Virginia Tech2–2 .50014–6  .700 Georgia Tech2–3 .40011–6  .647 Tennessee1–3 .25012–7  .632 NC State1–5 .1676–13  .316 Clemson0–3 .0008–13  .381 Mississippi A&M0–4 .00012–10  .545 † Southern Intercollegiate Tournament winner As of April 30, 1922 | 1921–22 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas A&M13–3 .81318–3  .857 Texas14–4 .77820–4  .833 Baylor8–8 .50010–8  .556 SMU4–11 .2678–14  .364 Oklahoma A&M1–4 .2005–16  .238 Rice1–11 .0832–12  .143 |

### Independents

A total of 115 college teams played as major independents. Beloit (12–0) was undefeated and Niagara (27–4) finished with the most wins.
1921–22 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1921–22 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Beloit– –12–0
* 1.000
* Louisiana State– –15–1
* .938
* Wooster– –14–1
* .933
* North Texas State– –11–1
* .917
* Tempe Normal– –10–1
* .909
* UCLA– –9–1
* .900
* Army– –17–2
* .895
* Kalamazoo– –22–3
* .880
* Carleton– –14–2
* .875
* Seton Hall– –14–2
* .875
* Wabash– –21–3
* .875
* Niagara– –27–4
* .871
* DePauw– –17–3
* .850
* Washington College– –11–2
* .846
* Navy– –16–3
* .842
* Arizona– –10–2
* .833
* CCNY– –10–2
* .833
* Rutgers– –10–2
* .833
* Ohio– –19–4
* .826
* Holy Cross– –14–3
* .824
* North Dakota Agricultural– –17–4
* .810
* Creighton– –21–5
* .808
* Grove City– –16–4
* .800
* Indiana State– –12–3
* .800
* Utah– –8–2
* .800
* Southwestern (Kan.)– –19–5
* .792
* Connecticut– –15–4
* .789
* Vermont– –15–4
* .789
* Georgetown– –11–3
* .786
* Tulsa– –14–4
* .778
* Davidson– –10–3
* .769
* William & Mary– –10–3
* .769
* Butler– –19–6
* .760
* Brigham Young– –9–3
* .750
* Marquette– –15–5
* .750
* West Texas State– –12–4
* .750
* Fairmount– –12–4
* .750
* Western Kentucky State– –3–1
* .750
* Harvard– –17–6
* .739
* Villanova– –11–4
* .733
* Springfield (Mass.)– –16–6
* .727
* Utah State– –8–3
* .727
* Santa Clara– –13–5
* .722
* Richmond– –10–4
* .714
* Saint Francis (N.Y.)– –15–7
* .682
* Valparaiso– –15–7
* .682
* Colgate– –17–8
* .680
* Bradley– –12–6
* .667
* Gettysburg– –12–6
* .667
* Montana– –14–7
* .667
* North Central– –12–6
* .667
* Syracuse– –16–8
* .667
* Texas Christian– –8–4
* .667
* Cincinnati– –15–8
* .652
* Fordham– –13–7
* .650
* Miami (Ohio)– –13–7
* .650
* Lafayette– –11–6
* .647
* Wake Forest– –11–6
* .647
* Western State Normal– –11–6
* .647
* Penn State– –9–5
* .643
* Ole Miss– –7–4
* .636
* Duquesne– –10–6
* .625
* New York University– –8–5
* .615
* VMI– –11–7
* .611
* Canisius– –6–4
* .600
* Denison– –9–6
* .600
* Pittsburgh– –12–8
* .600
* Ripon– –7–5
* .583
* Catholic– –11–8
* .579
* Montana State– –11–8
* .579
* George Washington– –8–6
* .571
* Brown– –13–10
* .565
* Marshall– –5–4
* .556
* St. Bonaventure– –12–10
* .545
* The Citadel– –6–5
* .545
* Mount Union– –11–7
* .611
* Furman– –8–7
* .533
* Muhlenberg– –10–9
* .526
* Florida– –5–5
* .500
* Franklin– –8–8
* .500
* Northern Arizona Normal– –5–5
* .500
* Vanderbilt– –8–8
* .500
* Washburn– –10–10
* .500
* Xavier– –9–9
* .500
* Michigan State Normal– –11–12
* .478
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –10–11
* .476
* Tulane– –10–11
* .476
* Union (N.Y.)– –9–10
* .474
* St. Joseph's– –8–9
* .471
* Rhode Island State– –7–8
* .467
* Toledo– –5–6
* .455
* Bucknell– –8–10
* .444
* Lehigh– –7–9
* .438
* Dayton– –6–8
* .429
* Loyola (Md.)– –3–4
* .429
* New Mexico A&M– –3–4
* .429
* Buffalo– –5–7
* .417
* Akron– –5–8
* .385
* West Virginia– –8–13
* .381
* Manhattan– –3–5
* .375
* South Carolina– –7–12
* .368
* Temple– –4–7
* .364
* Trinity (N.C.)– –6–12
* .333
* Notre Dame– –6–13
* .316
* Saint Louis– –4–9
* .308
* Bowling Green State– –4–10
* .286
* Kent State Normal– –2–6
* .250
* Northern Colorado– –1–3
* .250
* Wyoming– –2–7
* .222
* Detroit– –2–13
* .133
* Louisville– –1–13
* .071
* Boston University– –1–14
* .067
* Loyola (Ill.)– –0–6
* .000
* New Mexico– –0–2
* .000
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –0–4
* .000

### Statistical leaders
## Post-season tournament
### National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament
#### Semifinals & finals

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Mercer | 25 | | |
| Wabash | 62 | | |
| Wabash | 62 | Wabash | 43 |
| | | Kalamazoo | 23 |
| Grove City | 13 | Kalamazoo | 23 |
| Kalamazoo | 22 | | |

## 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 1921–22 season.
| Player | Team |
| Arthur Browning | Missouri |
| Herb Bunker | Missouri |
| Chuck Carney | Illinois |
| Paul Endacott | Kansas |
| George Gardner | Southwestern (Kan.) |
| William Grave | Pennsylvania |
| Marshall Hjelte | Oregon Agricultural |
| Arthur Lorb | Princeton |
| Ira McKee | Navy |
| Ray Miller | Purdue |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Chuck Carney, Illinois (retroactive selection in 1944)

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| Georgetown | James Colliflower | Jackie Maloney | Colliflower had taken over as unpaid head coach when health problems forced coach John O'Reilly to miss the 1921–22 season. With O'Reilly also unable to return for the following season, Maloney took over from Colliflower after the end of the 1921–22 season. |
| Pittsburgh | Andrew Kerr | Doc Carlson | |
| Western Kentucky State | L. T. Smith | Edgar Diddle | |