# 1923–24 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1923–24 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1923, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1924.

## Rule changes

A new rule required the player who was fouled to shoot his own free throws. Previously, a team could pick any player it wanted to shoot its free throws, and usually picked its best free-throw shooter to shoot all of them. The new rule thus brought to an end the practice of a team having a designated free-throw shooter.

## Season headlines

* North Carolina went undefeated, going 26-0, under coach Norman Shepard. The record included the 1924 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament.
* Butler won the annual Amateur Athletic Union basketball tournament — which included both collegiate and amateur non-collegiate teams — becoming the third of only four college teams to do so and the first to win the tournament since 1920.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected North Carolina as its national champion for the 1923–24 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected North Carolina as its national champion for the 1923–24 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| Arkansas Razorbacks | Non-major basketball program | Southwest Conference |
| Maryland Terrapins | Non-major basketball program | Southern Conference |
| Sewanee Tigers | Independent | Southern Conference |
| TCU Horned Frogs | Independent | Southwest Conference |
| Western State Mountaineers | Non-major basketball program | Independent |

## 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 | Chicago, Illinois, & Wisconsin | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Cornell | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Kansas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington (North); California (South) | | No Tournament; California defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; California defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; California defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado College (Colorado); BYU (Utah) | | No Tournament; Colorado College was conference champion | No Tournament; Colorado College was conference champion | No Tournament; Colorado College was conference champion |
| Southern Conference | Tulane | None selected | 1924 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia) | North Carolina |
| Southwest Conference | Texas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1923–24 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1923–24 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Wisconsin8–4 .66711–5  .688 Chicago8–4 .66711–6  .647 Illinois8–4 .66711–6  .647 Ohio State7–5 .58312–5  .706 Purdue7–5 .58312–5  .706 Indiana7–5 .58311–6  .647 Michigan6–6 .50010–7  .588 Minnesota5–7 .4179–8  .529 Iowa4–8 .3337–10  .412 Northwestern0–12 .0000–16  .000 | 1923–24 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Cornell8–2 .80013–3  .813 Columbia6–4 .60015–4  .789 Princeton6–4 .60011–6  .647 Dartmouth4–6 .40012–9  .571 Penn3–7 .30018–8  .692 Yale3–7 .30012–10  .545 | 1923–24 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas15–1 .93816–3  .842 Oklahoma13–3 .81315–3  .833 Nebraska10–6 .62511–7  .611 Washington University8–8 .50010–9  .526 Drake8–8 .5009–9  .500 Kansas State8–8 .5008–8  .500 Grinnell4–12 .2504–14  .222 Missouri4–12 .2504–14  .222 Iowa State2–14 .1252–16  .111 |
| 1923–24 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Washington7–2 .77812–4  .750 Oregon Agricultural6–2 .75020–5  .800 Oregon4–4 .50015–5  .750 Idaho4–6 .40023–11  .676 Washington State3–7 .30017–11  .607 Montana1–4 .2007–8  .467 South California †5–3 .62514–4  .778 USC4–4 .50015–4  .789 Stanford3–5 .37510–5  .667 † Conference playoff series winner As of 1924 | 1923–24 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings ConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Colorado Colorado College†9–1 .90015–2  .882 Colorado Mines8–4 .6678–4  .667 Colorado Agricultural6–4 .6006–5  .545 Colorado3–5 .3754–7  .364 Denver3–7 .3003–8  .273 Wyoming1–7 .1252–13  .133 Utah BYU7–1 .87514–4  .778 Utah Agricultural3–5 .3756–6  .500 Utah2–6 .2502–6  .250 † Conference championship winner |
| 1923–24 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Tulane10–0 1.00021–1  .955 North Carolina†7–0 1.00026–0  1.000 Georgia7–0 1.00016–5  .762 Alabama5–1 .83312–4  .750 Kentucky6–2 .75013–3  .813 Mississippi A&M8–4 .66713–8  .619 Virginia3–2 .60012–3  .800 Tennessee5–5 .50010–8  .556 South Carolina2–2 .50011–9  .550 Georgia Tech4–5 .4449–13  .409 Mississippi2–4 .33316–6  .727 Washington and Lee2–4 .3339–5  .643 NC State2–4 .3337–16  .304 Maryland1–2 .3335–7  .417 Vanderbilt1–3 .2507–15  .318 Florida0–2 .0005–10  .333 Sewanee0–2 .0002–7  .222 Virginia Tech0–4 .0005–13  .278 Auburn0–6 .0004–9  .308 Clemson0–6 .0002–14  .125 LSU0–7 .0008–12  .400 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1923–24 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas20–0 1.00023–0  1.000 TCU15–4 .78916–4  .800 Texas A&M13–10 .56513–10  .565 Oklahoma A&M9–5 .64314–6  .700 Baylor7–17 .29211–23  .324 SMU7–15 .3189–15  .375 Arkansas3–9 .25017–11  .607 Rice3–17 .1503–17  .150 |

### Independents

A total of 99 college teams played as major independents. Beloit (14–0) and Carleton (15–0) were undefeated, and Valparaiso (24–4) finished with the most wins.
1923–24 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1923–24 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Beloit– –14–0
* 1.000
* Carleton– –15–0
* 1.000
* Franklin– –19–1
* .950
* CCNY– –12–1
* .923
* Mount Union– –12–1
* .923
* Rensselaer– –11–1
* .917
* Army– –16–2
* .889
* Canisius– –8–1
* .889
* Vermont– –15–2
* .882
* West Virginia– –14–2
* .875
* Montana State– –20–3
* .870
* Creighton– –13–2
* .867
* Penn State– –13–2
* .867
* Valparaiso– –24–4
* .857
* Navy– –15–3
* .833
* Arizona– –14–3
* .824
* DePauw– –13–3
* .813
* Springfield (Mass.)– –13–3
* .813
* West Texas State– –13–3
* .813
* Denison– –12–3
* .800
* Lehigh– –12–3
* .800
* Saint Louis– –8–2
* .800
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –12–3
* .800
* UCLA– –8–2
* .800
* St. Ignatius– –14–4
* .778
* Washburn– –13–4
* .765
* Xavier– –13–4
* .765
* Ohio– –16–5
* .762
* Trinity (N.C.)– –19–6
* .760
* Temple– –15–5
* .750
* Richmond– –14–5
* .737
* Wake Forest– –18–7
* .720
* Grove City– –15–6
* .714
* St. Bonaventure– –7–3
* .700
* Indiana State– –16–7
* .696
* North Dakota Agricultural– –16–7
* .696
* Muhlenberg– –11–5
* .688
* Colgate– –13–6
* .684
* Georgetown– –6–3
* .667
* Northern Colorado– –10–5
* .667
* Rutgers– –8–4
* .667
* Saint Francis (N.Y.)– –18–9
* .667
* Tulsa– –2–1
* .667
* Villanova– –14–7
* .667
* Washington College– –12–6
* .667
* Notre Dame– –15–8
* .652
* Dayton– –9–5
* .643
* Butler– –12–7
* .632
* New Mexico– –5–3
* .625
* Union (N.Y.)– –10–6
* .625
* Western State Normal– –13–8
* .619
* Fordham– –12–8
* .600
* Rhode Island State– –9–6
* .600
* Pittsburgh– –10–7
* .588
* Cincinnati– –11–8
* .579
* Harvard– –11–8
* .579
* DePaul– –8–6
* .571
* Duquesne– –8–6
* .571
* Manhattan– –12–9
* .571
* VMI– –8–6
* .571
* Buffalo– –7–6
* .538
* Marshall– –8–7
* .533
* Detroit– –9–8
* .529
* Davidson– –10–9
* .526
* New Mexico A&M– –10–9
* .526
* Bradley– –11–10
* .524
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –16–15
* .516
* Furman– –7–7
* .500
* Marquette– –10–10
* .500
* Michigan Agricultural– –10–10
* .500
* New York University– –8–8
* .500
* Northern Arizona Normal– –7–7
* .500
* St. Joseph's– –9–9
* .500
* Toledo– –5–5
* .500
* Western Kentucky State– –9–9
* .500
* Niagara– –9–10
* .474
* Seton Hall– –6–7
* .462
* Fairmount– –10–12
* .455
* Loyola (Md.)– –8–10
* .444
* Syracuse– –8–10
* .444
* Loyola (Ill.)– –8–11
* .421
* Brown– –7–12
* .368
* Holy Cross– –5–9
* .357
* Connecticut– –4–8
* .333
* Wabash– –4–8
* .333
* William & Mary– –8–16
* .333
* Kent State Normal– –4–9
* .308
* Lafayette– –6–14
* .300
* Wooster– –4–10
* .286
* Tempe Normal– –3–9
* .250
* Louisville– –4–13
* .235
* Texas State M&M– –3–10
* .231
* The Citadel– –2–8
* .200
* Western State– –1–4
* .200
* Miami (Ohio)– –2–9
* .182
* Bowling Green State– –3–15
* .167
* Bucknell– –1–5
* .167
* George Washington– –1–9
* .100
* Santa Clara– –1–9
* .100

### 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 1923–24 season.
| Player | Team |
| Tusten Ackerman | Kansas |
| Charlie T. Black | Kansas |
| Cartwright Carmichael | North Carolina |
| Jack Cobb | North Carolina |
| Abb Curtis | Texas |
| Amory Gill | Oregon Agricultural |
| Harry Kipke | Michigan |
| Hugh Latham | Oregon |
| James Lovley | Creighton |
| H. W. Middlesworth | Butler |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Charlie T. Black, Kansas (retroactive selection in 1944)

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| Indiana | Leslie Mann | | Everett Dean | |
| Marshall | Bill Strickling | | Russ Meredith | |