# 1907–08 Chicago Maroons men's basketball team

The 1907–08 Chicago Maroons men's basketball team represented the University of Chicago in intercollegiate basketball during the 1907–08 season. The team finished the season with a 23–2 record and were named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation. This was the second straight year that Chicago claimed the Helms national championship. The team played their home games on campus at Frank Dickinson Bartlett Gymnasium.
Both Pat Page and John Schommer were named All-Americans. For Schommer, it was his third consecutive All-American honor; for Page, it was his second.

## Championship

For the first time in college basketball's short history, a true national championship was awarded based on a "best-of-three" playoff series played by the presumptuous best two teams in the nation. In order to get to this series, however, the Maroons had to win the Western Conference. Based on the fact the Maroons and the Wisconsin Badgers had split the two games during the regular season, Coach Raycroft and Wisconsin physical education director Charles P. Hutchins agreed that a title game needed to be played. The game was played in Madison, however, the Maroons came out victorious and were not only awarded the conference title, this also determined who would meet the Quakers of Pennsylvania.
It would only take two games for the Maroons to win the series. The first game was played at Bartlett Gymnasium with a final score of 21 to 18. The second game was played in Philadelphia with a final score of 18 to 16. Besides the fact that a series of games were played to determine a national champion, the Maroons proved that they were worthy of the title by defeating 23 of the 25 opponents they faced during the season. Meanwhile, with a season that included over 20 games, Pennsylvania met and defeated all of the teams they faced in the east.

## Roster

| Player | Position | Class | Hometown |
| Frederick H. Falls | Forward | Sophomore | Chicago, Illinois |
| William M. Georgen | Forward | Junior | Belvidere, Illinois |
| Harlan "Pat" Page | Guard | Sophomore | Chicago, Illinois |
| Arthur Hoffman | Guard | Sophomore | Chicago, Illinois |
| Robert Harris | Guard | Senior | Chicago, Illinois |
| John Schommer, captain | Center | Junior | Chicago, Illinois |
| Edwin Hubble | Forward | Sophomore | Marshfield, Missouri |
| Paul Buhlig | Forward | Senior | Chicago, Illinois |
| Mansfield Cleary | Guard | Sophomore | Oak Park, Illinois |
| Alfred Kelly | Guard | Freshman | Ewing, Illinois |
* Head coach: Joseph Raycroft (2nd year at Chicago)

## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| 12/20/1907 no, no | @ Iowa | W 35–26 | 1-0 (0-0) | Iowa Armory Iowa City, IA |
| 12/21/1907* no, no | @ Washington University | W 30-10 | 2-0 (0-0) | Francis Gymnasium St. Louis, MO |
| 12/23/1907* no, no | @ Kansas City A.A. | W 49-19 | 3-0 (0-0) | Kansas City A.A. Kansas City, MO |
| 12/25/1907* no, no | @ Des Moines YMCA | W 31–23 | 4-0 (0-0) | Des Moines Coliseum Des Moines, IA |
| 12/26/1907* no, no | @ Muscatine YMCA | W 60–26 | 5-0 (0-0) | Muscatine YMCA Muscatine, IA |
| 1/4/1908* no, no | vs. Columbia | W 28-13 | 6-0 (0-0) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 1/10/1908 no, no | vs. Indiana | W 49–18 | 7-0 (0-0) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 1/18/1908 no, no | vs. Iowa | W 29–10 | 8-0 (0-0) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 1/21/1908* no, no | @ Central YMCA | L 17–27 | 8-1 (0-0) | Central YMCA Chicago, IL |
| 1/25/1908 no, no | vs. Purdue | W 53–11 | 9-1 (1-0) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 1/31/1908 no, no | @ Wisconsin | L 17–29 | 9-2 (1-1) | University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium Madison, WI |
| 2/6/1908* no, no | vs. Central YMCA | W 30–14 | 10-2 (1-1) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 2/8/1908 no, no | @ Illinois | W 35–21 | 11-2 (2-1) | Kenney Gym Urbana, IL |
| 2/13/1908 no, no | vs. Northwestern | W 41-6 | 12-2 (2-1) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 2/15/1908 no, no | @ Purdue | W 31–19 | 13-2 (3-1) | Lafayette Colliseum West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/22/1908 no, no | @ Minnesota | W 26–23 | 14-2 (4-1) | University of Minnesota Armory Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/28/1908 no, no | vs. Wisconsin | W 24–19 | 15-2 (5-1) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 2/29/1908 no, no | @ Northwestern | W 18–10 | 16-2 (6-1) | Patten Gymnasium Evanston, IL |
| 3/6/1908 no, no | vs. Illinois | W 42–17 | 17-2 (6-1) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 3/12/1908* no, no | @ Wisconsin Conference Title Game | W 18–16 | 18-2 (6-1) | University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium Madison, WI |
| 3/14/1908 no, no | vs. Minnesota | W 22–12 | 19-2 (7-1) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 3/21/1908* no, no | vs. Pennsylvania | W 21–18 | 20-2 (7-1) | Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL |
| 3/25/1908* no, no | @ Pennsylvania | W 16–15 | 21-2 (7-1) | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws Made | Points |
| John Schommer | 22 | 84 | 82 | 250 |
| Frederick Falls | 22 | 72 | 44 | 188 |
| William Georgen | 20 | 40 | 0 | 80 |
| Robert Harris | 20 | 28 | 11 | 67 |
| Pat Page | 20 | 14 | 1 | 29 |
| Arthur Hoffman | 13 | 12 | 0 | 24 |