1930-31 Redmen 7th most influential college hoops team..

... at least, according to one writer (Alex Wolff from SI).  Here's what he says about them:


7. 1931 St. John's
"The Wonder Five," a unit since their freshman year, went 21-1 as seniors with a crowd-pleasing, post-centered offense in the style of the Original Celtics. Watching them beat CCNY in front of 12,000 fans packed into Manhattan's 106th Infantry Armory that season, a young sportswriter named Ned Irish decided to stage a series of fundraising tripleheaders to benefit the Depression's unemployed. Irish eventually quit to become a full-time promoter, and the doubleheaders he subsequently booked at Madison Square Garden turned the sport into a spectacle. The matchups that featured locals against intersectional opponents -- like Stanford, which in 1936 brought Hank Luisetti and his revolutionary one-hander East -- had a particularly lasting effect. So there's a straight line from the Wonder Five to the creation of a national sport, with capstone events like the NIT and, ultimately, the NCAAs.

We are blessed to be a program wit a proud histry. Glory!

... at least, according to one writer (Alex Wolff from SI).  Here's what he says about them:


7. 1931 St. John's
"The Wonder Five," a unit since their freshman year, went 21-1 as seniors with a crowd-pleasing, post-centered offense in the style of the Original Celtics. Watching them beat CCNY in front of 12,000 fans packed into Manhattan's 106th Infantry Armory that season, a young sportswriter named Ned Irish decided to stage a series of fundraising tripleheaders to benefit the Depression's unemployed. Irish eventually quit to become a full-time promoter, and the doubleheaders he subsequently booked at Madison Square Garden turned the sport into a spectacle. The matchups that featured locals against intersectional opponents -- like Stanford, which in 1936 brought Hank Luisetti and his revolutionary one-hander East -- had a particularly lasting effect. So there's a straight line from the Wonder Five to the creation of a national sport, with capstone events like the NIT and, ultimately, the NCAAs.

Do you have a link?

Quote from: sju61982 on October 23, 2012, 02:00:52 PM

... at least, according to one writer (Alex Wolff from SI).  Here's what he says about them:


7. 1931 St. John's
"The Wonder Five," a unit since their freshman year, went 21-1 as seniors with a crowd-pleasing, post-centered offense in the style of the Original Celtics. Watching them beat CCNY in front of 12,000 fans packed into Manhattan's 106th Infantry Armory that season, a young sportswriter named Ned Irish decided to stage a series of fundraising tripleheaders to benefit the Depression's unemployed. Irish eventually quit to become a full-time promoter, and the doubleheaders he subsequently booked at Madison Square Garden turned the sport into a spectacle. The matchups that featured locals against intersectional opponents -- like Stanford, which in 1936 brought Hank Luisetti and his revolutionary one-hander East -- had a particularly lasting effect. So there's a straight line from the Wonder Five to the creation of a national sport, with capstone events like the NIT and, ultimately, the NCAAs.


l[/url]

Do you have a link?

Yes, crgreen.  Meant to include it before.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/alexander_wolff/10/21/UCLA-most-influential-team/1.htm

Quote from: crgreen on October 23, 2012, 02:29:46 PM

Quote from: sju61982 on October 23, 2012, 02:00:52 PM

... at least, according to one writer (Alex Wolff from SI).  Here's what he says about them:


7. 1931 St. John's
"The Wonder Five," a unit since their freshman year, went 21-1 as seniors with a crowd-pleasing, post-centered offense in the style of the Original Celtics. Watching them beat CCNY in front of 12,000 fans packed into Manhattan's 106th Infantry Armory that season, a young sportswriter named Ned Irish decided to stage a series of fundraising tripleheaders to benefit the Depression's unemployed. Irish eventually quit to become a full-time promoter, and the doubleheaders he subsequently booked at Madison Square Garden turned the sport into a spectacle. The matchups that featured locals against intersectional opponents -- like Stanford, which in 1936 brought Hank Luisetti and his revolutionary one-hander East -- had a particularly lasting effect. So there's a straight line from the Wonder Five to the creation of a national sport, with capstone events like the NIT and, ultimately, the NCAAs.


l[/url]

Do you have a link?

Yes, crgree.  Meant to include it before.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/alexander_wolff/10/21/UCLA-most-influential-team/1.htm

Cool find. Thanks for sharing.  It's sometimes easy to forget that our proud history goes back further than Mullin and Carnesecca.