National Academy Interscholastic Basketball Tournament

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National Academy Interscholastic Basketball Tournament

1926-1930

The University of Wisconsin, like most of the state universities, had long sponsored a state high school track and field meet for Wisconsin schools. However, this sponsorship ended in 1924, after state’s high school association took over the state meet. The school probably looked around at the great variety of national championship meets being sponsored by universities, and could not but help but notice the tremendous success of the National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament and the National Catholic Interscholastic Basketball Tournament, both in nearby Chicago—which brought reflected glory on their sponsoring institutions, University of Chicago and Loyola University respectively.

Wisconsin officials obviously asked the question what secondary school constituency was underserved by national championships, and concluded that it was private schools. The private schools had an Eastern States Scholastic Basketball Tournament for basketball, but there were no national tournaments in either sport. Wisconsin thus plunged into the national sweepstakes in 1926, providing a basketball and indoor track meet for the private academies and boarding schools. The meet was scheduled for the third weekend in March. In 1928, the university also added a national swimming meet for academies. Wisconsin’s athletic department managed the tournaments.

The first year’s tournament attracted eight academies. Three were Wisconsin representatives—Milwaukee Country Day, St. John’s Military Academy (Delafield), Wayland Academy--and five were other Midwest schools—Howe School (Howe, Indiana), St. Albans (Sycamore, Illinois), Pillsbury Academy (Owatonna, Minnesota), Onarga MA (Onarga, Illinois), and Morgan Park Military Academy (Chicago). The meet provided for a third place game and a consolation round. First and second all-star teams were named, and an award was given for the best sportsmanship by a team. Pillsbury bested Morgan Park 26 to 22 for the title.

The 1927 tournament was again a modest eight-team event with only Midwest representation. Nonetheless, the Midwest newspaper reports described the tournament the way the tournament organizers wanted it, as a national meet. Culver Military Academy of Indiana defeated Morgan Park Military Academy of Illinois for the title.

The 1928 tournament became what its organizers had hoped it would become, growing to 16 teams and a bit of a true national flavor with the addition of the Tabor Academy from Massachusetts, Castle Heights from Tennessee, and Manlius Academy from New York. Lake Forest Academy of Illinois defeated Manlius Academy for the title.

In 1929, of the tournament’s 14 teams, four were outside the Midwest: Manlius and Castle Heights from the previous year, plus Terrill of Dallas, Texas, and Cook Academy, of Montour Falls, New York. The non-Midwestern teams took three of the four final places. Terrill and Cook Academy fought for the tournament title, which was won by Cook.

The 1930 meet attracted only eleven schools, which included an Eastern school, Vermont Academy, and a Southern school, Terrill, making its second appearance. The tournament was won by Terrill School in a walkover of St. John’s (Massachusetts) in the title game 26 to 10. The tournament was really decided in the semi-finals, where Terrill was forced into overtime, and barely nicked a powerful St. Mel team from Chicago (coached by football great Paddy Driscoll) by a score of 32 to 28. No third place game was played. After the 1930 event the University of Wisconsin, bowing to the pressure of secondary school educators terminated all its national tournaments.

Tournament Champions

1926 Pillsbury Academy (Owatonna, Minnesota)
1927 Culver Military Academy (Indiana)
1928 Lake Forest Academy (Lake Forest, Illinois)
1929 Cook Academy (Montour Falls, NY)
1930 Terrill School (Dallas, Texas)