1937–38 Columbus Athletic Supply season

1937–38 Columbus Athletic Supply season
Head coachCookie Cunningham (player-coach)
OwnerColumbus Athletic Supplies
ArenaOhio State Fairgrounds Arena (Taft Coliseum?)[1][2]
Results
Record1–12 (.077)
PlaceDivision: 6th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1937–38 Columbus Athletic Supply season was the first and only professional season for the Columbus Athletic Supply team (who were owned and operated by the business of the same name) in Columbus, Ohio under the National Basketball League, which officially was the first season that it existed as a professional basketball league after previously existing as a semi-pro or amateur basketball league called the Midwest Basketball Conference in its first two seasons back in 1935. However, if you include their first season when they existed in the Midwest Basketball Conference as the Columbus Athletic Supply team under its second and final season of existence as a league under that name before its rebranding to the NBL, this would actually be this team's second season of play as a team (at least) instead.

The Columbus Athletic Supply team would be one of nine MBC teams from the previous season (one of ten overall MBC teams if you include the original Buffalo Bisons NBL team) to join the inaugural NBL season as it rebranded itself from the MBC to the NBL professional basketball league, with the Richmond King Clothiers / Cincinnati Comellos, Kankakee Gallagher Trojans, and the Oshkosh All-Stars (the last team by December 1937) being the only non-MBC teams joining the NBL for this season.[3] Not only that, but they were also one of six teams to compete in the Eastern Division this season, with them representing thirteen inaugural NBL teams to compete in the first season under the NBL name, comprising six teams competing in the Eastern Division and seven teams competing in the Western Division.

Entering this season, the Columbus Athletic Supply squad that had gone 6–5 in their previous season in the MBC would utilize their roster with the starting line-up of the 1936–37 Otterbein College team that had gone 11–5 that season alongside players from Ohio State University in their previous season.[4] Despite their standing as an NBL team at the time, they would play only three NBL scheduled games in the year 1937 (which were a weirdly scheduled doubleheader held in both Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, respectively on December 26 that year and a December 29 game against the Akron Firestone Non-Skids) before the Oshkosh All-Stars finally were able to play in the NBL properly in January 1938.[5] By that point in time, they would start the season with a 1–2 record by winning only one home game in the season against the Dayton Metropolitans before losing the rest of the games they played in their season, including two matches they had scheduled being forfeited later in the season to both the Akron Firestone Non-Skids and Fort Wayne General Electrics works teams.[4] As a result, not only would they easily fail to qualify for the inaugural NBL Playoffs, but they would also have the official record for the worst record in NBL history (albeit with the asterisk of no set schedules being in mind for every NBL team this season), with their 1–12 record being worse than the Detroit Gems' future overall record of 4–40 in terms of win percentages, excluding the four straight losses that the 1942–43 Toledo Jim White Chevrolets had. As a result of their failures as a team this season, Columbus was one of six NBL teams to fold operations or otherwise leave the NBL following this season's conclusion, with the Columbus Athletic Supply team being a barnstorming team for a few more seasons (up until 1940) instead.[6] Interestingly, one of the players on the team during the season, Gene Scholz, later revealed that he didn't even know that the Columbus Athletic Supply team was playing professional basketball games this season since he didn't know what was going on there and that he was just picking up a few extra dollars on the side playing basketball during this season of play.[7]

Roster

Please note that due to the way records for professional basketball leagues like the NBL and the ABL were recorded at the time, some information on both teams and players may be harder to list out than usual here.

Player Position
Clyde Anton G
Beanie Berens C
Sam Busich G-F
Cookie Cunningham F-C
Denny Elliot PG
Herbie Hutchisson PG
Buck Lamme G-F
Sam Loucks F-C
Bob McConnell G-F
Woody Pitzer G
Gene Scholz G
Jack Sullivan G-F
Norm Wagner C

In addition to them, there were also two unknown individuals with the last names of Miller and Price who each played one game for Columbus that would not have proper credit for their sole appearances on the team otherwise.[2][8][9]

Regular season

Season standings

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Akron Firestone Non-Skids 14 4 .778
2 Akron Goodyear Wingfoots 13 5 .722
3 Pittsburgh Pirates 8 5 .615
4 Buffalo Bisons 3 6 .333
5 Warren Penns 3 9 .250
6 Columbus Athletic Supply 1 12 .091

Schedule

An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible (outside of two matches that the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans won over the Dayton Metropolitans in 1938) would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Columbus Athletic Supply team in their only season in the NBL.[10]

References

  1. ^ "COLUMBUS ATHLETIC SUPPLIES". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2025-12-25.
  2. ^ a b "COLUMBUS ATHLETIC SUPPLY". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2025-12-25.
  3. ^ "Midwest Basketball Conference Teams". nbahoopsonline.com. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  4. ^ a b Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., pg. 43
  5. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., pg. 38
  6. ^ "CLOVIS STARK". probasketballencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  7. ^ Peterson, Robert (1990). Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years. Oxford University Press, Inc. ISBN 0-19-505310-9., p. 125
  8. ^ "1937-38 Columbus Athletic Supply (NBL)". peachbasketsociety. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  9. ^ "1937-38 Columbus Athletic Supply Statistics". statscrew.com. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  10. ^ "1937-38 NBL Game-by-Game Results". apbr.org. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
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