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World Professional Basketball Tournament

One event the Oshkosh All Star team participated in was the World Professional Basketball Tournament (aka World's Championship Basketball Tournament) held in Chicago beginning in the late 1930's. This was sponsored by the Chicago Herald American and organized by Arch Ward. The winning team was acknowledged to be the World Champions of Basketball.

Leroy Edwards in 1946

Oshkosh often represented the NBL (although there were often multiple league squads invited to the tournament).

The All-Stars participated in the very first tournament in 1939 and advanced to the championship game, where they lost 34-25 to the New York Rens. Leroy Edwards contributed 12 of his team's points and outscored the Rens' big men, Willie Smith who scored 6 and Tarzan Cooper who scored 5.

(Note: the Rens had been a common opponent of the All-Stars for many years leading up to the tournament in 1939, including a number of unofficial 'World Titles' being settled between the two teams. The series were competitive with the All-Stars holding the overall edge.

In a 2008 interview with former Ren John Isaacs, Isaacs remembered that Edwards played hard but clean. "He didn't talk back to the referees. He just played the game and if the officials let things get rough, he got rough."

Isaacs mentioned the constant talking between Edwards and the Rens' big men. "He and Zach Clayton and Tarzan Cooper always kept up the banter," he recalled. Isaacs related an exchange in one game where Edwards reportedly told Tarzan Cooper "you're pretty rough out there with that move" to which the Ren big man retorted, "who do you think I learned it from?")

In all, the All-Stars participated in four more championship games, winning one and losing the rest. Despite this, Edwards is the all-time leading scorer in tournament championship game history, scoring 53 points in the five games for an average of 10.6 points per game. He was also named to the All-Tournament first team three times, in 1939, 1940 and 1946.

The one victory for the All-Stars occurred in 1942 over the Detroit Eagles. The All-Stars had to defeat a team from Davenport Iowa (the Central Turner Rockets), the New York Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters just to get their chance to avenge the Detroit Eagles, who had beaten the All-Stars the prior season in the championship game by two points.

In the 1942 championship game, Edwards was injured early on and left the game. He made an attempt to come back in the second quarter and tried again late in the game. The second time, the All-Stars were in the home stretch and needed a lift against the tenacious Eagle team. Edwards hit a free throw and two quick hook shots and this helped keep the All-Stars afloat.

Below are the results of the Oshkosh All-Stars in this tournament: [note the tournament results and boxscores were found in an appendix to Robert Peterson's book Cages to Jumpshots as compiled by Bill Himmelman along with the APBR website (link)]

1939

1st Round (3/26/1939): Oshkosh 40, Clarksburg, W.Va. Oilers 33
Quarter Final Round: bye
Semi-Final Round (3/27/1939): Oshkosh 40, Sheboygan Redskins 23
Championship Game (3/28/1939): New York Rens 34, Oshkosh 25

New York Rens

1939 Championship Game

New York Rens (34) Player FG FT Pts Pop Gates 4 4 12 Tarzan Cooper 1 3 5 Willie Smith 2 2 6 Puggy Bell 1 2 4 Bruiser Saitch 1 0 2 Zack Clayton 0 0 0 Johnny Isaacs 2 1 5 Total 11 12 34

Oshkosh All-Stars (25) Player FG FT Pts Ray Adams 0 0 0 Pete Preboski 1 1 3 Ed McGroaty 0 0 0 Scotty Armstrong 2 3 7 Al Cafone 0 0 0 Leroy Edwards 3 6 12 Frank Linskey 1 1 3 Herm Witasek 0 0 0 Ed Muller 0 0 0 Total 7 11 25

1939 All-Tournament Team

Pos	Player	Team
F	Ed Dancker	Sheboygan Redskins
F	Puggy Bell	New York Rens
C	Leroy Edwards	Oshkosh All-Stars
G	Babe Pressley	Harlem Globetrotters
G	Zack Clayton	New York Rens

1940

1st Round (3/18/1940): Oshkosh 42, Benton Harbor, Mich, House of David 22
Quarter Final Round (3/19/1940): Chicago Bruins 40, Oshkosh All-Stars 38

(Note the Chicago Bruins went on to lose the championship game to the Harlem Globetrotters, 31-29.)

Newspaper clippings from before the tournament. - "The Oshkosh entry features Leroy ("Cowboy") Edwards, University of Kentucky All-American who recently clinched the National Pro League's scoring honors title for the third consecutive year."

"The Oshkosh Stars, another National League entry in "Cowboy" Edwards has probably the greatest cage player in the game today. After making cage history at Kentucky "U", he has gone on to lead the National League scorers for the third successive season, no mean accomplishment when one considers the type of players in the league."


John Duxbury Sporting News column mentioning Oshkosh vs. the House of David. - "In 1940, Leroy (Cowboy) Edwards led Oshkosh with 17 points and Swinehart and Slim Curry each scored six for the House of David."

1940 All-Tournament Team

Pos	Player	Team
F	Sonny Boswell	Harlem Globetrotters
F	Wibs Kautz	Chicago Bruins
C	Leroy Edwards	Oshkosh All-Stars
G	Phil Rabin	Washington Heurich Brewers
G	Pop Gates	New York Rens

1941

First Round (3/16/1941): Oshkosh All-Stars 47, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 41
Quarter-Final Round (3/17/1941): Oshkosh All-Stars 38, Philadelphia Sphas 31

Game Overview: SPHAS Lose to Oshkosh (Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, Tuesday, March 18, 1941)

Nearly 9,000 persons watched the Sphas and Stars battle through a pressure-filled contest in their fight for the fourth semifinal berth in the tournament at the International Amphitheater.

Big, fast and tough in every position, including replacements, the All-Stars forged ahead early int he third period after a point-for-point battle, and they stayed in front until the end.

The Sphas drew to within a point at 32-31 with five minutes remaining, but the rugged defensive tactics of the winners completely shackled the Easterners.

LeRoy (Cowboy) Edwards, 6 feet, 4 inch pivot man, tossed in a dozen points to lead the Stars. Edwards connected five times on an unstoppable swinging pivot - and made a brace of charity tosses for his total...

Philadelphia SPHAS (31) Name FG FT Pts Torgoff 0 1 1 Goldman 1 2 4 Rosan 1 2 4 Wolf 0 0 0 Bloom 1 1 3 Lautman 3 2 8 Rosenberg 4 0 8 Frankel 1 1 3 Total 11 9 31

Oshkosh All-Stars (38) Name FG FT Pts Bob Carptenter 0 6 6 Lou Barle 1 4 6 Leroy Edwards 5 2 12 Herm Witasek 1 1 3 Charlie Shipp 1 1 3 Erv Prasse 1 2 4 Connie Berry 2 0 4 Total 11 16 38

First Round (3/8/1942): Oshkosh All-Stars 44, Davenport Iowa, Central Turner Rockets 29
Quarter-Final Round (3/9/1942): Oshkosh All-Stars 44, New York Rens 38
Semi-Final Round (3/10/1942): Oshkosh All-Stars 48, Harlem Globetrotters 41
Championship Game (3/11/1942): Oshkosh All-Stars 43, Detroit Eagles 41

1942 Championship Game

Oshkosh All Stars (43) Player FG FT Pts Lou Barle 2 1 5 Bill Komenich 0 0 0 Erv Prasse 0 0 0 Leroy Edwards 2 1 5 Gene Englund 7 3 17 Eddie Riska 3 3 9 Tom Nisbet 0 0 0 Charlie Shipp 3 1 7 Total 17 9 43

Detroit Eagles (41) Player FG FT Pts Ed Parry 1 0 2 Buddy Jeannette 5 4 14 Lou Kasperik 1 0 2 Jake Pelkington 1 2 4 Jake Ahearn 5 1 11 Jerry Bush 3 2 8 Total 16 9 41

Newspaper clippings (Part one and two discussing the championship game. - "Edwards Comes Through -- Edwards, who had tried his knee briefly in the second quarter, was back in now for another try. Just when Oshkosh needed his help badly, the old warhorse came through. He cashed a free throw and two hook shots in rapid succession, while Perry was making a pot shot for Detroit, and it was 38-35, Oshkosh as Edwards hobbled off the floor to the crowd's cheers."

Newspaper clippings (Part one and two) after the tournament, mentioning Edwards and the championship game. - "The Chicago Herald-American, in commenting on the championship game, said: 'For the pluckiest player in the meet we give you Leroy "Cowboy" Edwards, one of the two great centers on the new title-holding team. Injured badly on the first play of the game, he came back in the second quarter, got hurt again, went limping out only to return in the fourth quarter taped up. He proceeded to dump in five consecutive points for his team, then got hurt so badly he couldn't move . . . but the big Kentuckian had a big grin when the final gun went off and thought the result justified his injuries."

1943

First Round: Bye
Quarter-Final Round (3/15/1943): Oshkosh All-Stars 65, Detroit Eagles 36
Semi-Final Round (3/17/1943): Oshkosh All-Stars 40, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 39
Championship Game (3/18/1943): Washington Bears 43, Oshkosh All-Stars 31

1943 Championship Game

Washington Bears (43) Player FG FT Pts Pop Gates 3 3 9 Puggy Bell 2 0 4 Sonny Wood 1 1 3 Dolly King 1 1 3 Charley Isles 2 3 7 Tarzan Cooper 0 1 1 Zack Clayton 1 3 5 Johnny Isaacs 5 1 11 Total 15 13 43

Oshkosh All Stars (31) Player FG FT Pts Connie Berry 0 0 0 Bill Crossett 0 0 0 Bob Carpenter 0 0 2 Gene Englund 1 1 3 Leroy Edwards 1 5 7 Tom Nisbet 2 0 4 Ralph Vaughn 3 0 6 Charlie Shipp 1 1 3 Dave Qualbius 2 0 4 Fred Rehm 1 0 2 Total 11 9 31

1944

First Round (3/21/1944): Oshkosh All-Stars 51, Rochester Wings 40
Quarter-Final Round (3/22/1944): Harlem Globetrotters 41, Oshkosh All-Stars 31

1945

First Round (3/19/1945): Oshkosh All-Stars 60, Detroit Mansfields 56
Quarter-Final Round (3/21/1945): Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 63, Oshkosh All-Stars 52

1946

First Round (3/27/1946): Oshkosh All-Stars 60, Detroit Mansfields 32
Quarter-Final Round (3/29/1946): Oshkosh All-Stars 50, New York Rens 44
Semi-Final Round (4/3/1946): Oshkosh All-Stars 72, Chicago American Gears 66
Championship Series Game 1 (4/5/1946): Oshkosh All-Stars 61, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 59
Championship Series Game 2 (4/6/1946): Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 56, Oshkosh All-Stars 47
Championship Series Game 3 (4/8/1946): Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 73, Oshkosh All-Stars 57

1946 Championship Game

Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (73) Player FG FT Pts Jake Pelkington 2 6 10 Bob Tough 5 0 10 Ed Sadowski 7 0 14 Bob Kinney 1 1 3 Chick Reiser 3 2 8 Bobby McDermott 8 4 20 Jerry Bush 3 0 6 Charlie Shipp 0 0 0 Buddy Jeannette 0 2 2 Curly Armstrong 0 0 0 Total 29 15 73

Oshkosh All-Stars (57) Player FG FT Pts Bob Carpenter 1 1 3 Clint Wager 3 0 6 Gene Englund 1 0 2 Leroy Edwards 9 6 24 Erv Prasse 0 1 1 Bob Feerick 5 3 13 Fred Rehm 1 2 4 Eddie Riska 0 3 3 Bud Engdahl 0 1 1 Total 20 17 57

1946 All-Tournament Team

Pos	Player	Team
F	Jerry Bush	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
F	Leroy Edwards	Oshkosh All-Stars
C	George Mikan	Chicago American Gears
G	Bobby McDermott	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
G	Bob Feerick	Oshkosh All-Stars

1947

First Round (4/7/1947): Oshkosh All-Stars 60, Herkimer NY Mohawk Redskins 54
Quarter-Final Round (4/9/1947): Oshkosh All-Stars 53, Sheboygan Redskins 44
Semi-Final Round (4/10/1947): Indianapolis Kautskys 57, Oshkosh All-Stars 38
Third Place Game (4/11/1947): Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 86, Oshkosh All-Stars 67

Chicago Stadium: Site of the Tournament

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