| 1922-23 | 1923-24 | 1924-25 | 1925-26 | 1926-27 | 1927-28 | 1928-29 | 1929-30 |
1922-23 - (Won 10; Lost 0) - Coach: Stanley Boles
What appears to be the first "official" freshman squad, this team was composed of many former stars from the Lexington Senior High National Champions. Starting with this team, no freshman played on the varsity team until the early 1940's.
Front Row: Charles Foster Helm, Burgess Carey, James McFarland, Lovell Underwood, Charles Hughes Second Row: Charles Alberts, Will Milward, Harry Glenn, Len Tracy Third Row: Head Coach Stanley "Daddy" Boles, Manager Green, Assistant Coach Bill King |
1923-24 - (Won 7; Lost 3) - Coach: Lawrence Burnham
Burnam Will Pick First Team From Thirty Men Eligible
WINCHESTER TEAM FAST
Kittens Show Up in Good Form; Hold Two Practice Sessions Per Day
The University of Kentucky freshmen basketball team inaugurates its season Saturday Night, December 18, when they meet the first year men from Kentucky Wesleyan at the University gym. A good game is expected as he Winchester quintet is reported as having a very fast team.
Coach Lawrence Burnham is rapidly rounding his charges into shape and with their daily scrimmages with the varsity they will be the best of form by Saturday. The yearlings have been going through two practice sessions a day for the last month, with the exception of Christmas, and are working very hard in order to uphold the record set by their predecessors last year.
The original squad of sixty was cut to thirty about a week before the holidays, this leaving fifteen for each practice a day. The freshmen have been showing good form against the varsity and each man is showing marked ability. The floor work and passing of the Kittens have been outstanding in their practices. Their shooting has been a little off so far but with more practice they should be able to offset this difficulty.
Coach Burnham will have a hard time selecting his first five, as he has about thirteen men that are showing the most ability and any one of them can be depended on to do his part. At center Besuden, McCann and McClanahan seem to be the best. They all tower above the six foot mark and can hit the basket as well as play the floor. Ramer, Palsgrove, Hendricks, Stevenson, and Wallace are doing good work as forwards and any one of them can well hold their own with any team. As guard Farrington, Brady, Scrivner, W. Smith and Rice are all showing up well and can prevent their opponents from making goals. The selection for the first game will likely be taken from the above mentioned men.
A large crowd is expected for the initial game of the Kittens as everyone is interested in them and are pulling for them to capture the Southern championship as did the freshmen of '23.
Defeat Kentucky State Kittens to Win Clear Title in Thriller 27-25
FROSH WIN THIRTEEN CONSECUTIVE GAMES
The Georgetown Tiger Cubs won the freshmen championship of the state when they defeated the Kentucky Kittens at Lexington last Monday evening by a score of 27 to 25. Despite the fact that the Cubs have not met the Centre Lieutenants, they have a clear title to the championship by virtue of the two defeats meted out to the Centre aggregation by the State yearlings.
Monday's game was close and exceedingly hard fought except for the latter half of the first half, when the Orange and Black youngsters ran up an eleven point lead, the half ending 17 to 8.
The game started . . . right off the reel for Kentucky, the Cubs then ran the leather windbag thru the hoop three times for a total of six markers making the tallies stand in favor of Georgetown six to four. The State men then sank another field goal and two free thrwos but were unable to add to their score during the remainder of the half while the Georgetonians ran up thirteen points in rapid succession.
In the second period the Kittens played much harder and were not only successful in stopping the effectiveness of the Bradbury-Muir-Gillespie-Hackman combination, but also tallied three baskets and a free throw making the score stand in favor of the Cubs only by two points, 17 to 15.
Despite the sensational comeback staged by the home team the Cubs settled down to real business and piled up a four point lead which was enough to assure the Orange and Black of a win. The last three baskets were scored in quick succession. Hackman dropping two beautiful cord-cutters from mid-floor and Gillespie sinking another from along the side line somewhat nearer the end zone.
Hendricks, the State forward who was played as a sleeper, was high point man of the game, tallying five baskets and a free throw for a total of eleven markers. The scoring of the Cubs was more evenly distributed between their offense men. Gillespie leading with eight. Bradbury next with seven and with Hackman and Muir each with six. The Cubs played the entire game without substitutions.
State (25)
Tiger Cubs (27)
1924-25 - (Won 11; Lost 0) - Coach: Ray Eklund
The basketball team of the Class of 1928, under the leadership of Coach Eklund, was by far the most remarkable freshman team in the history of the University. Champions of the South, as well as champions of Kentucky, the freshmen were never defeated, nor hardly threatened with defeat, by any of the teams they met during the entire season.
More individual stars were on the team than ever before, and they were welded into the best and smoothest running machine that could be produced. Playing with high schools, freshmen from other colleges, and even good varsity teams from smaller colleges, Eklund's first termers never faltered in their steady march to the dual championship.
Many games played by the freshmen on the home floor were so one-sided that most of the audience would tire of the perfect shooting of Van Arsdell, the superb crip shooting of Hickerson, and the floor work of Jenkins, and go home to read the final score in the morning papers. In fact, the daily practice of the freshman team, playing against members of their own organization, furnished more active opposition than the best teams that the Association could secure for the championship team.
1925-26 - (Record Unknown) - Coach: Stanley Boles
Boles' Team Has Easy Time Winning Second Straight Game From Wesleyan Team; Knaedler Best
UNION IS HERE TONIGHT
by S.W. Royse
The Kittens of the University of Kentucky strengthened their claim to the state championship by defeating the Kentucky Wesleyan Cubs at Winchester Tuesday night by a score fo 24 to 15.
The victory was comparatively easy, as the Kittens in the early minutes of the game amassed a 10 point lead and held it throughout the game. The score at the end of the half was 15 to 5.
Knaedler was high point man for the Kittens, with 10 points to his credit, and McGinnis was a close second with seven. Galloway led the Cubs with a total of eight points.
Kittens (24)
Cubs (15)
Substitutions: Kittens - Phipps, David, Gatliff, Wieman, Mashall, Gess. Cubs - Strother, Clay (2).
. . .
The freshmen awarded numerals are as follows: Edwin Knadler, of Louisville; Lawrence McGinnis, of Lexington; Ferdinand Wieman, of Lexington; Tom Phipps, of Ashland; Kerns Gatliff, of Williamsburg; Claire Dees, of Lexington; Coleman Marshall, of Frankfort; Elmer Gilb, of Newport; and William Heizer, of Lexington.
1926-27 - (Won 19; Lost 0) - Coach: James McFarland
Playing the stiffest schedule that a freshman team has ever played at the University of Kentucky, the U. K. Kittens, coached by Jimmy McFarland, former Blue Devil and Wildcat net star, won nineteen consecutive basketball games during the 1926-27 season and were undefeated during the year.
They numbered among their victims Kentucky Wesleyan, twice; University of Louisville, twice; Centre College, twice; Lexington Goldbergs, twice, and other teams of scholastic and independent standing throughout central and eastern Kentucky. The highest score run up by the freshmen was against the Pikeville High School Panthers, whom they defeated by a margin of 70 points. Georgetown gave them their hardest game in the final of the two-game series, making nine field goals to the Tiger Cubs' eight, winning the game principally by their ability to shoot foul goals.
The regular line-up consisted of Jeffries and Lyons, forwards; Milward, center, and Combs and Miller, guards. Others outstanding on the team were Lew Ellis, Hayes Owens, McBrayer, Page, Howard, McLane, and Williams.
The pass-work of this year's five was remarkably perfect, and nothing short of a Southern Conference title will satisfy these champions in '28.
1927-28 - (Won 6; Lost 1) - Coach: Fred Major
Coach Major's big Green Kitten basketeers enjoyed a very good season, winning six out of seven games played during the year. The material was very good, and the Kittens were initiated into the Illinois system of play, in order that they might not be so green as varsity candidates next year. The stars of the Kitten team were Spicer, Bronston, Gormley, McGinnis, Trott, Hayn and Sparks. The results of the season follow:
1928-29 - (Won 11; Lost 1) - Coach: M.E. Potter
With the guiding hand of Coach M.E. Potter at the helm, the University of Kentucky "Wearers of the Green" sailed to the 1928-29 state freshman basketball championship with color flying.
Only one squall threatened to upset the craft of the Kentucky frosh, but this was quickly quelled with a deluge of victories.
The hardest tilt of the season was the 15-14 affair with Easter Normal's freshmen, which, however, went into Kentucky's win column. Among the teams defeated by the champion frosh were Wesleyan frosh, Georgetown frosh, Eastern frosh, Lexington High, Lee's Institute, the Goldbergs, and others.
A 20-18 victory by the Louisville freshmen was the only reverse, but the poor showing made by the Falls City team in most of its other contests proved that its win over Kentucky was not a true indication of the comparative worth of either team.
The numeral men were John Walker, William Kleiser, A.H. Kendall, Clarence Phillips, William Townsend, George Roberts, Kenneth Kistner, French Smoot, Ercel B. Little, George Yates, John Drury, Cecil Bell, John Thorn, Graham Benson, J.D. Bradley, and Dallas Wade. Leonard Weakley was manager of the team.
The season record of the frosh follows:
The final game with Eastern State Normal's frosh was the tilt which decided the state title. Eastern had made a strong record throughout the year, and had lost only by one point to the Kittens in the first game. However, the Kittens upset the 'dope and bearded the Eastern frosh in their den, 28-11, thus clearing up their record in very satisfactory manner.
1929-30 - (Won 8; Lost 0) - Coach: M.E. Potter
The Kentucky yearlings scampered through all opposition to win the state title. this was the first time since the season of '26-'27 that the Freshmen have finished the season undefeated. Coach M.E. Potter issued his call for candidates, over twenty promoising hoopsters answered. Stars from Lexington, Ashland, Lawrenceburg and St. Louis, Mo., formed the nucleus of the undefeated quintete.
The results of the season is as follows:
Those who made the squad were: Forwards - Darby, Jackson, Congleton, Riffe, Helm, Smith, Foster, Lavin and Walker. Centers - Sale, Skinner, Tracey, Collins and Rudolph. Guards - Captain Johnson, Worthington, Kreuter, Fishback, Clark and Hines.
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