Feb. 6, 2018
Vanderbilt University will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its first basketball game February 7, 2018 against Georgia. The first Commodore game was played at the Nashville Y.M.C.A on February 7, 1893 in which the Commodores won, 9-6. That date was February 7, 1893. There is credible evidence that the 1893 game was the first college to arrange a basketball team that played in an organized game.
Zander Hollander, a very respected sports historian wrote in the book “The Modern Encyclopedia of Basketball” (copyright 1973, published by Four Winds Press), “The first college to field a men’s team was Vanderbilt University, which defeated the Nashville Tennessee Y.M.C.A. in March 1893.” (The correct date is February 1893).
Hollander had written, co-written and edited more than 300 books including six encyclopedias. He was a journalist and sports writer for the New York World Telegram for more than 20 years. Hollander’s career spanned 45 years. The native New Yorker died in 2014 at age 91.
In 1969, Edgar Allen, a sports writer for the Nashville Banner made reference to the 1893 game in the first part of a series on the history of Vanderbilt basketball.
In the fall of 1891, Dr. James Naismith needed an indoor sport to avoid the bitter winter weather in Springfield, Mass. Naismith was asked to instruct the physical activities for the participants of the Young Men’s Christian Association Training School (later Springfield College).
At that time, the Y.M.C.A. was a base for training physical instructors and general secretaries for their facilities within the United States. Outdoor sports, such as football and rugby, failed to be converted to indoor sports. A small gymnasium was not equipped for a game requiring an enormous playing area.
Naismith’s solution was to invent the game of “basket ball.” Peach baskets were secured from the custodian and hung from the gym’s balcony, which just happened to be 10 feet from the floor. He devised a set of rules that required a soccer ball and nine players on a team. The number of players on a team was derived to accommodate the 18 students in Naismith’s original class.
The new game began to spread within the United States and was the winter sport for the Y.M.C.A.’s throughout the country. Eventually, colleges and athletic clubs acquired the game for their winter activity. Nashville, with its Y.M.C.A. and athletic clubs, was quick to learn the game.
Vanderbilt’s interest in the game was evident when the university’s newspaper, Hustler, printed the rules in its Dec. 21, 1893 edition. At the time, football, baseball, gymnastics and track were the featured sports on the Commodore campus.
The Old Gym built in 1880 still exists today and housed Vanderbilt student basketball games. The first recorded basketball game played by Vanderbilt as a team is documented in the Comet, the university’s yearbook.
The Comet reviews the 1893 “season,” a 9-6 victory over the Nashville Y.M.C.A. Also included in this yearbook are the names and positions of the nine Vanderbilt players. No date was given, but a search through the microfiche of Nashville newspapers located the game.
The February 7, 1893 edition of the (Nashville) Daily American wrote:
BASKET BALL, Teams From Vanderbilt and the Y.M.C.A. To Meet Tonight
The new game known as basket ball which has been recently introduced into gymnasiums throughout the United States has gained a large following. Its advent in Nashville was marked with an enthusiastic reception. The game is very much like foot ball with much of the roughness eliminated, and instead of keeping the ball down it is kept up. To-night at 8 o’clock in the gymnasium of the Young Men’s Christian Association the public will have an opportunity of witnessing a spirited contest in basket ball between the teams from Vanderbilt and the association. The two teams are well trained and an exciting game will be played. The public is invited to witness the contest. Seats will be placed on the running track for ladies, who are especially urged to be present.
The results of the game were not located in the Daily American, but were found in Nashville’s evening newspaper the Republican Banner in their February 8, 1893 edition. With the caption “The Vanderbilts Won” the Republican Banner reported on the historic game:
The game of basket ball at the Y.M.C.A. gymnasium last night between the Vanderbilts and the Association team was witnessed by a large audience, who greatly enjoyed the first public exhibition of this new game. The game in many of its features resembles foot ball, but not nearly so dangerous to life and limb. Nine men constitute a team. At each end of the hall is a shallow bag, the mouth of which is held open by a metal hoop a foot or so in diameter. The bag is fastened securely to the wall about five or six feet from the floor, and the object is to out the ball into the opponent’s goal. A goal counts three points. The game last night resulted in favor of Vanderbilt by a score of 9 to 6.
In this era of basketball a field goal was worth three points. Basketball became popular for several years as an intramural winter game on the Vanderbilt campus. The University League was formed consisting of teams from the dental school and undergraduate students. Vanderbilt began playing a regular basketball schedule in 1900-01 with just four games. The schedule expanded in future years.
It has been generally accepted that the first basketball game between two colleges occurred on February 9, 1895 a 9-3 Minnesota A&M victory over Hamline College. The basketball-scheduling gods (or the SEC) is favoring Vanderbilt as on February 7, 2018 Georgia invades Memorial Gymnasium to face the Commodores, which will be exactly the 125th anniversary of Vanderbilt’s first basketball game.
Traughber’s Tidbit: Let’s not forget about the Vanderbilt ladies. They played their first game on March 13, 1897 against Ward Seminary an all girls school that later became Belmont College. The game was played in the Old Gym on the Vanderbilt campus. The Commodores won 5-0 on a last second desperation shot by Elizabeth Buttorff at the final whistle. In this era of women’s basketball, a field goal was awarded five points. Player/coach Stella Vaughn passed the ball to Buttorff for the game-winner and an unofficial “assist.” Vaughn was selected to the Vanderbilt Sports Hall of Fame (2015) as the first administrator of Vanderbilt women’s sports. Commodore women played a schedule until about 1920 when basketball became an intramural activity. The modern era of Vanderbilt women’s basketball began in 1977.
If you have any comments or suggestions contact Bill Traughber via email WLTraughber @aol.com.
