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Men's Basketball records
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Held at: Drexel University: Archives and Special Collections [Contact Us]W. W. Hagerty Library, 3300 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Drexel University: Archives and Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Drexel’s men’s basketball team began about 1895, being originally organized by the Institute’s students, as was done with most of the school’s competitive sports teams. In 1914 the Institute began to offer financial support to basketball players. The program gained its first full-time coach in 1920 when Drexel hired Walter McCoy to coach several of its athletic teams, including the basketball squad. Drexel basketball teams produced either average or mostly bad win-loss records until the early 1950s when Sam Cozen, a Philadelphia native, became the team’s head coach. During his tenure in the 1950s and 1960s, Drexel became an east coast basketball powerhouse, winning twelve Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Southern Division Championships, one MASCAC College Division Championship and eight Middle Six Championships. Since the end of Cozen’s tenure, the basketball team has continued to have successful seasons, being invited to four NCAA tournaments in 1986, 1994, 1995 and 1996 and to four National Invitational Tournaments in the five years period 2003-2008. In the NCAA tournament, it reached the second round in 1996 before being defeated by Memphis, while in the NIT, it reached the first round in 2005 before being defeated. Drexel is a member of the NCAA Division I, having joined in 1973. It is presently a member of the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAC), having joined the conference in 2001. As of the 2007-2008 season, Drexel had an overall record of 1119 wins and 940 losses.
The collection contains nine boxes of records related to Drexel’s men basketball team that were created between 1953 and 2001, and cover the period from 1895, when Drexel played it first basketball game, to 2001. The collection is arranged by type of material. Newspaper clippings, statistics, programs, and media guides are all arranged chronologically by sport season.
The first three boxes of the collection contain original and photocopied newspaper clippings dating from 1953 to 1988, that were collected from both local Philadelphia newspapers and the papers of Drexel’s opponents. The clippings are mostly pre- and post game articles, with some including photographs and/or stats, although there are also some articles on post-season activities involving both coaches and players.
The next box in the collection contains game and player statistics dating from as early as 1895 through 1990, that were first compiled in the late 1960s/early 1970s, via Drexel, the NCAA and the East Coast Conference. Starting with the 1967-68 season, the collected stats were taken from the games played each season, and shows how the players from both teams performed in each game. The box also contains several official scorebooks.
The next three boxes contain yearbooks, media guides, program books, basketball previews and post-season tournament guides dating from 1954 to 2001. The above mentioned material contain information and stats on Drexel, its players, head coaches and their staff and their opponents. As with the previous box, the information within the three boxes were compiled from either Drexel, the NCAA and the East Coast Conference.
The next box contain calendars, game programs, schedules and buttons that were either sold at games or given away that were made between 1969 to 1992. The final box contain administrative records, including index cards, press releases from the Middle Atlantic States Basketball League, press clippings, brochures from St. Joseph and Towson State, a playbook, publications and tournament information that was collected between 1955-56 and 1990.
Subject
- Publisher
- Drexel University: Archives and Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Stanley L. Alston, Jr.
- Finding Aid Date
- 03/05/2009
Collection Inventory
The first three boxes of the collection contain original and photocopied newspapers clippings that cover the years 1953 to 1988. The collection has a couple of gaps. The first gap goes from 1955 to 1964. The second gap covers the years 1966 to 1968. The clippings are taken mainly from Philadelphia-area newspapers, as well as the home newspapers of Drexel’s opponents. The clippings contain pre- and postgame and games stats information from each game that were played by Drexel teams during the years covered. The boxes also contain information on awards received, and banquets participated in by either the coaches or the players. Some of the clippings also contain photographs that were taken during the games.
Physical Description1.0 Linear feet
The fourth box contains statistical information which covers the years 1894-95 to 1978-79, 1986 and 1990-91. There were two folders of game scores complied in the 1970s which list each game played by Drexel, up to 1966-67, the name of their opponents and the final score of each game played. Starting with the 1967-68 season, there is also statistical information for every game played by Drexel that comes from either Drexel, the NCAA or the East Coast Conference. There is also statistical information for every player who played for Drexel, that also begins with the 1967-1968 season. There are also several official scorebooks.
Physical Description0.33 Linear feet
The fifth through seventh boxes contain yearbooks, media guides, program books, basketball previews and post-season tournament guides which cover the years 1954-1955 to 2000-2001. Drexel University, the NCAA or the East Coast Conference is the original source for the material. The yearbooks, which cover the years 1975-76 to 1978-79, contain photocopies of articles from the previous season on both the varsity and junior varsity squads. The media guides, which cover the years 1954-55, 1956-57, 1963-64, 1965-66, 1967-69, 1975-1998 and 1999-2001, contain information and stats on each player, the head coach and his staff, stats from the previous season, information on Drexel’s opponents, the team’s record against each opponent and the team’s schedule. The post-season tournament guides for 1990 and 1991 contain information on Drexel and the opponent(s) that the team might face during those two tournaments.
Physical Description1.0 Linear feet
The eighth box contains game programs, calendars, basketball schedules and buttons which cover the years 1969-1992. The game programs, which were sold at both regular season and tournament games, contain local business ads, information on the home school, including the players and the head coach and his staff, the team’s schedule and a scorecard. The calendars mainly display the team’s schedule, and pictures of a few players.
Physical Description0.33 Linear feet
The ninth box contains administrative records. The records include index cards which contain the names of every player from 1946-1979, press releases from Middle Atlantic States Basketball League opponents for the 1955-56 and 1956-57 seasons, press clippings from the local press for 1980-81, brochures from St. Joseph and Towson State for 1980-81, a playbook from 1990, information for the Fairfield University Boy Clubs (1980) and University of Alabama (1979) Basketball Tournaments, Information on Ogden, Utah for the 1986 West Regional Tournament, and a couple of publications and administrative records for 1986-89.
Physical Description0.33 Linear feet