By George P. Edmonston Jr., with thanks to James C. Heartwell*

As the 2002-2003 college basketball season draws to close, we at Eclips thought it might be fun to go back in time and share some interesting if not unusual moments from OSU’s basketball past, small tidbits of history that probably missed the pages of the newspapers of the time, little pieces of institutional memory that, with each passing season, slowly fade into obscurity.

First women's team.

Sissy Game (1899): Contrary to what many might think, it was the women of Oregon State who first introduced the sport of basketball to our campus, known at that time as State Agricultural College. In the last year of the 19th century, SAC alumnus William H. Beach (class of 1899) assembled five young female athletes to play the roundball sport, and in the two years he was head coach (before moving to Racine, Wisc.), his teams went undefeated. The squad consisted of players Lillie Raney, Inez Fuller, Dora Hodgens, Fanny Getty, Bessie Smith, Leona Smith, and a young women only identified as "Holden." The manager of the team was Fred Smith. During this time, the boys at SAC avoided basketball like the plague, often referring to it as "sissy stuff." It also seems clear from the historical record that OSU’s women started at least six other sports at the university, most of which are still around: soccer, gymnastics, tennis, field hockey, volleyball, softball. They were also the first to form a rifle team to represent the university.

1903-04 OAC "Agrics."

Winning in "Undertime" (1903-05): "Undertime" games were actually unfinished games, in which Beaver opponents withdrew from contests because of disputes with officials. In 1903, with a little over a minute and a half to go and OAC leading by a score of 13-10, Willamette University yanked its team from the court to end the game. In 1905, with seven minutes left to play, Oregon City YMCA pulled the plug on OSU because of displeasure with the refs. In both cases, Oregon State was declared the winner.

1913-14 OAC Varsity.

One Man Team (1913-15): It happened twice one year and once the next: games in which a single Beaver player scored every point. Against the University of Washington "Sundodgers" in Seattle during the 1913-14 campaign, OAC’s Billy King scored all 10 points in a 29-10 Oregon State loss. Later that season, Ad Dewey put in all 17 points in a 17-10 thrashing of the Ducks in Corvallis. The next year, Ad again bucketed all the points in a 26-14 loss to Washington in the Men’s Gym.

Grover Cate, Center.

Harry Cooper, Captain & Forward.

Los Angeles Blues (1921): After college, Oregon Staters Skeet Swan (class of 1907), Grover "Lengthy" Cate (1912) and Harry "Slim" Cooper (1913) continued their involvement in the sport as teammates for the Los Angeles Blues, a semi-professional squad sponsored by the Men’s Club of the City of Los Angeles. In 1921, the team traveled to the Hawaiian Islands to play a series of nine games, the highlight of which was a victory over an All-Army group that had just won the Far East Olympics. In the process, the Blues turned in a piece of basketball history by becoming the first team from stateside to play basketball in the Islands.

Training room at Wagner's

Wagner’s Restaurant (1930s-1960s): Long time Beaver basketball fans will remember that throughout Amory T. "Slats" Gill’s tenure as OSU head basketball coach (1928-1964), Wagner’s Restaurant at 3rd and Madison in downtown Corvallis served as OSC’s "unofficial" basketball headquarters for both the players and coaching staff, as well as fans close to the program. In a large dining room at the south end of the popular eatery, pre-game meals were taken and game strategies mapped out, so much so that Slats told basketball historian James Heartwell over a Wagner’s plate lunch in 1952: "Perhaps I’m sentimental about this room but our basketball training table has been here, with rare exceptions, ever since I became coach. OSC’s pre-game strategy has been planned here and I’ve gone over many problems individually with various players through the years. To me this room holds a certain significance." Today, what used to be Wagner’s is now Mehlhaf’s Clothiers.

1921-22 Aggies win 21 games of 23 played.

The Gill Brothers (1917-1925): Slats Gill, who starred for Oregon State from 1922-24, was not the only member of his family to suit-up for Beaver basketball. Older brothers Luke and Whitney also played, with Whit dropping the sport after one year for baseball, and Luke turning his attention to football in 1922. The Gills were from Salem, Ore. All three played prep ball for Salem High School.

Florence Naismith.

Florence Kincaid Naismith (1941-1949): The second wife of Dr. James Naismith, the acknowledged inventor (in 1892) of the maple-court sport, Florence served as a housemother for Delta Delta Delta on the OSC campus from 1941-1947, then returned again in the same capacity in 1949, after spending a year as a housemother at the University of Washington. The two had married on June 11, 1939, in Lawrence, Kan., about two years after the death of Naismith’s first wife, and their union ended six months later, on November 28, when the "Father of Basketball" died of a heart attack at age 78.

Norm Carey '48.

Versatile Athlete (1945): While playing high school basketball for Gates (Ore.) High School in the mid-1940s, Beaver great Norm Carey, who came onto his own during Slats Gill’s 1947-48 championship seasons, performed in the band between halves.

1946-47 "Thrill Kids" win Pacific Coast Conference honors.

Thanks but NO THANKS (1946-47): After Oregon State College won the Northern Division title to end the 1946-47 campaign, officials of the University of Oregon offered coach Gill the use of McArthur Court for the Pacific Coast Conference playoffs with UCLA. Mac Court had a seating capacity of 8,000, compared to the 2,500 of OSC’s Men’s Gym, and the Ducks were well aware of the many Beaver fans each year who were unable to attend home games in Corvallis because of OSC’s tiny facility. Though the offer was a splendid gesture, it was declined. Could be Slats felt the Lemon Yellow was looking for an easy way to scout his program for the next season.

Bill Kahn.

Double Vision (1952): Bill Kahn, who came to Oregon State after playing junior college basketball in San Francisco, was the first player in school history to play in a game wearing contact lenses.

"Ol John’s" Finest Moment (1947): From 1930 to 1952, John Finley Hines operated a shoe shine stand in the Memorial Union and became as well known to the campus community as the furniture in the MU lounge. Referred to affectionately by everyone as "Ol John," his parlor walls were lined with photos of Beaver athletes and important games and was a "must visit" for alumni returning to campus for meetings and reunions. Before his death in a Salem hospital in October 1952, he would often say his finest moment was in 1947, when Slats Gill invited him to accompany the team to New York City for a game at Madison Square Garden. Mr. Hines made the trip and sat on the bench with the team.

Cold Duck (1975): During the 1975 women’s basketball season, OSU Head Coach Lyn Guggenheim’s team recorded a Civil War moment die-hard Beaver fans should never forget. Losing the first game of the two-game series 47-39, the Beaver women slaughtered the Ducks in game two by a, gulp, final score of 97-32. At one point, OSU led 39-3.

George Edmonston Jr. is editor of the Oregon Stater and Eclips.

*Mr. Heartwell is deceased. His History of Oregon State College Basketball (1901-1953), self-published in Corvallis in 1953, was the source used for many of the above stories and remains the definitive work on the early history of Beaver men’s basketball and the career of Slats Gill.