ALL-AMERICA | ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA | STATISTICAL ARCHIVE

Basketball made its initial appearance as an intercollegiate sport at Washington University in St. Louis during the 1904-05 season when a pick-up group of students met and defeated a team from Southern Illinois University, 19-15.

Washington University fielded a team every year (except the 1910-11 season) through 1971. Those early years of basketball were not marked by any great teams, with the best record occurring under the leadership of Coach R.B Rutherford when the Bears finished 13-5. This was the only impressive record made by any Washington University basketball team until 1947, when the legendary coach Blair Gullion took over the program. Many of those early years were played in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), where Washington University was a charter member.

Under Coach Gullion, Bears basketball began to take on a national stature. Many top collegiate teams from around the country became fixtures on the Washington University basketball schedule. His coaching ability and administrative leadership produced a number of winning teams despite the stiff competition. The 1955-56 team finished with a 17-5 record with wins over Cornell, Loyola, Canisus and Utah State. Highlighting the season was a 75-74 loss to Illinois on national television. This team was under serious consideration for the prestigious NIT Tournament. His reign as coach came to an untimely end with his death during the 1958-59 season.

In the 1959-60 season the team was turned over to Chuck Smith who played on coach Gullion's 1949-50 team. He continued to build the legacy of Washington University Basketball. His 1962-63 team won 18 games and was the first team to represent Washington University in the NCAA Tournament. The next two seasons were equally successful for the Bears with upset wins over national powers Marquette, Drake and New Mexico.

In 1965, Bob Greenwood became the 20th head basketball coach at Washington University. He coached the team for five years until he decided to take a coaching position at the University of Iowa. Dale Snider, his former assistant coach, took over the team until the decision was made by the University to drop basketball for financial reasons following the 1970-71 season.

After a 10-year absence, basketball returned to the Danforth Campus under the leadership of Mark Edwards, a former player and graduate of Washington University. Coach Edwards accepted the job of restarting the program after spending nine seasons as an assistant coach at Washington State University. After three losing seasons, the program has developed into one of the most consistently successful teams in the country. Washington U. has notched a school-record 24 consecutive winning seasons. Over the last 22 years, the Bears have enjoyed their most success, winning 20 or more games 10 times and participating in 13 NCAA Division III tournaments.

As a founding member, Washington University has played in the prestigious University Athletic Association (UAA) for the past 20 years. During this time the Bears have won eight conference championships (1988, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007), finished second 10 times and owns a 221-70 (.759) all-time UAA record, the most wins and the highest percentage of any UAA school.

The 2006-07 team tied the record for victories with a 25-5 mark, winning an eighth UAA title and advancing to the Final Four. The third-place finish was the highest finish of any Washington University men's basketball team in NCAA competition, until 2008.

Edwards guided Washington U. back to the Final Four in 2008, capturing the NCAA Division III National Championship with a 90-68 win over defending champion Amherst College. The national title was also the first for a men's sports on the Danforth Campus. Edwards, the winningest coach in school history with at 477-223 (.672) overall record, earned 2008 NABC, D3hoops.com and DIII News National Coach of the Year honors. He also mentored 2008 D3hoops.com, DIII News, Jostens Awards Recipient and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honoree, Troy Ruths.

As the Bears completed their 93rd season of collegiate basketball in 2007-08, Washington University has posted a 1,073-875 (.551) overall record. The Bears became the 60th program in Division III history to record 1,000 or more wins with a 93-83 win at Carnegie Mellon on Jan. 23, 2005.