History of Columbus Athletic Supply

The Columbus Athletic Supply was a short-lived professional basketball team based in Columbus, Ohio, that competed in the Midwest Basketball Conference during the 1936-37 season and then became one of the original teams in the National Basketball League in 1937-38.

The team was owned and operated by the Columbus Athletic Supply business and represented the company-team model that helped shape professional basketball during the 1930s. Rather than functioning as a modern independent sports franchise, the club was closely tied to its commercial sponsor and drew heavily from basketball talent in central Ohio.

Columbus enjoyed a respectable first season in the Midwest Basketball Conference, finishing 6-5. The following year, however, the transition into the newly renamed National Basketball League proved disastrous. Columbus finished only 1-12, scored fewer points per game than any other NBL team and disappeared after the season.

Despite its poor final record, the team featured several notable players, including Cookie Cunningham, Herb Hutchisson, Woody Pitzer, Sam Loucks, Denny Elliott, Norm Wagner and Buck Lamme. Cunningham also served as player-coach during the team's lone NBL campaign.

Professional Basketball in Columbus

Columbus, Ohio, had a strong basketball tradition long before the arrival of the NBA.

The city was located in one of the most important regions for early professional basketball. Ohio cities such as Akron, Dayton, Cleveland and Columbus supported industrial, independent and semi-professional teams throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

Company sponsorship played a major role in making those teams financially possible.

The Columbus Athletic Supply organization developed within that environment.

The Columbus Athletic Supply Company

The basketball team took its name directly from the Columbus Athletic Supply business.

Company-backed basketball teams were common during the Great Depression because players often needed steady employment in addition to their basketball income.

Businesses could hire talented athletes, provide them with jobs and then sponsor competitive basketball teams representing the company.

Organizations such as Akron Goodyear, Akron Firestone and Fort Wayne General Electric operated under similar models.

Columbus Athletic Supply was smaller than those industrial giants, but it followed the same general tradition.

The Midwest Basketball Conference

The team entered the Midwest Basketball Conference for the 1936-37 season.

The MBC had begun one year earlier as an effort to organize many of the strongest independent and company-sponsored teams throughout the Midwest.

By 1936-37, the conference included 12 teams divided into Eastern and Western divisions.

The 1936-37 Eastern Division

Columbus competed in the Eastern Division against:

• Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
• Akron Firestone Non-Skids
• Warren HyVis Oils
• Detroit Altes Lagers
• Pittsburgh Y.M.H.A.

The division contained some of the strongest company-sponsored basketball teams in the country.

Fred Wile

Fred Wile served as head coach during Columbus' first Midwest Basketball Conference season.

Wile guided the team through a competitive 11-game league schedule.

The Athletic Supply club finished 6-5, producing a .545 winning percentage.

That placed Columbus fourth in the Eastern Division.

A Winning First Season

The 6-5 record demonstrated that Columbus could compete successfully at the regional professional level.

The club finished behind Akron Goodyear, Akron Firestone and Warren but ahead of Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Although Columbus did not qualify for the championship series, the winning record was strong enough to justify continued participation when the conference underwent a major transformation the following year.

1936-37 Midwest Basketball Conference Record

Central Ohio Basketball Talent

The roster included numerous players with strong connections to Ohio colleges and regional basketball.

Among the players associated with the 1936-37 team were Herb Hutchisson, Woody Pitzer, Bud Moodler, Bill Hosket, Clovis Stark, Howard Stammler and Warren Whitlinger.

The ability to recruit experienced college players gave Columbus a competitive roster during its first league season.

From the MBC to the National Basketball League

After the 1936-37 season, the Midwest Basketball Conference changed its name to the National Basketball League.

The new identity reflected an attempt to expand professional basketball beyond a purely regional conference and establish a stronger national image.

Several MBC teams carried directly into the new league.

Columbus Athletic Supply was among them.

One of the Original NBL Teams

The inaugural National Basketball League season began in 1937.

Thirteen teams participated.

Columbus became one of the six clubs assigned to the Eastern Division.

The team's presence made Columbus one of the original cities represented in the NBL, a league that eventually became one of the principal predecessors of the modern NBA.

The 1937-38 Eastern Division

Columbus competed against:

• Akron Firestone Non-Skids
• Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Buffalo Bisons
• Warren Penns

The Akron teams dominated the division, while Columbus struggled throughout the year.

Cookie Cunningham

The central figure on the 1937-38 team was Charles "Cookie" Cunningham.

Cunningham served as player-coach.

The 6-foot-3 forward-center had played college basketball at Ohio State and was already an experienced player by the time the NBL began.

His combination of playing and coaching responsibilities made him the most important individual in the club's only NBL season.

The Ohio State Connection

Cunningham's Ohio State background reflected the team's strong regional identity.

Columbus Athletic Supply relied heavily on players who had competed for Ohio colleges, particularly Ohio State and Otterbein.

The roster therefore resembled a combination of an industrial team and a collection of central Ohio college alumni.

The Otterbein Connection

Several members of the roster had ties to Otterbein College.

The core of the NBL team included players who had been associated with the successful 1936-37 Otterbein basketball team.

This helped give Columbus an established group of players who already understood one another's games.

Unfortunately, college familiarity did not translate into NBL success against stronger professional opposition.

Herb Hutchisson

Herb Hutchisson was the team's leading scorer on a per-game basis.

The forward-guard appeared in seven league games and scored 56 points.

His average of 8.0 points per game was the highest on the roster.

Hutchisson had played college basketball at Oberlin.

Cookie Cunningham Leads in Total Points

Cunningham appeared in 11 games and led the club in total scoring.

He made 27 field goals and 27 free throws for 81 points.

That gave him an average of 7.4 points per game.

In addition to being the leading total scorer, Cunningham was responsible for coaching and managing the team on the court.

Woody Pitzer

Elwood "Woody" Pitzer became another regular member of the lineup.

The guard-forward appeared in 11 games and scored 50 points, averaging 4.5 per game.

Pitzer had played college basketball at Wittenberg.

Sam Loucks

Sam Loucks provided frontcourt depth.

The 6-foot-4 center-forward had played at Otterbein.

He appeared in nine games and scored 37 points, an average of 4.1 per game.

Denny Elliott

Denny Elliott played guard.

The Otterbein product appeared in nine games and scored 25 points.

Elliott became another example of the strong Otterbein influence on the roster.

Clyde Anton

Clyde Anton appeared in seven games at guard.

He scored 10 points.

Anton filled a supporting backcourt role for a team that struggled to generate consistent offense.

Norm Wagner

Norm Wagner was a 6-foot-5 center who had played at Missouri.

He appeared in three games for Columbus and scored nine points.

Wagner also played for other early professional basketball organizations, including Dayton.

Bob McConnell

Bob McConnell played guard and forward.

The former Denison player appeared in five games and scored five points.

Sam Busich

Sam Busich appeared briefly at guard.

The Ohio State product scored three points in his only recorded NBL appearance.

Jack Sullivan

Jack Sullivan played forward.

The Notre Dame product appeared in two games and scored three points.

Other Columbus Players

Other players appearing during the season included Gene Scholz, Bernie Berens, Buck Lamme and a player identified in surviving records only as Miller.

The short appearances of several players demonstrated the instability of the roster.

1937-38 Columbus Athletic Supply Roster

Ohio State Fairgrounds Arena

Columbus played its home games at the Ohio State Fairgrounds Arena.

The venue provided the team with a recognizable Columbus location and placed professional basketball within one of Ohio's major event facilities.

Early professional basketball teams frequently used fairgrounds buildings, armories, high school gyms and civic halls because dedicated basketball arenas were uncommon.

A Strange Beginning to the Season

Columbus' NBL season began slowly from a scheduling standpoint.

The inaugural league schedule was highly irregular, and teams did not play equal numbers of games.

Columbus played only three NBL contests during the calendar year 1937.

The bulk of the club's league schedule came after the new year.

December 26, 1937

One of the most unusual days in Columbus Athletic Supply history came on December 26, 1937.

Columbus and the Dayton Metropolitans played twice on the same day.

The first game was played in Dayton.

Dayton defeated Columbus 23-22.

The clubs then traveled to Columbus and played again.

Columbus' Only NBL Victory

In the second game of the December 26 doubleheader, Columbus defeated Dayton 31-28.

The victory became the only official NBL win in Columbus Athletic Supply history.

It also demonstrated how dramatically different early professional basketball scheduling was from the modern game.

Two teams could play in separate cities on the same day and have both contests count in the standings.

A 1-2 Start

After three league games, Columbus stood at 1-2.

The record was not particularly alarming.

The team still appeared to have an opportunity to produce a respectable season similar to its 6-5 Midwest Basketball Conference campaign.

Instead, Columbus did not win another official game.

A Long Losing Streak

The Athletic Supply team lost the remainder of its league schedule.

Opponents increasingly exploited Columbus' inability to score.

The club frequently remained competitive defensively but simply could not produce enough points to win.

The Lowest-Scoring Team in the NBL

Columbus scored only 282 points in 13 games.

That amounted to 21.7 points per game.

The Athletic Supply club ranked last among all 13 NBL teams in scoring.

No other team averaged fewer points.

How Low Was 21.7 Points Per Game?

Scoring throughout professional basketball was much lower in the 1930s than it is today.

There was no shot clock, offenses were much slower and teams frequently tried to protect small leads by holding the ball.

Even within that environment, however, 21.7 points per game was extremely low.

The league's strongest offensive team, Oshkosh, averaged more than twice as many points.

A More Respectable Defense

Columbus allowed 426 points.

That worked out to approximately 32.8 points per game.

The defensive average ranked in the middle of the league rather than near the bottom.

This indicates that Columbus' primary problem was overwhelmingly offensive.

Point Differential

The Athletic Supply team was outscored by 144 points during the season.

That represented an average deficit of approximately 11.1 points per game.

Modern statistical estimates suggest a team with that scoring profile would have been expected to finish without any victories at all.

Columbus' one win over Dayton prevented a winless NBL season.

Columbus Athletic Supply Team Statistics

Two Forfeit Losses

Columbus' official record included two games that were lost by forfeit.

One forfeit was awarded to the Akron Firestone Non-Skids.

The other was awarded to the Fort Wayne General Electrics.

Those forfeits were included in Columbus' official 1-12 record.

Why Forfeits Happened

Forfeits were not unheard of during the earliest years of professional basketball.

Travel costs, scheduling difficulties, poor finances and weather could all interfere with a club's ability to appear for a scheduled game.

Teams did not have the financial reserves, charter aircraft or extensive administrative staffs available to modern professional franchises.

The two Columbus forfeits reflected the instability of the inaugural NBL season.

1937-38 Eastern Division Standings

Last Place in the Eastern Division

Columbus finished sixth and last in the Eastern Division.

The team's .077 winning percentage was the worst mark in the entire National Basketball League.

Dayton finished 2-11 in the Western Division, leaving Columbus as the only one-win club in the league.

No Playoff Appearance

Only the strongest teams advanced to the first NBL postseason.

Akron Goodyear represented the Eastern Division in the championship round.

Columbus finished far outside playoff contention.

The Athletic Supply team therefore never appeared in an NBL postseason game.

Columbus Athletic Supply NBL Season

From 6-5 to 1-12

The collapse between the two seasons was dramatic.

Columbus had gone 6-5 in the Midwest Basketball Conference.

One year later, the club went 1-12.

The change illustrates how rapidly the quality of professional basketball was increasing.

Teams such as Akron Goodyear and Akron Firestone had deeper rosters, stronger corporate backing and greater experience.

Columbus could not keep pace.

The Difference Between Amateur, Industrial and Professional Basketball

The Athletic Supply club had developed from the same broad industrial and semi-professional basketball environment that produced many early league teams.

The transition into the NBL required more than simply assembling strong local players.

Travel, salaries, scheduling and roster stability became increasingly important.

Columbus had enough talent to compete regionally but lacked the resources necessary to sustain success in the new league.

The End of Columbus Athletic Supply

The team did not return for the 1938-39 season.

Columbus Athletic Supply disappeared from major professional basketball after only one NBL campaign.

Its official NBL history therefore consisted of just 13 games.

Two Formal League Seasons

When the Midwest Basketball Conference season is included, the team's formal league history lasted two years:

Combined MBC/NBL Record

Across its two known league seasons, Columbus Athletic Supply compiled a regular-season record of 7-17.

The overwhelming majority of those victories came during the team's first year.

Columbus Athletic Supply NBL Franchise Record

Head Coaches

Home Arena

Notable Columbus Athletic Supply Players

• Cookie Cunningham
• Herb Hutchisson
• Woody Pitzer
• Sam Loucks
• Denny Elliott
• Norm Wagner
• Bob McConnell
• Sam Busich
• Jack Sullivan
• Bernie Berens
• Buck Lamme

Cookie Cunningham's Place in Team History

Cunningham remains the defining player of the NBL version of Columbus Athletic Supply.

He led the team in total points, played in nearly every game and simultaneously served as head coach.

His 81 points represented almost 29 percent of the team's total scoring output.

That level of dependence on a single player illustrates how limited the Columbus offense was.

Herb Hutchisson's Scoring

Hutchisson's 8.0 points per game was actually higher than Cunningham's average.

However, he appeared in only seven games.

Had he been available for the entire schedule, Columbus might have possessed a somewhat stronger offense.

Even then, the club would still have faced a major talent gap against the strongest NBL teams.

The Importance of Local Colleges

Columbus Athletic Supply also illustrates how important local colleges were to early professional basketball recruiting.

The team drew players from Ohio State, Otterbein, Oberlin, Wittenberg and Denison.

Professional teams did not operate extensive national scouting systems.

Local college stars were often the easiest and most economical players to recruit.

The Ohio Basketball Landscape

Columbus was competing in a state filled with major professional basketball activity.

Akron had both Goodyear and Firestone.

Dayton had the Metropolitans.

Warren fielded the Penns.

Cleveland would later host several NBL teams.

The concentration of teams made Ohio one of the centers of professional basketball during the league's formative years.

Competition With Akron

Columbus' greatest competitive disadvantage was sharing a division with Akron's two industrial powers.

The Firestone Non-Skids finished 14-4.

The Goodyear Wingfoots finished 13-5 and went on to win the first NBL championship.

Both teams had stronger corporate resources and more established professional rosters.

Columbus was unable to match them.

The Inaugural NBL Was Unstable

The Athletic Supply club was hardly alone in struggling to survive.

The first NBL season included several organizations that either folded, relocated or disappeared immediately afterward.

The Richmond King Clothiers moved to Cincinnati during the season.

The Kankakee Gallagher Trojans and Dayton Metropolitans also lasted only one NBL campaign.

Buffalo disappeared after the inaugural season as well.

Why So Many Teams Failed

Operating a professional basketball team in the late 1930s was extremely difficult.

There was no television revenue.

Radio coverage provided limited financial support.

Teams depended heavily on ticket sales, sponsorships and company backing.

Travel expenses could quickly overwhelm small organizations.

The Great Depression also limited the amount of discretionary money available to spectators.

A League Before the Shot Clock

Basketball itself looked dramatically different.

There was no shot clock.

Teams could slow games down after taking a lead.

Scoring totals in the 20s and 30s were common.

Columbus' 21.7 points per game was exceptionally low, but the general offensive environment was still far below modern basketball.

Unusual Schedules

The December 26 doubleheader with Dayton was not the only example of how experimental league scheduling remained.

Teams played unequal numbers of games.

Neutral-site contests were common.

Forfeits could directly affect standings.

Travel schedules were arranged around geography, arena availability and financial concerns rather than television or standardized league templates.

Columbus and the Future NBA

Columbus Athletic Supply disappeared long before the NBA was created.

Nevertheless, its presence in the inaugural NBL gives the franchise an indirect connection to NBA history.

The NBL survived until 1949.

Several NBL organizations joined the rival Basketball Association of America, and the remaining leagues eventually came together under the National Basketball Association name.

Columbus had been there at the beginning of that process.

No Direct Connection to Later Columbus Teams

The Athletic Supply organization should not be confused with later professional or minor-league basketball teams in Columbus.

It was a distinct company-sponsored club whose major-league existence ended in 1938.

There is no direct franchise lineage connecting Columbus Athletic Supply to any modern NBA organization.

Columbus Athletic Supply Timeline

A Winning Regional Team That Could Not Survive the NBL

Columbus Athletic Supply's two-season history captures how difficult the transition from regional basketball to national professional competition could be.

The team was respectable in the Midwest Basketball Conference.

A 6-5 record showed that Columbus could compete with established regional teams.

Only one year later, the club was overwhelmed after the league became the NBL.

Why Columbus Athletic Supply Matters

The team's historical significance does not come from championships or star players.

It comes from timing.

Columbus was one of the cities represented when the National Basketball League first appeared under that name.

The NBL became one of the major building blocks of the modern NBA.

Even though Columbus survived for only one NBL season, the club was present at the beginning of that evolution.

Legacy of Columbus Athletic Supply

The Columbus Athletic Supply was one of the shortest-lived franchises in the history of the National Basketball League.

The team began formal league competition in 1936-37 as a member of the Midwest Basketball Conference.

Under coach Fred Wile, Columbus finished 6-5 and placed fourth in the Eastern Division.

That winning season provided enough stability for the club to continue when the MBC became the National Basketball League in 1937.

Columbus therefore became one of the original NBL franchises.

The transition proved extremely difficult.

Cookie Cunningham became player-coach and led the team with 81 points. Herb Hutchisson averaged a team-high 8.0 points per game, while Woody Pitzer and Sam Loucks provided additional scoring.

However, Columbus possessed the weakest offense in the entire league.

The Athletic Supply club averaged only 21.7 points per game.

The team allowed 32.8 points per game and was outscored by 144 points.

Columbus' only victory came on December 26, 1937, when it defeated the Dayton Metropolitans 31-28 in Columbus after the same two teams had already played earlier that day in Dayton.

The remarkable same-day home-and-road doubleheader became one of the most unusual episodes of the inaugural NBL season.

The Athletic Supply team lost every other official game.

Two of those losses came by forfeit, one to Akron Firestone and another to Fort Wayne General Electric.

Columbus finished 1-12, last in the Eastern Division and with the worst winning percentage in the entire NBL.

The team did not qualify for the playoffs and disappeared after the season.

Its official NBL history consisted of 13 games, one victory, 12 losses, no playoff appearances and no championships.

Including the earlier Midwest Basketball Conference campaign, the organization compiled a 7-17 regular-season record over two formal league seasons.

Columbus Athletic Supply never became a major professional basketball power and produced no direct franchise descendants.

Its significance instead lies in what the team represents.

It was a local business-sponsored club competing at the moment when professional basketball was evolving from small regional circuits into a more organized national league.

Columbus entered that experiment, struggled to survive and disappeared almost immediately.

Yet because the team participated in the first season of the National Basketball League, Columbus Athletic Supply remains permanently connected to the early organizational history that eventually led to the modern NBA.