Howard Hobson

Howard Hobson (1903-1991)

Teams coached: Southern Oregon Raiders, Oregon Ducks, Yale Bulldogs
Southern Oregon record^: 68-15 (.819)
Oregon record: 212-124 (.631)
Yale record: 121-118 (.506)
Overall record^: 401-257 (.609)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  1  (1939)
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  2  (1939, 1949)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  0
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  1  (1939)
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  0
• Ivy League Regular Season Champion:  1  (1949)
• PCC Regular Season Champion:  1  (1939)

Awards:

• NABC Golden Anniversary Award (1987)
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1965)
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1947-1956	Yale
1945-1947	Oregon
1935-1944	Oregon
1932-1935	Southern Oregon

Howard Hobson Facts

• Howard Andrew Hobson
• Born July 4, 1903
• Died June 9, 1991
• Hometown: Portland, Oregon
• Alma Mater: University of Oregon (BA, 1926) / Columbia University (MA, 1929 & PhD, 1945)
• After graduating from Franklin HS in Portland, where he played basketball, Hobson went on to star at Oregon
  • Played three seasons for head coach William Reinhart, sharing or winning the PCC North Division each year
• Started his coaching career at Kelso HS (WA) leading his team to a league title in his first year (1929)
  • Later coached football Cortland Normal School (NY), now known as SUNY-Cortland, and earn his master’s at Columbia
• Returned to Portland in 1930 to coach basketball at Benson HS, then took over as head coach at Southern Oregon
  • Went 68-15 in three seasons, increasing the win total each year, at the NAIA program
• Hired by his alma mater in 1935, coaching the Ducks basketball team for a total of 11 seasons
  • His 1939 team won the first ever NCAA Tournament title after winning the PCC (now Pac-12) title
  • Hobson scheduled games on the East coast, making Oregon the first West coast team to travel cross-country to play
  • Also served as the baseball coach at Oregon from 1936-1947
• Went back East in 1947, becoming the head basketball coach at Yale
  • Was 121-118 over nine seasons with the Bulldogs, winning the league title in 1949
  • Took Yale back West, making them the first ever East Coast team to play at a PCC school
• After coaching, served in various capacities in and around the game of basketball
  • Spent 12 years on the US Olympic Basketball Committee
  • Served on the National Basketball Rules Committee for four years
• Inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1965 and the inaugural 2006 class of the College Basketball Hall of Fame
  • Also a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Portland Metro Hall of Fame
• Died in 1991 at the age of 87; survived by his wife, Jennie, and son, David

Howard Hobson Coaching Tree

• Hank Anderson (Montana State, Gonzaga)
• Bill Borcher (Oregon)
• John Warren (Oregon)

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I and NAIA levels