List of Helms Foundation National Champions
List of Helms Foundation National Champions in Basketball
The Helms Athletic Foundation was founded in 1936 by Paul Helms and Bill Schroeder, with the latter selecting national championship teams and All-American teams in both college football and basketball. In the 1940s, Schroeder used a variety of different research elements to retroactively award “Helms Foundation National Championships” in both sports (dating back to 1900-01 in basketball and 1883 in football). While the titles are not officially recognized by the NCAA, they are often recognized by the individual schools, players and coaches that were honored.
Schroder continued to select national champions and All-Americans until 1982. After the Foundation was dissolved, all of its historical holdings were absorbed by the Amateur Athletic Foundation (now known as the LA84 Foundation).
For the other major retroactive national champion organization, see: Premo-Porretta National Champions
◊ Helms (post-Tournament) selection differs from that season’s NCAA Tournament champion
| Season | Pre-Tournament National Champion | Head Coach |
| 1900-01 | Yale | none |
| 1901-02 | Minnesota | Louis Cooke |
| 1902-03 | Yale (2) | none |
| 1903-04 | Columbia | none |
| 1904-05 | Columbia (2) | none |
| 1905-06 | Dartmouth | none |
| 1906-07 | Chicago | Joseph Raycroft |
| 1907-08 | Chicago (2) | Joseph Raycroft (2) |
| 1908-09 | Chicago (3) | Joseph Raycroft (3) |
| 1909-10 | Columbia (3) | Harry A. Fisher |
| 1910-11 | St. John’s | Claude Allen |
| 1911-12 | Wisconsin | Walter Meanwell |
| 1912-13 | Navy | Louis Wenzell |
| 1913-14 | Wisconsin (2) | Walter Meanwell (2) |
| 1914-15 | Illinois | Ralph Jones |
| 1915-16 | Wisconsin (3) | Walter Meanwell (3) |
| 1916-17 | Washington State | J. Fred Bohler |
| 1917-18 | Syracuse | Edmund Dollard |
| 1918-19 | Minnesota (2) | Louis Cooke (2) |
| 1919-20 | Penn | Lon Jourdet |
| 1920-21 | Penn (2) | Edward McNichol |
| 1921-22 | Kansas | F.C. “Phog” Allen |
| 1922-23 | Kansas (2) | F.C. “Phog” Allen (2) |
| 1923-24 | North Carolina | Bo Shepard |
| 1924-25 | Princeton | Albert Wittmer |
| 1925-26 | Syracuse (2) | Lew Andreas |
| 1926-27 | Notre Dame | George Keogan |
| 1927-28 | Pittsburgh | Doc Carlson |
| 1928-29 | Montana State | Schubert Dyche |
| 1929-30 | Pittsburgh (2) | Doc Carlson (2) |
| 1930-31 | Northwestern | Dutch Lonborg |
| 1931-32 | Purdue | Ward “Piggy” Lambert |
| 1932-33 | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp |
| 1933-34 | Wyoming | Willard Witte |
| 1934-35 | NYU | Howard Cann |
| 1935-36 | Notre Dame (2) | George Keogan (2) |
| 1936-37 | Stanford | John Bunn |
| 1937-38 | Temple | James Usilton |
<< Awards & Championships >>
Postseason Tournaments: NCAA Tournament | NIT | CBI | CIT
Pre-Tournament Champions: Premo-Porretta Power Poll | Helms Athletic Foundation