1913-1914 Buffalo Basketball
by Scott Hollander
University at Buffalo Libraries
The Buffalo Courier – Sunday – November 30, 1913
One hundred years ago, the University of Buffalo’s slow return to intercollegiate athletics continued. During the previous two years, each of the departments of the university had representative basketball teams which competed for a championship cup offered by the Buffalo Central Y.M.C.A. From this pool of talent, Dr. Edward G. Froeber, who was engaged as coach, picked a varsity five with a number of substitutes for a 1913-1914 University of Buffalo basketball team. Dr. Froeber was a 1910 graduate of the U.B. Dental School and also starred in athletics at Masten Park High School in Buffalo, NY.
Manager Dodge of the Dental School did his best to arrange interesting games. In December of 1913, a detailed scheduled for the spring semester was released. (see “U. of B. Has Good Basketball Schedule” Buffalo Evening News, 29 December 1913) It included a trip to Ann Arbor to play the University of Michigan and a possible home game against the University of Chicago. Unfortunately, neither of those games were played. A home game against the University of Pittsburgh, announced in early January 1914, was also canceled.
Buffalo had success against smaller schools, defeating the Mechanics Institute of Rochester twice, but was outclassed by more experienced teams. A 65-12 rout by Cornell in Ithaca against Cornell’s reserves was telling as was two defeats to Canisius College. Although the 1913-1914 Buffalo Basketball team had minimal success, none the less, progress was being made.
Finding detailed information about the 1913-1914 season is challenging but using local newspaper records, a fairly clear picture of the season comes together.
1913-1914 Buffalo Basketball Season
| Date | Home Team | Score | Visiting Team | W-L-T | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/21/19131 | Mechanics Institute of Rochester | 19 – 29 | Buffalo | W | Rochester, NY |
| 11/25/19132 | Canisius College | 28 – 16 | Buffalo | L | Buffalo, NY |
| 12/5/19133 | Brockport Normal | 37 – 4 | Buffalo | L | Brockport, NY |
| 12/11/19134 | Buffalo | 30 – 21 | Mechanics Institute of Rochester | W | Buffalo, NY |
| 12/18/1913 | Buffalo | Postponed | Canisius College | — | Buffalo, NY |
| 1/14/19145 | Cornell University | 65 – 12 | Buffalo | L | Ithaca, NY |
| 1/?/19146 | Buffalo | 26 – 28 | Canisius College | L | Buffalo, NY |
| 1/26/19147 | Buffalo | Canceled | Pittsburgh | — | Buffalo, NY |
- 1 – “Buffalo Five Wins” Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY, 22 November 1913.
- 2 – “Canisius Downs U.B. Five, 28-16” Buffalo Courier, Buffalo, NY, 26 November 1913.
- 3 – “Brockport Normal Downed U. of B. Five” Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY, 6 December 1913.
- 4 – “U. of B. Basketball Five Beat Rochester” Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY, 12 December 1913.
- 5 – “Cornell Proves Too Heavy for Buffalo” Cornell Daily Sun, Ithaca, NY, 15 January 1914.
- 6 – “Canisius After Basketball Title” Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY, 22 January 1914.
- 7 – “No U. of B.-Pittsburgh Basketball Game” Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY, 26 January 1914.
U. OF B. HAS A GOOD BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Chicago University Five May Stop Off Here for a Game.
—It begins to look as if Buffalo is going to see a bit of intercollegiate basketball before the season is history if the present plans of the U. B. students do not fall through. Manager Dodge of the Varsity team has been having some trouble booking games, but the results are now coming and the schedule will soon be completed. The contests, as they now stand are as follows:
January 6 – Michigan University at Ann Arbor.
January 13 – Keuka College at Keuka Park.
January 14 – Cornell varsity at Ithaca.
February 1 – Keuka College at Buffalo.
February 14 – University of Rochester at Rochester.According to reports from Chicago, the Maroon varsity combination leaves on an eastern trip the latter part of this month and will make Buffalo a jumping off place between the games at Cleveland with Western Reserve and at Ithaca with Cornell. This means that U. B. will be taken on and it is up to the local followers of basketball to turn out at this game so as to give the U. B. students the necessary financial backing to allow them to bring other well known college teams here for games.
So far this season the local college aggregation have played three games. Mechanics Institute of Rochester suffered two defeats, while Manager Dodge’s squad were badly walloped by Brockport Normal. This is no disgrace, however, as those down State Normalites have a wonderful team this year.
The game with Canisius, scheduled for December 18, was put over until later in the season, when the two teams will face each other in a contest to decide the college championship of our city.
The U. B. varsity combination has been picked from the various teams in the inter class series and during the rest of the season will line up as follows: Forwards, Gabriel, Dodge and Atkins; center, Captain Grabau; guards, Scott and Harrington.
— Buffalo Evening News, December 29, 1913