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Men’s Basketball Overview

As a sport, basketball was created in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, an instructor at what is now Springfield College, in Springfield, MA.  Dr. Naismith was looking for a way to keep his students active on rainy, cold and snowing days.  The game he invented, evolved in what we know today as basketball 

At South, Men’s basketball began in the early 1900’s.  In the early years, the Tigers would play anyone they could, including teams from the YMCA, local churches, local colleges and even teams from the Minnesota National Guard!

The team has won 13 conference titles, the first coming in 1917-1918 school year.  The other were in the 1918-1919, 1921-1922, 1922-1923, 1923-1924, 1926-1927, 1929-1930, 1930-1931, 1933-1934, 1958-1959, 1961-1962, 1988-1989 and 2012-2013 seasons.

The team is 7-5 in Twin City games, winning in the 1926/27, 1936/37, 1938/39, 1943/44, 1958/59, 1959/60 and 1961/62 seasons. (Note: in some seasons, the conferences’ top two or three team would play.)

The Tiger made it to the State Tournament seven times, winning twice, 1923/24 and 1926/27 seasons.  The other state appearances were in 1919/20, 1933/34, 1968/69, 1988/89 and 1991/92.

***The information on this and the yearly historical pages, including photographs, has been amassed through a variety of sources, including South High School yearbooks (much of the written information is directly from what was written in the yearbooks), Minneapolis Newspapers, and District archives.

***If there are additions or corrections, please contact the South High Athletic Department.





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