23-645: The McPherson Globe Refiners were an amateur basketball team in the 1930s. The Refiners contributed six members to the 1936 United States men's Olympic basketball team , the first team to win the Olympic gold medal. Due to an oil discovery in McPherson County, Kansas , in the late 1920s, Lario Oil & Gas Company had its subsidiary, the Globe Oil & Refining Company, construct an oil refinery in McPherson. The refinery
46-413: A 6'8" center. Johnson had another coach-on-the-floor, as his brother Francis directed both the zone pressure and fast break attacks. The attacking play upset many basketball traditions, which in the sport's first 40 years, was a slow and methodical game. The McPherson Globe Refiners were criticized for playing "bad" basketball with its fast and aggressive style. But in the tough AAU Missouri Valley League,
69-606: A clay and sand court in the rain. James Naismith , the game's inventor, watched many of the 1936 Olympic basketball matches, and helped award medals at the end of the basketball competition. Roster for the 1936 Olympics . As was the custom at the time, the Olympic trials consisted of a tournament between top teams from the AAU , the YMCA and the National Collegiate Athletic Association . One notably absent team from
92-779: A national schedule with barnstorming road trips to Louisiana, Washington, DC, and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Along the way to a 40 win, 6 loss year, the Refiners won the AAU Missouri Valley League for a second year running. By mid-March, the McPherson Globe Refiners were the favorites in the AAU National, contested in Denver's City Auditorium. Naismith presided over the opening ceremonies, delivering his take on
115-483: A steady depression-era job, and the opportunity for those who had used up college eligibility to continue to improve their game skills. The AAU teams also allowed individuals to retain their amateur status. The Refiners entered the 1934 AAU National Tournament where they were bounced out in an early round. Enter Gene Johnson , a fiery and innovative AAU coach to make his sales pitch to Lario management. For an outlay of $ 1,500, Johnson promised to recruit, train, and coach
138-606: A surface which was a mixture of sand and clay and which had been that of a tennis court. Needles successfully protested another stipulation – that players had to be 6'2" or shorter to compete. To get around the seven-player team limit, Needles split the squad into two teams – one featuring the McPherson Globe Refiners players and collegian Ralph Bishop , and one featuring the AAU Universal players – and alternated them for each match. Their first match
161-696: The Universal Pictures team to the AAU championship finals, and as a result, he was appointed as head coach of the U.S.'s first team at the Olympic basketball team, which competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin , Germany . Following the Berlin Olympics, Needles returned to the college ranks, this time at Loyola of Los Angeles , where he mentored future coaches Pete Newell , Phil Woolpert and future Loyola coach Edwin "Scotty" McDonald. He returned to
184-529: The Far Western Conference championship in 1928 and the Pacific Association title in 1929. Needles also coached Saint Ignatius' football team during this period, leading them to a runner-up spot in the 1928 Far Western Regionals. Illness forced Needles to resign from Saint Ignatius College in 1932, but he began coaching Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball soon afterwards. Needles coached
207-469: The Globe Refinery team to national success. Lario would get outstanding publicity and marketing value, and Johnson would get back to his native Kansas, where he earlier found success coaching at Wichita (State) University. Johnson gathered top talent in the form of Joe Fortenberry as well as several players Johnson coached as Wichita Shockers. Fortenberry had leaping ability, and ran the court well for
230-456: The McPherson Globe Refiners won outright against more noteworthy rivals from Denver and Kansas City. The Globe Refiners carried this success to a second place finish in the 1935 AAU National Tournament . The Globe Refiners season started with high hopes, and by August 1936, a farm boy from McPherson County Kansas, Bill Wheatley , accepted the first Olympic gold medal from another Kansan, Dr. James Naismith . The McPherson Globe Refiners played
253-626: The McPherson team in Madison Square Garden were the five colleges advancing from the district playoffs: As winner of the YMCA National, the Wilmerding (PA) YMCA team earned the eighth and last slot. The quarter final winners were McPherson outscoring Temple, Universal Pictures over Arkansas, Washington beating DePaul, and the YMCA team besting Utah State. The semi final games were important because
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#1732859228240276-600: The US Olympic team would be chosen from those two winners. In the opener, the Universal movie men from California beat Wilmerding by 13, 42–29. The Globe Refiners qualified by out-running Washington 48 to 30. In an all AAU and extremely close final, Universal Pictures prevailed 44–43 over McPherson. The 1936 United States Olympic Basketball team were an assembly of seven Universal Pictures Universals, six McPherson Globe Refiners, and one Huskie from Washington's third place team. On
299-599: The United States' first Olympic basketball coach in 1936. Born in Tacoma, Washington , in 1900, Needles studied at the University of San Francisco , then known as St. Ignatius College. Needles played basketball for the then-Grey Fog, becoming a player-coach during his senior year in 1924. He was appointed the basketball team's full-time coach upon his graduation. Needles coached Saint Ignatius College to two championships, capturing
322-647: The Universal Pictures Universals 47 to 35 in the 1936 AAU Final. Since basketball first became an Olympic medal sport in 1936, a new and national playoff system was developed for the US basketball team selection. The amateur ruling bodies devised a 10 regional district playoff system for college and university entrants, which later evolved into the March Madness of the NCAA's Final Four. Joining Universal Pictures and
345-606: The fact that our basketball team is now recognized generally as a possible Olympic representative. Such participation would be indirect, if not direct, contribution of the raising of funds to finance such participation." As the U.S. team arrived, they were made aware of several FIBA rules that were quite different than what the team was accustomed to in the States. There was no three second rule (which had then just been introduced to U.S. play), teams were limited to rosters of seven total players, and all games were to be played outdoors on
368-574: The game he invented some 45 years earlier to the 500 competitors divided among 54 teams. Before sold out crowds, the Refiners won matches in the opening rounds knowing that getting to the AAU Final meant entry into the US Olympic tryouts, and the chance to make the 1936 US basketball team. The Globe Refiners triumphed in the AAU semi final over the Kansas City Trailers securing their tryouts berth, then beat
391-508: The strength of his team's tryout victory, Jimmy Needles became the head coach of the first United States men's Olympic basketball team , with Gene Johnson serving as his assistant. 1936 United States men%27s Olympic basketball team The 1936 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin , representing the United States of America, and
414-599: The tournament was the 1935–36 Long Island Blackbirds , who had just completed a 25–0 season behind stars Jules Bender , Ben Kramer and Art Hillhouse . The largely Jewish Blackbirds team boycotted the trials due to the games being held in Berlin. LIU president Tristram Walker Metcalfe stated: "Our conviction that the United States should not participate in the Olympic Games since they are being held in Germany has not been altered by
437-465: The weather conditions put a damper on the Canadian national team's trademark fast break playing style. The two teams were only able to manage a combined total of eight points in the second half of play, due to the downpour, and the U.S. won the gold medal with a 19–8 victory. Jimmy Needles James R. Needles (March 3, 1900 – July 22, 1969) was an American basketball coach best known for being
460-407: Was able to reach many more consumers than by conventional advertising. In its first year, the Globe Refinery started modestly with town team basketball drawn from the community, population 5,000. The Globe Refiners found success against other town teams from the surrounding area, and got a measure of themselves with stiffer competition in the form of AAU affiliated teams. The AAU teams offered players
483-436: Was built in 1933, and soon was producing 200,000 gallons of gasoline per day. This output necessitated a marketing campaign to promote the growing retail gasoline business. Lario, like many in the early radio days and before television, sponsored Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball teams to generate excitement for their product in the sport sections of widely read newspapers. For a small sponsorship fee, Lario Oil & Gas
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#1732859228240506-487: Was coached by Jimmy Needles of the Amateur Athletic Union 's (AAU) Universal Pictures team. Gene Johnson of Wichita University assisted Needles, while Joe Reilly served as the team's director. 1936 was the first year that basketball was an official medal sport (it had been a demonstration sport in 1904 ). The U.S. won the first gold medal, defeating Canada , 19–8, in a gold medal match played outdoors on
529-566: Was won in a forfeit , as their scheduled opponent Spain , in the throes of the Spanish Civil War , never showed up. In the second match, the Universal team routed Estonia , by a score of 52–28. A McPherson-led win over the Philippines landed the Americans in the medal round, where they defeated Mexico , to reach the gold medal game. The gold medal game was played after a day of rain, and
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