1896 Chicago vs. Iowa men's basketball game

1896 Chicago vs. Iowa game
First modern college basketball game
15	12
Date	January 18, 1896
Venue	Close Hall , Iowa City
Attendance	~500

Last updated June 02, 2025

The 1896 Chicago vs. Iowa men's basketball game was the first five-on-five college basketball game played in United States history.^[2] Although the sport had been first played in 1892, seven to nine players had been used on a side. At the urging of the University of Chicago's head football coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Chicago's men's club team traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, to play the University of Iowa on January 18, 1896, in an experimental game.^[3] The match was played in Close Hall, and due to seating capacity constraints, only approximately 500 people were able to watch.^[2] Iowa physical education teacher Dr. Henry F. Kallenberg reduced the teams to five players on a side, and the modern version of basketball was born.^[2] Kallenberg came to Iowa from Springfield College, where he was a classmate of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.^[4] Chicago won, 15–12, to secure modern college basketball's first-ever win.^[1]^[2]

References

1 2 Hawkeye Legends, Lists, & Lore by Mike Finn, Chad Leistikow, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, IL, 1998, p. 3
1 2 3 4 "The Game That Developed". Big Ten Men's Basketball History. Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original on September 25, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
↑ "James Naismith". Robinson Library. February 18, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
↑ Hawkeye Legends, Lists, & Lore by Mike Finn, Chad Leistikow, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, IL, 1998, p. 2

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[P3-1] 1 2 Hawkeye Legends, Lists, & Lore by Mike Finn, Chad Leistikow, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, IL, 1998, p. 3

[BIGTEN-2] 1 2 3 4 "The Game That Developed". Big Ten Men's Basketball History. Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original on September 25, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

[3] "James Naismith". Robinson Library. February 18, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

[4] Hawkeye Legends, Lists, & Lore by Mike Finn, Chad Leistikow, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, IL, 1998, p. 2

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v t e Chicago Maroons men's basketball
Venues	Men's Gymnasium (1893–1897) Bartlett Gymnasium (1903–1932) Henry Crown Fieldhouse (1933–2003) Gerald Ratner Athletics Center (2003–present)
Culture & lore	Wave the Flag The Phoenix First 5-on-5 college basketball game
People	Head coaches Consensus All-Americans
Notable seasons	1893–94 1895–96 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1919–20 1923–24 1960–61 1973–74 1996–97 1997–98 1999–2000 2000–01 2002–03 2006–07 2007–08
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold. Won intercollegiate national championship series in 1908.

v t e Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
Venues	Close Hall (1901–1904) First Iowa Armory (1905–1922) Second Iowa Armory (1922–1926) Iowa Field House (1927–1983) Carver–Hawkeye Arena (1983–present)
Rivalries	Iowa "Big Four" Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) Illinois
Culture & lore	"Iowa Fight Song" Herky the Hawk Gambling scandal First 5-on-5 college basketball game
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1892–93 1893–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–1901 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics