Akron Wingfoots

Last updated
Akron Wingfoots
Leagues
Founded1918
Arena Akron Goodyear Hall (4.000)
Team colors White, Yellow, & Blue
            
Championships1 National Basketball League Championship (1938)
3 FIBA Intercontinental Cups (1967, 1968, 1969)
1 MC (1936)
1 National Industrial League (1932)
2 AAU National Tournaments (1964, 1967)
3 National AAU Basketball League (1967, 1968, 1969)

The Akron Wingfoots are one of the oldest basketball teams in the United States. They were founded in 1918, by the workers at the Goodyear Tire Company, in Akron, Ohio. The teams, while giving workers recreation, also helped to promote one of the first canvas/rubber based shoes made specifically for athletics, the wingfoot.

Basketball team sport played on a court with baskets on either end

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.

Akron, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Akron is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Cleveland. As of the 2017 Census estimate, the city proper had a total population of 197,846, making it the 119th-largest city in the United States. The Greater Akron area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had an estimated population of 703,505.

Contents

History

1931–37: Post AAU era

The Wingfoots joined the National Basketball League for the 1932–1933 season, playing against strong teams like Indianapolis Kautskys and Akron Firestones (the latter were crowned champions). [1] They moved to the Midwest Basketball Conference in 1936 (Chicago Duffy Florals were the reigning champions), facing teams such as: the Indianapolis Kautskys, Harlem Globetrotters, Sheboygan Red Skins, and the New York Renaissance. They won the league title in 1937, after defeating Fort Wayne, in a best of three games series sweep.

Harlem Globetrotters Exhibition basketball team

The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 123 countries and territories. The team's signature song is Brother Bones' whistled version of "Sweet Georgia Brown". Their mascot is an anthropomorphized globe named Globie. The team plays over 450 live events worldwide each year. The team is currently owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. The executive offices for the team are located in the Atlanta suburb of Peachtree Corners.

The Sheboygan Red Skins were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, that was a National Basketball Association original franchise in 1949–1950.

The New York Renaissance, also known as the Renaissance Big Five and as the Rens, was an all-black professional basketball team established February 13, 1923, by Robert "Bob" Douglas in agreement with the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom. The Casino and Ballroom at 138th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem was an entertainment complex including a ballroom that served as the Big Five's home court. Following each game, a dance took place. The success of the Rens shifted the focus of black basketball from amateur teams to professional teams. Initially, the Rens played mostly in Harlem, but by the end of the 1920s, as attendance began to dwindle, the team could be found more often playing on the road, barnstorming across the country out of necessity. The Renaissance are also the topic of the 2011 documentary On the Shoulders of Giants.

1937–42: NBL success

In the late 1930s, Goodyear, Firestone, General Electric, and other companies with similar Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Elite teams, decided to form the National Basketball League (NBL) to showcase their teams (it was actually that the MBC changed its name to the NBL). [2] The Wingfoots won the first NBL title in 1938. During the 1938–1939 season, the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots finished second in the National Basketball League's Eastern Division. The team finished behind the Akron Firestone Non-Skids, another team from Akron, each season. However, the Wingfoots did capture the league's first championship, after an impressive playoff run. During the 1939–1940 season, the Wingfoots finished third in the Eastern Division, winning exactly fifty percent of the team's games. During the next season, the squad finished next to last in the National Basketball League. During the 1941–1942 season, the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots experienced a turnaround, finishing third in the National Basketball League. The team, however, lost in the first round of the playoffs. The team began the 1942–1943 season, but a poor performance on the court, and a declining number of men available to play due, to World War II, caused the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots to cease operation before the season's end.

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles, and the company was a pioneer in the mass production of tires. Harvey Firestone had a personal friendship with Henry Ford, and used this to become the original equipment supplier of Ford Motor Company automobiles, and was also active in the replacement market.

General Electric American industrial company

General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate incorporated in New York City and headquartered in Boston. As of 2018, the company operates through the following segments: aviation, healthcare, power, renewable energy, digital industry, additive manufacturing, venture capital and finance, lighting, and oil and gas.

Amateur Athletic Union US nonprofit athletic organization

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has more than 700,000 members nationwide, including more than 100,000 volunteers.

1946–61: NIBL

The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots joined the National Industrial Basketball League in 1946, and became an integrated part of the league. They never met any success, as the Bartlesville Phillips 66ers dominated in winning the titles. In 15 seasons, their record was 126 wins and 139 losses.

The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams belonging to the National Basketball League (NBL) that did not join the National Basketball Association when the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America.

1961–73: NABL and FIBA Intercontinental Cups

The team was not a part of the BAA and NBL merger that created the NBA. Instead, they reconstituted those NBL teams left over into the National Industrial Basketball League. The Wingfoots regained national power in the NIBL, which in 1960, was changed to the National Alliance of Basketball Leagues. They joined the NABL in the 1960s, and continued to play their until the late 1970s. They also represented USA basketball at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, which is organized by FIBA World. In 1964, they won their first AAU Tournament, after beating their bitter rivals, the Phillips 66ers, in the final. They won the AAU championship again, in 1967.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men's professional basketball league in North America; composed of 30 teams. It is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world.

The National Alliance of Basketball Leagues (NABL) is the descendant of the industrial-based basketball clubs that formed into the National Basketball League (NBL) in the early 1930s.

The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, also commonly referred to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs, or the FIBA Club World Cup, is a professional basketball competition that is endorsed by FIBA World and the NBA. Historically, its purpose has been to gather the premier basketball clubs from each of the world's geographical zones, and to officially decide the best basketball club of the world, which is officially crowned as the world club champion. The World Cup for Clubs has been contended mainly by the champions of the continents and/or world geographical regions that are of the highest basketball levels.

1973–present

Always a stepping stone for new leagues such as the NBA, the American Basketball League (ABL), and the American Basketball Association (ABA), the Wingfoots stopped playing a national schedule in the mid 1970s, and after the NABL was dropped in favor of touring teams, Goodyear Tire stopped sponsoring the team. In the 1980s, team sponsorship was picked up by Tom Ficara and Reach Entertainment, and the team today plays year-round all over the world. The Wingfoots are the only AAU Elite team that still plays a full college schedule. Although the team has not yet returned to its previous glory, it has again started playing in the historic AAU National Tournament.

The American Basketball League played one full season, 1961–1962, and part of the next season until the league folded on December 31, 1962. The ABL was the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal. Other rules that set the league apart were a 30-second shooting clock and a wider free throw lane of 18 feet instead of the standard 12.

American Basketball Association defunct professional basketball league in the United States, merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976

The original American Basketball Association (ABA) was a men's professional basketball league, from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to several teams joining the National Basketball Association and to the introduction of the 3-point shot in the NBA in 1979.

Akron Wingfoots Finals

NBL Finals

AAU Tournaments

FIBA Intercontinental Cups

Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (Henry "Hank" Vaughn): Vern Benson 3, Jim Rayl 20, Jay Miller 22, Jim King 2, Mike McCoy 13 – Calvin Fowler 4, Ed Corell 6, Dan Anderson 6, Mike Dabich 2)

Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (Henry "Hank" Vaughn): Calvin Fowler 22, Jerry Curless 8, Jim King 12, Tom Duff 10, Tom Black 14 – Dennis Berholtz 6, Randy Berentz 20, Gary Williams 2, John Schroeder 4, Mike Patterson 5, Ed McKae 2

Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (Henry "Hank" Vaughn): Pete Cunningham 12, Jerry Curless 8, Randy Berentz 16, Mike Patterson 9, Grady Norman 14 – John Schroeder 2, Stewart 9, Worstell 8, Gallagher 2, Fonts 4

NBL seasons

StagioneLeagueNameVP%StandingsPlay-offs
1937–38 NBL Akron Goodyear Wingfoots13572.22ndChampions
1938–39NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots141450.02nd-
1939–40NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots141450.03rd-
1940–41NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots111345.86th-
1941–42NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots15962.53rdSemifinals

Trophies

The Akron Wingfoots won the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 3 times (1967, 1968, 1969) against Spartak Brno, Ignis Varese and Real Madrid. They were also the first winner of the National Basketball League, which later formed the NBA.

Notable players

Several Wingfoots' players represented the Team USA at the Summer Olympics, the Pan American Games, and the FIBA World Cup. Here is a list of those players, and the number of games they played for the USA national team are in brackets.

Calvin B. Fowler was the captain of the United States gold medal basketball team at the 1967 Pan American Games. He played for the Wingfoots for 10 years (1960–1970), and he was an active international player between 1967 and 1968.

Pete McCaffrey played for the gold medal-winning United States men's national basketball team at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He also played at the 1963 FIBA World Championship, where the United States finished fourth.

After playing for the Wingfoots in 1961, Adrian Smith signed with the Cincinnati Royals, where he stayed for 8 seasons. He was selected to the 1966 NBA All-Star Game, and he was named the MVP, after he scored 24 points in 26 minutes. In the 1969–70 season, after 32 games with the Royals, Smith was traded to the San Francisco Warriors. In the 1971–72 season, he played with the American Basketball Association's Virginia Squires. He played on the USA's 1960 Summer Olympics basketball team. All of the players on that team, including Smith, were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Akron Wingfoots players on Team USA

Other notable players

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William Wilson Fitts was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots in the National Basketball League from 1937 to 1939. In his brief professional career, Cope averaged 2.0 points per game and contributed towards the Wingfoots' league championship in the 1937–38 season.

Dean R. Mealy was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots and Oshkosh All-Stars in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1937 and 1940. For his career he averaged 3.8 points per game and helped lead the Wingfoots to the NBL championship in 1937–38.

References

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