1937–38 Western Kentucky State Teachers Hilltoppers basketball team
American college basketball season
The 1937–38 Western Kentucky State Teachers Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College (now known as Western Kentucky University) during the 1937-38 NCAA basketball season. The team was led by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edgar Diddle and the school's first player recognized as an All-American, William “Red” McCrocklin. The Hilltoppers won the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships, were the first NCAA team to win 30 games in a season, and received an invitation to the 1938 National Intercollegiate Basketball tournament; however, the team was unable to make the trip and withdrew from the tournament. The NAIA lists the game as a forfeit, but Western Kentucky does not officially recognize the contest. Ralph Dudgeon, Harry Saddlerand, and McCrocklin were selected to the All-SIAA and All-KIAC teams.
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