Photo by University of Tennessee
Harry Anderson was Tennessee’s first All-American.
Photo by University of Tennessee
Blair Gullion was Tennessee’s first full-time basketball coach.
The 1935-36 campaign was a turning point for University of Tennessee basketball, if for no other reason because it saw the arrival of the first full-time basketball coach. For two decades, the Vols’ football coach or his top assistant took over basketball in the winter. That changed when UT hired Blair Gullion from Earlham College in Indiana.
Gullion instilled a winning tradition. His first team produced the Vols’ first All-American player, Harry Anderson, and included Biggy Marshall. The Vols finished the regular season 12-6 and then hosted the third-ever SEC Tournament at new Alumni Hall. The previous two tourneys had been held in Atlanta.
After opening with a win over Auburn, the Vols knocked off Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky team 39-28 in the semifinals. Then they beat Alabama 29-25 to claim Tennessee’s first SEC title.
Since the NCAA tournament didn’t begin until 1939, there was no where to go to pursue further March Madness. Gullion stayed two more years and left with a 47-19 record, replaced in 1938 by John Mauer.
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Comments » 4
DandyVol writes:
Does anyone really care about a history lesson?
Cherokee writes:
Dandy, I'll fess up. I love this stuff. I was reading Russ Bebb's "Big Orange", a history of UT football up through 1974, when I was 7 years old.
CoverOrange writes:
If you don't know where you've been, how can you tell where you're going?
BillVol writes:
I care about it. We have a rich basketball tradition at Tennessee. Ben Byrd wrote that Harry Anderson was our first real basketball star at Tennessee, one who competed with the football stars for attention. Blair Gullion is a very underrated basketball coach in college basketball history. Almost unknown, but should be.
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