Photo by University of Tennessee
John Mauer coached at three SEC schools, but Tennessee was his spotlight. He was Adolph Rupp's predecessor at Kentucky from 1927-29, and coached at Florida in the 1950s. Mauer arrived at UT in 1938 from Miami, Ohio, and elevated the winning program he inherited to an even higher plateau before leaving in 1947.
Photo by News Sentinel archive
Paul Walther, UT basketball player, 1953.
This year celebrates the centennial season of men's basketball at Tennessee. The News Sentinel continues its series looking into the players, teams and events that have molded an exciting history.
Blair Gullion is the coach who planted the seed of consistent success at Tennessee in the mid-1930s. It was John Mauer who followed up by making the Vols an SEC power into the 1940s.
Mauer coached at three SEC schools, but Tennessee was his spotlight. He was Adolph Rupp's predecessor at Kentucky from 1927-29, and coached at Florida in the 1950s. Mauer arrived at UT in 1938 from Miami, Ohio, and elevated the winning program he inherited to an even higher plateau before leaving in 1947.
Mauer has a .756 winning percentage (127-41). For three years, from 1941-43, the Vols rivaled Rupp's Kentucky juggernaut for SEC supremacy by winning either the conference regular season or the tournament.
Mauer coached five All-Americans: Bernie Mehen, Gilbert Huffman, Dick Mehen, Garland O'Shields and Paul Walther.
Walther was first-team All-America as a freshman in 1944-45 as the Vols won the SEC regular season. That team made the program's first national postseason appearance, losing to Rhode Island 51-44 in the NIT in New York. In those days, the NIT was more established and considered as prestigious as the NCAA tournament, which had begun in 1939.
Another highlight of the Mauer years came on Dec. 30, 1941, when the Vols ended a 23-game winning streak by No. 1 Long Island in the Sugar Bowl tournament. That was three weeks after Pearl Harbor. World War II loomed over the Mauer years and the Vols did not field a team in 1943-44. Huffman, an All-American in 1941, found himself three years later charging onto Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion.
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Comments » 9
calvolfromkingsport writes:
I enjoyed the article. I reaad the whole thing. Also, I'm sitting here in Newport Beach CA the night before Tgiving talking to a few SC fans who wish Kiffin was still call plays for the trojans. They all say if the Vols get his daddy we will be buiding a dynasty!It's warm and the ocean looks good, too! Sorry TNgeoff , I couldn't resist!
calvolfromkingsport writes:
Sorry, I was so excited about Kiffin's prospects that I forgot to check my spelling(not that anyone other than the diehard fans will even read this post!)
newtonrail writes:
We know you reading challenged. It shines through in the verbiage you attempt to use. I tried to keep my response at a 3rd grade level for you..
BillVol writes:
Never seen that pic of Walther before. Thanks for more UT hoops history.
newtonrail writes:
I must apologize for leaving out the word "are", as in " you are". Nothing was misspelled, and I wouldn't make fun of truly challenged individuals. Just ones who don't respect the history of this University celebrating 100 years of Basketball.
LiveFaith writes:
I guess we WERE an SEC power. I cannot consider us one today, but Bruce seems to have us headed in the right direction.
volwalker#243749 writes:
Mauer's record is THIRD best among ALL-TIME Vol coaches, not THE best. His .756 winning percentage is behind UT's 2nd coach, Zora Clevenger. Clevenger's .781 percentage came from a 50-14 record from 1911-1916. BRUCE PEARL is also ahead of Mauer. Pearl's 77-24 record going into this season is a winning percentage of .762.
weisgarber2003#313889 writes:
UTfan4life writes:
"I can't focus long enough to read the whole article. Sounds irrelevant."
You say you cannot (focus long enough to) read the whole article and yet it "sounds" irrelevant. Perhaps you have ADD, coupled with an inability to understand perspective.
threehundredbowler writes:
come on man,this guy didn't get stupid over night.He has spent his whole life perfecting himself.
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