The Tournament

Although the Rutgers players were doubtless excited about the trip to Atlanta, some of the glamour probably wore off during the 30 hours it took them to reach the Gate City.  The challenges of travel may at least partially explain why they declined numerous invitations to play games in route in places such as Nashville or Louisville.  Regardless, it must have been a tired group that arrived in Atlanta at 6:30 am on Wednesday morning where they would be hosted by George Harrington RC of 1898, a "staunch and enthusiastic alumnus."  After checking in at the Ansley Hotel, the team practiced, enjoyed a tour of the city and took in an movie on their one free night.  During the stay in Atlanta graduate manager Frederic Heitkamp planned to tour area high schools to promote Rutgers and encourage applications from area residents.  The collegians from New Brunswick were one of five college teams in the tournaments along with 11 AAU clubs, many boasting former college players on their roster.  The presence of so many veteran players may explain why Rutgers was the youngest (average age 20) and lightest (average weight 155) in the event.

Home News - March 2, 1920

To date Rutgers had played only two road games, short train rides from New Brunswick. Now over 800 miles from home, at a supposedly neutral site, their opener would be a virtual road game against the University of Georgia.  It was probably no surprise therefore that Rutgers got off to a slow start in the game at the Atlanta Auditorium, trailing by three points at halftime, down six with 10 minutes left and still behind in the "last few minutes."  At that point, however, the northern squad made a"wonderful spurt," led by Benzoni who "time and time again" avoided the Georgia defense, making "spectacular shots from difficult angles."  According to Atlanta sportswriter Gene Hinton, on one occasion, the Rutgers forward with his back to the basket, "flung the ball over his head" and through the net.  Also making a major contribution was Taliaferro who, in spite of a leg injury, contributed 14 points towards Rutgers 36-33 win.  Hinton called the game the "most heart fought battle of the first round."

Edward Benzoni

The following evening the Rutgers squad was back on the court to take on an undefeated Utah team, although the Salt Lake contingent had only played five games.  Once again Rutgers fell behind in a game Gene Hinton of the Atlanta Constitution called "equally as bitter" as the Georgia contest.  Utah's lead grew to eight points, but late in the second half, "a young cyclone," named Edward Benzoni erupted.  The Rutgers freshman standout had been shut out in the first half, but he went on a 10 points tear to lead his team to a 35-32 victory.  Also making a major contribution on offense was Leland Taliaferro who score 17 points including making 11 of the teams 17 attempts from the free throw line.  It was wrote Hinton "a hard game to lose" for Utah and an equally "hard game to win" for Rutgers.  With two close wins in two games, Rutgers was now in the semi-finals.

Walter French 

In the first two games, the five Rutgers starters had played all 40 minutes.  Now faced with their third game in three nights, they had to stop the two top scorers of the Detroit AAU team, Joe Dermody, who had averaged 23 points in the first two games, and Walter Voss who had put in 18 per game.  While Taliaferro and Benzoni continued to lead the offense, Walter French keyed the defense which put the clamps on the Detroit stars.  Gene Hinton claimed "the white jerseys of Rutgers were everywhere"  and Detroit seemed "powerless," against "the leech-like tactics."  Whatever the strategy it clearly worked since Dermody managed only nine points while Voss was held scoreless.  All five starters went the distance for the third consecutive night and Rutgers earned the right to play "for the championship of the United States."

While not of high quality, this picture shows the Rutgers team at the championship banquet with the second place trophy.  The trophy was most likely destroyed by a fire at Ballantine Gym in 1930.

Atlanta Constitution - March 17, 1920

Rutgers had one unexpected benefit in the final game.  After seeing their local school fall to Rutgers, students from Georgia and Georgia Tech decided to root for Rutgers assisted by graduate manager Heitkamp who "taught them the old familiar college yell and they used it with a vengeance."  Unfortunately all the moral support in the world wouldn't have mattered as waiting for Rutgers in the championship game was NYU.  Although Rutgers was in the game at halftime, NYU broke it open in the second half, winning 49-24.  After the game both teams attended a banquet at the East Lake County Club where Rutgers received the second place trophy.  Shortly thereafter, the Rutgers party left for the return trip to New Brunswick, arriving for noon chapel services on Monday where they were warmly received by their fellow students and President William Demarest.   Rutgers received no end of accolades from the Atlanta media beginning with Keller Morton of the Atlanta Constitution who claimed there was "no doubt but that Rutgers was the most popular team" in the event.  Although he mixed metaphors (or sports), Morgan Blake, the paper's sports editor said "Rutgers will fight with a superb courage until the last man is out in the ninth inning."

The Regular Season - Part II

The 1920 Rutgers team had precious little time to enjoy their dramatic win over Princeton.  Just two days later the University of Pittsburgh invaded Ballantine Gym as part of a sports doubleheader beginning with a Rutgers - Syracuse swimming match at 7:45.  The basketball game against Pitt was to begin immediately thereafter, making for a late night for the attendees.  Trying to maximize receipts the Athletic Department charged separate admissions - 25 cents for the swimming meet and a dollar for the basketball game supposedly because of a "large" guarantee to Pitt.  Even with the high price, there was another "huge crowd," although understandably without the "excitement and tenseness" of the Princeton game.  If the Rutgers team experienced any let down it wasn't obvious as they took the lead from the start and were ahead 18-12 at the halftime break.  The visitors closed the gap to two points during the second half, but Benzoni who had been scoreless thus far, made four baskets "in rapid and spectacular succession" and according to Harold O'Neil, the threat disappeared as quickly as "the free lunch counter" and Rutgers triumphed 41-35.

Home News - February 14, 1920

Fortunately there was week before the next game an afternoon contest against West Virginia as part of Junior Prom weekend so the Home News felt the players would be rested "unless the junior prom activity takes some of the starch" out of them.  The game was played "amid the rustle of silken gowns and faint though excited cries of girl friends" who saw a Rutgers 28-22 win that was "not indicative of the wide difference" between the two teams.  Rutgers led 18-9 at the half and the second half was about even primarily because Coach Hill cleared his bench giving the substitutes a rare chance to play.   If the score of the West Virginia game was deceptive that was not true of the final home game against Carnegie Tech as Rutgers broke open a three point game in the second half winning 46-26.  Three Rutgers players were in double figures, including, unsurprisingly, Meury and Taliaferro with 14 and 12 respectively.  The big surprise was French whose prior contributions had been on defense, but scored 10 points in his best offensive performance of the season.

Daily Home News - March 7, 1920

Rutgers final game of the 1920 regular season was only their second road game, a visit to Hoboken to take on Stevens Tech.  Only limited information survives about the game which had a dramatic ending similar to the Princeton game.  Apparently the team didn't travel together or at least Walter French was with a separate group which arrived too late for him to start the game.  During the first half it seemed to make little difference as Rutgers shocked an overflow crowd of 1500 by jumping out to a 26-12 half time lead.  Playing before a large contingent of family and friends, Benzoni led the Rutgers attack, scoring 24 points, a new Rutgers record for points in a game.  The second half was another matter however, especially after Meury fouled out of the game which triggered a "whirlwind finish by Stevens."  The scored was tied three times in the closing minutes, the final time at 43-43 before, just as in the Princeton game, a foul was called as the timer blew his whistle.  This time, however, the foul was on Rutgers and the Stevens player converted giving the local team a dramatic come from behind victory. Even so, Rutgers ended the regular season with an 8-3 record the best in the school's abbreviated basketball history.

Home News - March 7, 1920

Although there was disappointment at the loss, attention quickly turned to a new and unexpected opportunity.   In the last line of his account of the West Virginia game, Harold O'Neil mentioned that Rutgers had been invited to represent the East in the upcoming National AAU tournament in Atlanta.  The Targum supported the idea arguing it "will be splendid publicity for our school" while the five day absence would not hurt academically since the basketball team's academic performance was surpassed only the track squad.  Reportedly some of the school's trustees supported the idea and the student body began circulating petitions urging the administration and faculty to approve the venture.  On February 25, the Home News announced that "after a great deal of deliberation," the faculty had agreed.  Rutgers was to send a party of ten including just six players with Robert Dornan joining the starters.  While he was originally part of the group, amazingly, it was announced that Coach Frank Hill would not make the trip because of his other responsibilities and the birth of a new child.  While graduate manager of athletics Frederick Heitkamp and trainer "Doc" Jake Besas would provide adult supervision, Captain Calvin Meury would have to take on full responsibility for practice, strategy and in game decision-making.  At least with only one substitute, he didn't have to worry about the player rotation.

The Signature Win

By 1920 Rutgers had competed against Princeton in athletics for more than 50 years.  While the November 6, 1869 inaugural football came is well known, Rutgers first played the neighboring college three years earlier when eight students (not a team) foolishly took on Princeton's well established baseball club and suffered a predictable, but still ignominious 40-2 defeat.  Competition between the two schools actually dated back even earlier to 1864 when the state legislature chose Rutgers over Princeton as New Jersey's land grant college, the first step on the road to becoming the state university.  While Rutgers also won the first football game, the New Brunswick school had enjoyed no success for almost 50 years until graduation day in June of 1919 when the Rutgers baseball earned a 5-1 victory giving Paul Robeson his long desired win over Princeton in his last collegiate competition.

Daily Home News - February 12, 1920

Basketball competition between the two schools began only three years earlier with Princeton winning all four meetings including two in the 1918-19 season, the second a heart breaking two point overtime loss.  Clearly it was an important game and the Home News was scarcely overstating the case by observing that "even if the battle were a game of ping pong or marbles, the interest and spirit would run high."  The Targum more than agreed claiming that even if the Rutgers team lost every other game, but beat Princeton, students, alumni and fans would agree "there had never been a better season in the history of the college." So intense was the expected atmosphere that Princeton requested that Joe Deering one of the game's top referees work the game and Deering made a special trip from Washington D.C. to do so.  In a step unimaginable today,  on several occasions, Deering actually stopped the game and "explained and illustrated" foul calls against Rutgers that weren't received well by the home crowd.

Leland Taliaferro

To no one's surprise, ticket demand was high and all the seats were sold quickly including the 300 added just a few weeks earlier even though the prices had been doubled to an unprecedented $1.  Those in attendance were not disappointed as Harold O'Neil of the Home News, wrote that the "vast assemblage which packed Ballantine Gymnasium from floor to roof" saw a game that was "bitter and probably the greatest basketball struggle that has ever been played on the local court."  Princeton got off to a 3-1 lead before baskets by Meury and Hall put Rutgers ahead 5-3, a deficit the visitors quickly erased before Benzoni again tied the game at 7-7.  After a Princeton foul shot, three straight Rutgers baskets gave the Scarlet a 13-8 advantage and they still led 17-14 after the first 20 minutes.  Princeton wasted little time catching up and taking the lead in the second half and the game went back and forth until the visitors led 22-20.  At that point, Benzoni, "darting out of a welter of men," scored two straight baskets to put Rutgers up by two points.  After Princeton again regained the lead, a Walter French basket put Rutgers ahead by one point, but Stanley Netts of Princeton tied the game at 27-27 with a foul shot and just like a year earlier on the same court, the two teams headed for overtime.

Daily Home News - February 12, 1920

Without a moment's respite, Deering summoned the two teams for the center jump and Princeton scored to take a two point lead.  Taliaferro made a foul shot for Rutgers which was matched by Netts, but Taliaferro followed with a basket to tie the game again at 30-30.  With 30 seconds left, Rutgers was called for a foul sending Netts, Princeton's designated foul shooter to the line again.  He missed producing what the Targum, with masterful understatement, called a "heavy sigh of relief."  As time ran down, there was a wild scramble for the ball and just as the timekeeper blew his whistle to signal the end of the first overtime, Deering blew his to call a foul on Princeton, sending Taliaferro to the line.  The crowd, "on the verge of a nervous collapse," watched "the ball sailing towards the iron rim and then slip clearly through the net and then to the floor."  According to the Targum, "the ball had no more than emerged from the net" that the floor was full of " a mass of joyous, happy loyal followers of Rutgers"  Meanwhile, the Home News reported that the "chapel bell tolled in peals of victory" while the "undergraduate body rushed into the streets to let the whole world know a Princeton team had been defeated by Rutgers."  It was the Targum noted a "thoroughly satisfactory" result.

"Ring the bell of old Queens College,

Paint the town as ne'er before

Play the game, boys play together,

Score once more, oh score, once more."

The Regular Season - Part I

Time would tell whether the schedule was "pretentious and ambitious," but one thing was clear, it would have been difficult to find a tougher opening opponent than New York University (NYU).   Rutgers could take some comfort from the prior year's road victory, but the 1920 NYU squad was a different team and a very experienced one at that.  Four of the visitor's starters missed the 1919 game due to military service, beginning with Howard Cann, "considered one of the best players on the court," a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame.  To make matters worse, NYU had already played three games.  As expected, Coach Hill started Taliaferro and Benzoni at the forward positions, Dettlinger at center with French and Meury at the guards.  Led by Cann, NYU took the lead after five minutes of play and never looked back, coasting to a 45-27 victory, a deficit that would have been even more embarrassing without Taliaferro's 21 points.  The Home News acknowledged that NYU was "superior," but also criticized the Rutgers team for excessive dribbling and too much individual play.  Perhaps not surprisingly, Benzoni struggled in his first college game, managing only two points.  One positive sign was the "exceptionally large crowd" which confirmed the need for expanded seating.

Howard Cann of NYU

In the next game, only two nights later, Rutgers bounced back against a strong Syracuse team, showing "remarkable" improvement in route to a 30-20 triumph before a slightly larger crowd estimated at 800.  Coach Hill made one lineup change which would proved both valuable and permanent, starting Art Hall at center instead of Dettlinger whose play against NYU had reportedly "lacked spirit."  Syracuse led only once in the first half before Rutgers opened a 16-7 halftime lead and the visitors never got closer than four points.  As expected/hoped Benzoni played much better scoring eight points while French proved "a wonder" on the defensive end.  After turning away prospective ticket buyers at both games, something that had also happened a year ago, the administration announced plans to add new sets of bleachers on each side of the running track as well as a new tier on the main floor.  The result would be an announced capacity of 900 that could probably accommodate a 1,000 spectators when necessary.  The increased seating capacity was to be in place by the January 24th game against Muhlenberg.

Art Hall - Home News - March 3, 1920

Before that, however, the team would play one of its two 1920 road games, a visit to Swarthmore.  Initially Rutgers had a hard time adjusting to a smaller court and trailed 14-6 after ten minutes before rallying to lead 17-15 at halftime.  With 11 minutes left in the second half, the score was tied at 22-22, but Rutgers pulled away for a 29-26 victory over the previously unbeaten Swarthmore squad.  Back home at Ballantine Gym a week later, Rutgers was supposed to dominate Muhlenberg, but got a rude awakening when the visitors jumped out an 8-0 lead at the 10 minute mark before Rutgers rallied to tie the game at 12-12.  Having dodged Muhlenberg's best efforts, Rutgers outscored the visitors 14-5 in the second half for a 26-17 win.  Although praising captain Meury who scored 12 points, the Home News claimed Rutgers looked like a high school team.  Perhaps part of the problem was Taliaferro was suffering from the flu.  After struggling through the first half, the Rutgers star was removed from the game over his protests.  Rutgers did not play a whole lot better in the next game where they were consistently inconsistent in a 39-30 win over Temple.  Although now suffering from a cut over his eye due to a fall on the ice, Taliaferro led the way with 17 points.

Naismith Hall of Fame Inductee - Nat Holman - while still playing professionally for the original Celtics, Holman coached CCNY

While the team and its fans had to be pleased with the 4-1 record, two lackluster performances were a concern especially heading into back-to-back games with CCNY and Princeton.  The New York City school was 6-1 having lost only to Princeton and was coached by future Naismith Hall of Fame inductee, Nat Holman, "probably the best player who ever put on a pair of suction shoes."  A record crowd was expected and the fans more than did their part with a 1000 spectators braving a snow storm to watch the closest game of the season.  The visitors led 11-10 at half time and the game went back and forth in the second half before CCNY came out on top by the margin of a single foul shot, 25-24.  Benzoni was Rutgers high scorer with 10 points while Taliaferro had 8.  Unfortunately, Taliaferro's performance at the foul line hurt his team.  Taking all the team's foul shots (as he did all season), the leading Rutgers scorer was 6 of 10 compared to CCNY's designated shooter who was 7 of 9.  The crowd certainly did their part especially in the second half when "the gymnasium was in an uproar with the pleading cries for victory."  Alas it was not to be, but there was little time to mourn with the Princeton game only five days away.