INSIDE LMU history of lmu athletics:
Decades of Champions.
1890 – 1910 Then known as St. Vincent’s College, the school is known on record as having a football team and a basketball team. The year 1889 is shown to be the first game of football while the 1906 season was the first for basketball. The records show the Lions going 5-0 as a basketball team in 1906. 1910-1930 Loyola College was founded in 1911 as an outgrowth of St. Vincent’s College, the first college in Los Angeles. In 1924 the College opened a new gym on the old St. Vincent’s campus. A year later the Lions post first season with double-digit wins in basketball, going 10-7 in the 1924-25 season. Coached by Harold “Bill” Hess, the Lions had wins over Woodbury Business College, Cal Tech and the Hollywood All-Stars. In the fall of 1925, George Casey became the third head coach of St. Vincent’s, finishing his only year as coach 6-5. In 1926 the school played in its first overtime game, a 2016 loss to Whittier. They win their first overtime game a year later, a 16-14 victory against California Christian College. Then in 1928, the then Loyola College moved to its current location on the Westchester bluff and two years later became Loyola University. Loyola Law School, located in downtown Los Angeles, was founded in 1920. 1930s In the 1930s Loyola established its new campus on the bluff in Westchester while basketball greats Pete Newell and Phil Woolpert began their legendary careers as Lions. While Loyola discontinues the men’s basketball program for four seasons during the great depression, it is hockey of all sports that emerges as Loyola’s top program, thanks in large part to the use of its football players as hockey players. The first college hockey league started in 1927 and while increasing in popularity, it became part of the official athletic program of multiple southern California schools, thus the formation of the Southern California Intercollegiate Hockey League. USC dominated the league, winning 36 straight before Loyola, led by Head Coach Tom Lieb, snapped that streak on March 6 of 1932, beginning one of fiercer rivalries of its day. Then in the 1934-35 season, the Lions knocked off USC in the prestigious Yosemite Tournament for the first time and then went on to defeat the Trojans for Loyola’s first conference crown. As the league grew, the main attraction continued to be the games between Loyola and USC, “as the two teams were in a class by themselves.” The 1935-36 season was the year college hockey really caught on. The final game between Loyola and USC for the Pacific
Coast title was a double overtime thriller in front of 4,000 fans. The Lions won their second PCHC championship in a row. The Lions would then win their third league title in a row in a three-game playoff in 1937, winning two games to one. With World War II on the horizon, Loyola would drop hockey in 1941 and college hockey in Southern California would slowly break apart. 1940s In 1941, the Lions face in-town rival Pepperdine for the first time in the two program’s histories. They faced each other twice in the 1940-41 season, with Loyola winning both, 30-18 and 43-23. In that season, both Pete Newell and Phil Woolpert suited up for the Lions. The two Loyola greats went on to become legends in the coaching profession, leading college teams to NCAA National Championships. In 1948-1949, Loyola went on to its first 20-win season, posting a 22-14 record under coach Scotty McDonald. The Lions would see their longest winning streak at that time of 10 games. The season included the first game in Alumni Gymnasium, the Lions’ home until the 1981-82 season when the Lions moved to Gersten Pavilion.
seven seasons as a tight end for the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, helping the team to the 1951 World Title. The Lions men’s basketball team advanced to their first collegiate sponsored postseason tournament, competing for the NAIA National Championship. The Lions posted a 16-9 record and were selected to participate in the NAIA Tournament where they faced San Francisco State in the first round. With a 57-56 win, the Lions moved on to face Southwestern (KS) in the second round. Southwestern won, 83-79. Then in 1956, the Lions joined the California Basketball Association, which two years later formed the West Coast Athletic Conference. Loyola finished the CBA with a 9-5 record, second in the conference.
1950s The 1950s started with one of best football seasons in school history as the team, led by future NFL star Don Klosterman, finished the season 8-1, losing to Santa Clara 28-26 and missing out on a trip to the Orange Bowl. Klosterman would go on to earn All-America honors in 1952. A member of that team, Bob Boyd, former Loyola football and track great, captured the 1950 NCAA men’s track championship in the 100-yard dash. He later played LMU Baseball
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