Basketball
Loyola Academy Basketball Team 1913
Credit: Loyola University Chicago Archives & Special Collections
Basketball was one of the first team sports at Loyola Academy. The team experienced early success, winning a championship in the Academy's second year.
National Catholic Interscholastic Basketball Tournament
In March 1924, Loyola Academy's director of Athletics, Joseph F. Thorning, S.J., created the National Catholic Interscholastic Basketball tournament (NCIBT) because Catholic high schools around the country were restricted from playing in public school athletic tournaments. Loyola Unviersity's President, Fr. William Agnew, S.J. and the Catholic League of Chicago became involved, and Catholic high schools from all over the country came to Loyola Academy to participate. The Academy hosted the games in Loyola University's newly constructed Alumni Gym. The tournament typically lasted five days.
Fr. Thorning left the Academy in 1926 to continue his studies at St. Louis University, but the NCIBT continued on until 1941. Despite the tournament's broad publicity and popularity, it faced increasing challenges as Catholic high schools around America began to be admitted into public high school athletic associations. These associations typically would not allow their members to participate in out-of-state tournaments. These rules decreased the number and quality of Catholic high school teams that could be invited to participate in the NCIBT. The outbreak of World War II was a final blow for the tournament, and the organization shut down in 1941.
1926 Basketball Tournament Championship Game
Credit: Loyola University Chicago Archives & Special Collections
The following schools won the NCIBT championship during the tournament's existence:
- 1924 Spalding Institute, Peoria, Illinois
- 1925 St. Mel High School, Chicago, Illinois
- 1926 St. Xavier High School, Louisville, Kentucky
- 1927 De La Salle High School, Joliet, Illinois
- 1928 De La Salle High School, Joliet, Illinois
- 1929 De La Salle Institute, Chicago, Illinois
- 1930 De La Salle Institute, Chicago, Illinois
- 1931 De La Salle High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1932 St. Patrick Academy, Chicago, Illinois
- 1933 Cathedral High School, Indianapolis, Indiana
- 1934 Joliet Catholic High School, Joliet, Illinois
- 1935 St. Xavier High School, Louisville, Kentucky
- 1936 De La Salle Institute, Chicago, Illinois
- 1937 Fenwick High School, Oak Park, Illinois
- 1938 St. Xavier High School, Louisville, Kentucky
- 1939 Central Catholic High School, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- 1940 Central Catholic High School, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- 1941 Leo High School, Chicago, Illinois