OHS 1914 basketball

Here we have Oxford High School’s 1914 men’s basketball team. Unfortunately, one of the men’s faces was distorted on this old photo, but don’t they look great? They are all trying to look tough with their arms crossed, and it is hard to imagine playing basketball in those shoes. Oddly enough, the tank tops and long shorts is what current basketball players wear so their clothes don’t look that dated – even though these men played over a hundred years ago! This photo is from the archives of Alice Edwards. UPDATE: I just realized that this photo is also in the Oxford, Iowa Centennial, 1869-1969 book with the following information: “Mr. Thomas Smiley introduced basketball to Oxford. The first team consisted of Dan Cotter, Charlie Doyle, Dewey Warthman, Omer Scanlon, Walter Barnes, Neilson Miller, and John James. Their first games were played in the building adjoining the bank which until recently housed the Oxford Library”.

The photo in the centennial book shows the guy on the right: