Men's Basketball: The Early Years

Lehigh Basketball was started by Horace Pfahler in 1900. Enthusiasm and persistence of the determined undergraduates that first year led to the strong beginning of the sport at Lehigh. The first game ever played here at Lehigh was on December 7, 1901 against Reading YMCA in Grace Hall. The team went 9-5 that first season. They were very well supported by the faculty, student body, and Athletic committee, but it was hard for them to get funds for the team in these first few years. The finances just weren’t available and the team was only given a limited amount of equipment to work with. The players described that team during those first few years as having “won a few games and having a good time.” They didn’t have a full time head coach until 1913; instead the captain managed the teams’ responsibilities.