This team formed the basis of Canada's 1948 Olympic basketball team. UBC won the pre-Olympic tournament beating the best teams in the country including the top university team. Emerging as the country's best in '48 entitled the 'Birds to represent Canada at the Olympics in London where they finished 9th in the world.
Bill Bell, John Forsyth, Nev Munro, Dave Campbell, Gordie Selman, Reid Mitchell, Jerry Stevenson, Pat McGeer, Jim McLean, Bobby Scarr, Bob Haas, Harry Kermode, Bob Osborne (coach), Dick Penn (manager), Paul Plant (manager).
It seems the late 1940s could well have been an interesting and appealing time to be a student at the Point Grey campus. A post-war boom was happening, both in numbers of students enrolling and in the expansion needed to accommodate them. There was in evidence a revived college spirit, characterized by flamboyant wordsmith and Ubyssey Sport Editor, John 'Chick' Turner. There was also a more aggressive athletic program in effect with well known administrators, coaches and athletes taking part including Bob Osborne, Gordon Shrum, Jack Pomfret, Johnny Owen, Ivor Wynne, Albert Laithewaite, Luke Moyls, Pat McGeer and Herb Capozzi.
In early October 1947, basketball coach Bob Osborne had his charges working out at the old UBC gym. The team was expecting leadership from a sizable group of returning players including Bob Haas, Harry Kermode, Pat McGeer, John Forsyth, Dave Campbell and Nev Munro. Aspiring rookies vying for a spot on the team included Reid Mitchell, Bill Bell, Bob Scarr and Jerry Stevenson. All were preparing for competition in the tough US-based Pacific Northwest Conference, the UBC Thunderbirds having proved to be too strong for the local Senior 'A' league.
The "Men of Oz" opened the season winning seven of ten exhibition games against US competition, competition that was as high in calibre as the University of Oregon. Speed, close play and screaming fans characterized these games as did the scoring of McGeer, Kermode and Haas along with the sparkling play of Bell and Mitchell.
As the season progressed the league's only Canadian team settled into third place in a field of eight, the Blue and Gold defeating the likes of Lewis and Clark, the College of Idaho, Puget Sound, Whitman College, Linfield and Pacific University. Their ever-improving performance also featured a rare victory over the Sioux City Coloured Ghosts, a touring team comparable in showmanship to the Harlem Globe Trotters. It was the feistiness and depth possessed by the UBC Thunderbirds that contributed heavily to their success, all their games being "nail biters", win or lose.
Throughout the season, both students and non-students were being treated to "magic on the maples" as the UBC Thunderbirds’ speed, fire and shooting accuracy produced an overall 19-10 record against their US opposition. Pat McGeer set scoring records this season while Bobby Haas and Harry Kermode backed him up with double digit scoring. "I remember their drive and desire and their ability to play well as a team " recalls coach Osborne.
Despite finally settling for third place, the campus was proud of its team. They had played exceptionally exiting, high calibre basketball and had come within a couple of baskets of the Pacific Northwest Conference crown.
It was, however, the upcoming Canadian competition, primarily the Canadian basketball Olympic trials, that resulted in a unique and surprisingly special year for the UBC Thunderbirds. Two and a half months after coach Osborne and his "melon masters" had packed up their gear for the season, they were once again on the floor facing the Maury Van Vliet - coached Alberta Golden Bears, the prairie collegiate champions, in a best of three Western Inter-collegiate championship final. With all games in Edmonton, UBC won the first game 62-46, dropped the second 51-46 before taking the deciding contest 56-42, crowning themselves champions of Western Canadian University basketball.
It was then on to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto for a US-style tournament featuring the nation's four best teams. This series was designed to determine who would represent Canada at the 1948 Olympics in London, England. UBC was matched against the Eastern Canadian university champion Western Ontario Mustangs, while the Canadian Senior 'A' champion Vancouver Cloverleafs were pitted against the best in the East, Montreal YMHA.
UBC opened the sudden-death tourney with a 48-40 victory over their eastern collegiate counterparts coached by Johnny Metras, effectively capturing the Canadian Inter-Collegiate hoop crown. This key victory moved UBC into the championship final for the right to represent Canada. Game two saw Montreal upset the favoured Cloverleafs, seizing the nation's Senior 'A' title. The 'Leafs were stunned by the loss as they had defeated Montreal in an earlier series and possessed a powerful line-up including outstanding former UBC Thunderbirds Sandy Robertson, Ole Bakken and coach Hunk Henderson along with Jack Pomfret.
Maple Leaf Gardens in early May of '48 was now set for the sudden-death final game- Senior men's winner Montreal squaring off against the country's top university team, the students from Point Grey.
Montreal took an early lead and heading to the dressing room at half time were up 19-17. However, as had happened so many times during the season and whether it was coach Osborne or just young legs, UBC bounced back in the second half outscoring YMHA 31-15 to "Win Canuck Hoop Crown," 48-34.
Top collegiate team for sure, but whether they were also the Canadian Senior mens champion could be debated. Despite the fact the Vancouver Cloverleafs had won the Canadian title in an earlier series with YMHA, UBC had defeated the 'Leafs in a February exhibition game 53-48 plus had emerged victorious in this Olympic tournament. So a rare double crown could well be claimed in this case by the Blue and Gold. Moreover, by virtue of this victory coach Osborne and seven of his players: McGeer, Munro, Scarr, Mitchell, Kermode, Bell and Campbell proceeded to form the nucleus of the 1948 Canadian Olympic team.
This Olympic squad which was complimented by players from the Montreal team, finished ninth in the world at London, winning the consolation bracket at the same time as gaining many friends and memories.
"We were confident and I just reinforced their confidence" stated Osborne. "With their team play, drive and confidence it was no coincidence that all these players were successful after basketball. It was a privilege to coach these fellows ".
Canadian basketball championships of any kind come few and far between for university teams so the fact UBC in this year of '48 was the number one university team in the country, Olympic trial champions and Canadian Olympic representatives, elevate this memorable team and season into a class by itself.
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
