There certainly had been upsets in past seasons but never before had a champion so unexpected emerge like Columbia Military Academy did in the 1928-29 season. The Cadets were a pretty solid team in the winter of 28-29 and perhaps indications of the success to come were shown in the 1928 tournament when they pulled off a pair of upsets before fading out of the picture in the quarterfinals. But this was a school that prior to that had missed the tournament 5 straight years and had seasons of 8-21 and 9-21 in 1922-23 and 1923-24. They still had losing records the next two seasons as well but that was when Ed Claus entered the picture.

Claus was a talented young coach who had some success in Western Florida but took a chance and left to join the Cadets in the fall of 1925. He missed the tournament his first season but won 20 games 1926-27 and then jumped to 25 wins and a trip to the quarterfinals in 27-28. That set the stage for the historic run with the key piece being a freshman forward by the name of Errol Mitchell. Freshmen rarely played in this era, but Mitchell quickly became the star of the show in Columbia, South Carolina, averaging 8.1 points per game and being a rebounding force as well.

The Cadets claimed a one seed thanks to their terrific regular season run, one that included the first conference title in school history. They had little trouble in the first two rounds of the tournament but needed overtime to reach the Bigsby Garden with a hard-fought 33-31 win over Detroit City College in the quarters.

The semi-finals were once again an indication of how much the game had progressed in the south and west. None of the big northeast powers were around and the middle west was shut out as well. It came down to a pair of southern schools in Columbia Military Academy and Bayou State in one semi-final while West Coast Athletic Association foes CC Los Angeles and Lane State would tangle in the other semi-final.

Johnny Brown, the hero of last year's title game, was back to pace the CCLA Coyotes but he had a near equal in Lane State guard Paul Lee. The Coyotes were the defending national champs but Lane State was suddenly a team on the rise. The Eugene, Oregon school had only ever won just one tournament game entering this season and had missed the tournament each of the four previous years but after claiming their first West Coast Athletic Association Conference title in school history, they were on a roll and WCAA rival CCLA could not slow them down. Lee had 13 points as the Emeralds prevailed 27-24 to reach the finals.

The other semi-final was far more than just Columbia Military Academy vs Bayou State. It was, like the many times before when teams from the South Atlantic and Deep South met in the tournament a battle for bragging rights in the entire south. Bayou State was not the best in the Deep South Conference this season - that honor fell to Western Florida- but they were the ones that were still standing as the calendar creeped from March into April. They did not stand for long as Columbia Military was on a mission and won in a waltz, scoring a 29-19 victory.

That set up a title game involving two teams that a year ago no one would have given a snowballs chance to. Columbia Military Academy certainly created a lot of believers with a 29-4 record entering the title game and just as they did with Bayou State two nights earlier, the Cadets ran away with the game and the title by topping Lane State 32-21.

It would be the beginning of quite a coaching legacy for Ed 'Santa' Claus, who would remain in charge Columbia Military Academy until 1943, when at the age of 60 he moved on to Pittsburgh State. He never won the tournament again but did get the Cadets to the semi-finals in March of 1937. As of 1945 his 571 career wins as a college coach place him 7th all-time.


NATIONAL TITLE PLAYOFF
SEMI-FINALS: Lane State 27 CCLA 24
Columbia Military Academy 29 Baton Rogue State 19

TITLE GAME: Columbia Military Academy 32 Lane State 21

1928-29 MAJOR CONFERENCE CHAMPS
ACADEMIA ALLIANCE: Brunswick 18-14 (10-4)
NORTHEAST: St Patrick's 27-6 (13-3)
DEEP SOUTH: Western Florida 19-10 (8-4)
GREAT LAKES ALLIANCE: Indiana A&M 19-10 (12-4)
WEST COAST ATHL ASSN: Lane State 26-9 (13-3)
SOUTHWESTERN ALL.: Lubbock State 16-13 (10-4)
PLAINS: Oklahoma City State 18-11 (10-2)
SOUTH ATLANTIC: Columbia Military 30-4 (13-1)

1928-29 TOP TEN
1- Columbia Military Academy (30-4)
2- St Patrick's (27-6)
3- North Carolina Tech (25-6)
4- Carolina Poly (27-5)
5- CCLA (26-7)
6- Lane State (26-9)
7- Chicago Poly (27-5)
8- Detroit City College (24-8)
9- Liberty College (22-9)
10- Garden State (21-10)


LIST OF AIAA CHAMPIONS
1909-10 Henry Hudson Explorers
1910-11 Brunswick Knights
1911-12 Brunswick Knights
1912-13 Georgia Baptist Gators
1913-14 Henry Hudson Explorers
1914-15 George Fox Reds
1915-16 CCLA Coyotes
1916-17 Chicago Poly Panthers
1917-18 Brunswick Knights
1918-19 Pierpont Purple
1919-20 Bayou State Cougars
1920-21 Carolina Poly Cardinals
1921-22 North Carolina Tech Techsters
1922-23 North Carolina Tech Techsters
1923-24 North Carolina Tech Techsters
1924-25 Whitney College Engineers
1925-26 Chicago Poly Panthers
1926-27 Opelika State Wildcats
1927-28 CCLA Coyotes
1928-29 Columbia Military Academy


ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
C Al Chavira SR Noble Jones College
F Bryant Hunter SR Chicago Poly
F Forrest Trahan SR Liberty College
G Danny Low JR CCLA
G Johnny Brown SR CCLA

ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
C David Alvarado SR Chesapeake State
F Mike Lemoine JR Western Florida
F Wendell Boger SO Annapolis Maritime
G Paul Lee SR Lane State
G Blair Dubose SR Carolina Poly

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Johnny Brown CCLA
COACH OF THE YEAR - Ed Claus Columbia Military Academy