The South Atlantic Conference continued it's decade of dominance as for the 7th time since 1920-21 a school from the SAC won the national title. North Carolina Tech would do it three times, Carolina Poly twice including last year, Columbia Military Academy in 1928-29 and this time it was Chesapeake State taking it's turn. It was clearly the most competitive conference in the entire AIAA as three schools from the South Atlantic section made it to Bigsby Garden for the national semi-finals and two others-Annapolis Maritime and Lexington State -led by national player of the year and two-time All-American John Thayer- had reached the quarterfinals.

This season also marked the first time a team had back to back coach of the year winners with two different head coaches. The school was Annapolis Maritime and they had that great run to the semi-finals last season led by Sterling Westgard. Westgard never stuck around in one place for long and immediately after the season left the Navigators for a job on the west coast with Rainier College. Enter Pug Johnson, a 58 year old who had spent more than a decade in Cincinnati with Queen City University but only managed to get the Monarchs to the tournament once. Annapolis Maritime would prove to be the right fit at the right time for Johnson and they began a run of 6 straight tournament appearances by advancing to the quarterfinals this season. For his efforts Johnson was named the nation's top coach, and he would repeat that honour again next season.

As for the final weekend the three South Atlantic schools were joined by Coastal California and you just knew it would end in disappointment for Art Barrette. This time his Dolphins fell for the second straight season to Carolina Poly, dropping a 28-23 decision in the semi-finals. Barrette was a coaching legend in the west but the Bigsby Garden was a nightmare for the man who would be the winningest coach in AIAA history by the time he retired following the 1943-44 season. At this point in his career he was now 2-7 in games played on the final weekend of the tournament -reaching the national semi-finals seven times in just over a decade but still without a title. He would reach the semi-finals three more times before his career was done, but would never win that elusive AIAA championship.

Chesapeake State was a team that had long been overshawdowed by the powerful Carolina teams and the rising Annapolis Maritime squad. The Clippers only made the tournament twice prior to this season. A first round exit was the result in March of 1927 and a trip to the quarterfinals was the result a year later. They missed the tournament entirely each of the past two seasons, but that was not hard to do with the depth of talent in their conference. This would be their breakout year as while they lacked a star player, they did have a cohesive unit that perfected the slow-down style introduced by North Carolina Tech a decade ago. They used it to perfection against it's architect, stalling their way through a 20-16 victry over North Carolina Tech in the semi-finals and then hanging on to do the same in the finals against Carolina Poly.

The Clippers won the national title but the entire weekend gained them few fans in Manhattan. The crowds openly hissed both teams in the semi-final with the Techsters where nothing seemed to happen for minutes on end. Teams could use the full court at any time and so much of the game was simply about playing keep-away with no intention at all to push towards the basket for a scoring opportunity. The style was effective for winning games but it was clear it was costing the sport dearly at the box office. Attendance at Bigsby Garden was packed as usual but many of the early tournament games and even home games involving some of the worst offenders were being played in front of more empty seats than fans nowadays. It was clear something had to change, but change would still be a couple of years off as coaches saw the success the South Atlantic schools were having with that style of play and contnued to try and imitate it.

 

NATIONAL TITLE PLAYOFF
SEMI-FINALS: Carolina Poly 28 Coastal California 23
Chesapeake State 20 North Carolina Tech 16

TITLE GAME: Chesapeake State Clippers 25 Carolina Poly Cardinals 22

1930-31 MAJOR CONFERENCE CHAMPS
ACADEMIA ALLIANCE: Brunswick 18-12 (9-5)
NORTHEAST: Garden State 27-4 (14-2)
DEEP SOUTH: Central Kentucky 16-13 (9-3)
GREAT LAKES ALLIANCE: Detroit City Coll. 23-7 (14-2)
WEST COAST ATHL ASSN: Coastal California 29-4 (14-2)
SOUTHWESTERN ALL.: Canyon A&M 23-6 (11-3)
PLAINS: College of Omaha 14-16 (9-3)
SOUTH ATLANTIC: Chesapeake State 22-7 (11-3)

1930-31 TOP TEN
1- Coastal California 29-4
2- Garden State 27-4
3- Carolina Poly 31-4
4- Chesapeake State 27-7
5- Detroit City College 23-7
6- Coastal State 22-10
7- Lexington State 23-7
8- Annapolis Maritime 27-4
9- St Patrick's 23-10
10- Rainier College 21-11

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
1929-30 Carolina Poly Cardinals
1930-31 Chesapeake State Clippers


ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
C Robert McNew JR Coastal California
F John Nightingale SR Brooklyn State
F Kevin Bloodworth SO Annapolis Maritime
G Royce Mackenzie SR Garden State
G John Thayer SR Lexington State

ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
C Waymon Brumbaugh SR Chicago Poly
F Joe Rizzo SR Empire State
F Harold Nason SR Detroit City College
G Dillon Unger JR Coastal California
G Matthew Fisher SR Garden State

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - John Thayer Lexington State
COACH OF THE YEAR - Pug Johnson Annapolis Maritime