The 1944 Peddie Basketball Team
Now imagine it happening during the daunting and disruptive years of World War II, when team schedules and transportation were in disarray and scores of Peddie’s finest athletes volunteered for military service prior to graduation.
The 1944 Peddie basketball squad was one of the teams that gloriously defied those odds – thanks to the sparkling performance of an outstanding lineup that was distinctively different from the rosters of the extraordinary 1942 and 1945 teams already inducted into the Hall. Led by Hamilton “Ham” Corson, a respected team captain praised for his consistent clutch play on both offense and defense, this band of unusually complementary talents opened their season with a dream streak of seven straight wins before running into a superior George School team, and then later splitting a pair with Blair.
Speaking at the annual basketball banquet, coach Carl Geiger attributed the “marvelous success” of this 10-2 season to three factors: “Cooperation among the players was outstanding. The squad was more than a quintet; it consisted really of seven readily interchangeable boys. Finally, the junior varsity team contributed greatly to the training of the varsity players through the competition which it provided in practice sessions.”
For dramatically and definitively proving that you don’t need superstars to become a truly super team, we proudly welcome the boys basketball team of 1944 into the Peddie Sports Hall of Fame.