season and a December 29, 1934 game in Madison Square Garden where NYU defeated Notre Dame. This first Madison Square Garden tournament helped to elevate the popularity of college basketball. Cann's 1934–35 team finished the season with an 18–1 record and was retroactively named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. He led the 1944–45 team to the final game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, but lost the championship to Oklahoma State University. Cann was named National Coach of the Year in 1947, and led the Violets to the National Invitation Tournament final the next year, but was defeated by Saint Louis University. Cann retired in 1958, having spent 39 of the first 44 years of his adult life at NYU as a player and coach. Football In 1932 and 1933, Cann also coached the NYU football team. His career football coaching record at NYU was 7–7–1. Accomplishments In 1968, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a coach. He also served as Director of Physical Education at NYU from 1931 to retirement in 1958 and is commemorated in seven Sports Halls of Fame. Personal life Cann married Janet Cann in 1932, and they had a son, Howard, Jr. Cann died at age 97 after a long illness. He was a resident of Irvington, New York, at the time of his death. Head coaching record Basketball Football See also List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach References External links 1895 births 1992 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American male shot putters American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Barringer High School alumni United States Navy personnel of World War I Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Basketball coaches from Connecticut Basketball players from Connecticut College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees NYU Violets football coaches NYU Violets football players NYU Violets men's basketball coaches NYU Violets men's basketball players Olympic track and field athletes of the United States People from Irvington, New York Players of American football from Connecticut Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Sportspeople from Bridgeport, Connecticut