Mythical Mr. Basketball 1940s

For the 1940s, I've got 5 candidates for most years. Mythical Mr. Basketball is again the fellow in boldface type.

1940 Orlando Bonicelli, Chisholm

Ray Cimbura, Breckenridge

Tony Jaros, Mpls. Edison

Donald “Red” Mattson, Mpls. Marshall

Howie Schultz, St. Paul Central

This was a monstrous class. Jaros was among the best ever to that time. Schultz of course played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, not to mention the Hamline basketball team. Mattson played at the U. Cimbura led his team, improbably, to the state title this year. If they played it 10 times, Mpls. Marshall wins 5.

1941 “Big Bill” Ekberg, Mpls. Marshall

Kleggie Hermsen, Mpls. Vocational

Jim Lewison, Owatonna

Dave Ruliffson, Mpls. Washburn

Junior “Spike” Skoglund, Hopkins

Kids are getting taller. Lewison was 6-8, Ekberg was "Big" (his nickname), Hermsen was "big" and played at the U. Ruliffson was not big and played at the U. Skoglund was in between and played at Gustavus.

1942 Jack Hiller, Marshall

Jack Johnson, St. Paul Mechanic Arts

Ed Nylund, Buhl

Wally Salovich, Mpls. Marshall

If there's a 5th wheel it's Nylund's teammate John Klarich. Buhl was the 2nd team to win back-to-back state titles. Salovich played at the U.

1943 Tom Corrigan, Bemidji

Hal Haskins, Alexandria

Dick Kaess, St. Paul Washington

Bill Madden, Cretin

Stewart Skoglund, Hopkins

Haskins became an all-American at Hamline, but Kaess and Washington demolished his team at the state tournament. Skoglund joined his brother at Gustavus.

1944 Ed Jacobson, Crosby-Ironton

Bob Leiviska, Virginia

Duane Nelson, Mankato

A down year for this decade, but Leiviska played at Hamline.

1945 Jim Korth, Mankato Loyola

Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Henry

Vern Mikkelson, Askov

McIntyre became an all-American at the U but it was Mikkelson who had the Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

1946 Don Avikainen, Tower-Soudan

Don Gruber, New Ulm Holy Trinity

Jim Malosky, Crosby-Ironton

Dick Ravenhorst, Austin

C-I was rated #1 in the state coming into the state tournament but Austin was the champ.

1947 Dave Hegna, Granite Falls

Herb Mickelson, Canby

Rudy Monson, Duluth Denfeld

Ray Wall, Mountain Lake

Monson was an easy choice.

1948 Chuck Grover, Bemidji

Lawrence Krause, Waseca

Virgil Miller, Hopkins

A tough choice this year.

1949 “Shorty” Cochrane, Rochester

Neil Fedson, Lyle

Don Frye, Cotton

Jim Fritsche, St. Paul Humboldt

Milan Knezovich, Hibbing

The toughest choice ever. Fritsche led the St. Paul Conference in scoring twice and led Humboldt to the state title in '49. And Mpls. Central beat Hibbing 37-34 in the 1st round, then lost to Humboldt 53-47 in the semi. Still, Knezovich was the state's all-time leading scorer at the end of the season with more than 1,400 points.