Ralph Jones
By Bob Whalen
Ralph Jones died early in
July of 1951 in Boulder, Colorado at the age of 71, He was born in 1880 in or near
Indianapolis, Indiana. Ralph graduated from Shortridge High School.
It is said that he started basketball at Shortridge and coached
both Shortridge and the Indianapolis YMCA basketball teams in the late 1890's and early
1900's. Ralph even coached basketball at Indiana University for part of one season. It is
believed that he came to Crawfordsville in the fall of 1905, to head up the local YMCA
programs He coached the YMCA basketball team, also the Crawfordsville High School
basketball and football teams. Ralph also coached basketball and football at Wabash,
making him a very busy man.
He coached the
Crawfordsville High School basket ball team for Four seasons and his records were as
follows;
1904-05 Won 4 Lost 3 - 1905-06 Won 9 - Lost 5
1906-07 Won 12 - Lost 0 - 1907-08 ` Won 10 - Lost 5
TOTAL RECORD WON 35 Lost 13
He coached the Crawfordsville High School football
team for at least one season or maybe more 1907 - Won 4 - Lost 3 - Tied 1 - Records are
Not clear as to whether Ralph was football coach in 1905 and 1906. Crawfordsville was 2
and 2 in 1905 and 2 and 0 in 1906.
Ralph was the Wabash College basketball coach for Five seasons as
follows; (These are official Wabash records)
1905-06 - Won 17 Lost 1 1906-07 - Won 17 - Lost 2
1907-08 - Won 24(")Lost 0 1908-09 - Won 8 - Lost 2
Total Record 66 and 5(+)
(*) The 1907-8 team was called The "Original Wonder Five"
and also claimed the title of "World Champions"
(+) Believe it or not, Two of the Five loses were to the Crawfordsville High School
basketball team.
The other loses were to Purdue, Notre Dame and Ohio State. The two lost to CHS were in
1906-07.
Ralph was the Wabash football coach the season of 1908 and the
record was 2 won and 6 lost. The two wins were over Franklin 62-0 and DePauw 12-0. Two of
the six loses were to Notre Dame and Nebraska.
If you have followed the above you will know that he coached both
Crawfordsville High School and the Wabash College basketball teams at the same time for
three seasons. Also in at least two and maybe more he coached the local YMCA basketball
team. The YMCA basketball team records are few and far between.
Ralph was rather a small man, he was about five foot six or
seven and when he was younger his weight was near 135 lbs.
Ralph left Crawfordsville in 1909 and went to Purdue where he
coached the Purdue Basketball team for three seasons.His records were as follows; 1909-10
- Won 8 - Lost 5- 1910-11 - Won 12 - Lost 4 - 1911-12 - Won 12 - Lost 00.
This would make his three years record 32 WON and Only 9 Lost.
"Pete" Vaughan followed Ralph as the Purdue basket ball coach. I don't know if
Ralph coached anything other than basket-
ball while he was at Purdue.
Ralph left Purdue and went to the University of Illinois. He was
the assistant football coach to Bob Zuppke at Illinois from the 1913 season thru the 1920
season. He was also the Head Basketball Coach. His record was 192 WON and ONLY 9 Lost. His
teams won Two Big Nine Titles.
After he left Illinois he went to Lake Forest Academy, a Prep
School, (at Lake Forest, Illinois), where he was the Football Coach thru the 1929 season.
In 1930 George Halas owner of the Chicago Bears Pro Football team
hired Ralph Jones as their head coach with a three year contract. As the Bear's coach his
records were as follows;
1930 - Won 9 - Lost - 4 - Tied 1
1931 - Won 8 - Lost - 5 - Tied O
1932 - Won 8 - Lost - 1 - Tied 6
The Bears defeated Portsmouth, Ohio Spartans by a score of 9 to 0
to win the 1932 Pro Football National Championship.
Ralph left the Bears after the 1932 season and went to Lake
Forest College in 1933 as their Athletic Director and football coach. His record as
football coach was 53 Won, 27 lost and ten ties. He retired after the 1949 season and
moved to Estes Park, Colorado. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife,
Florence Pyle Jones.
If anyone should be in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Ralph
Jones should be one of them. I would say he should have been ONE of the FIRST ones
INDUCTED. Ralph may have been better remembered as a football coach but I would say he was
the "Father" of Indiana Basketball. Special thanks to Dr. Roger Robison of
Bloomington, IN for the information he provided to me to help with this article.
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