He then was hired by Harvard in 1939 to coach baseball, a position he held for seven years with mixed results, finishing with a career record of 54-69.

In 1943, he agreed to take on the Crimson basketball team, despite having no experience coaching the sport.

Stahl’s learning on the job and hands-off approach led to the aforementioned struggles his first few seasons at the helm. But, according to the Harvard Class Album of 1946, Stahl was perfectly suited for the skilled and experienced ’46 team.

“These boys had played a lot of ball at other schools and knew the game backwards,” the album says. “There was little a coach could teach them and this was fine for Stahl who had always let his players do a great deal of their own coaching anyway. All they needed was to practice and play together to become a great team.”

And become great they did. The Crimson tore through the season, going 19-1 behind an All-American campaign from Gray and an all-conference performance by Mariaschin.

Its lone loss came to Holy Cross, a game in which Mariaschin was injured early in the first half and the man he would have been guarding scored a last minute lay-up to defeat Harvard by two.

The Crimson’s dominance of New England was well understood and appreciated by locals. With no professional game existing—the NBA would be created in the summer of 1946—Harvard was the toast of the town, and a late-season matchup with Yale was played in front of a sold-out crowd in the Boston Arena.

“Our team at Harvard in 1945-46 was the very best in its history,” Mariaschin said at his class’ 25th Anniversary. “That athletic accomplishment was very significant to me and everyone on the team.”

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Once the Crimson graduated from beating up on future Ivy League teams— the Ancient Eight did not exist until 1954—it boarded a bus for the Big Apple. The tournament format differed greatly from today’s, with only eight teams being invited to participate. Harvard, NYU, Ohio State and North Carolina represented the East, while Baylor, California, Colorado and eventual-champion Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) represented the West.

Perhaps due to the shine of the spotlight or the more talented competition, the Crimson played a sloppy two games, finishing last in the East bracket and returning to Cambridge winless.

“I will never forget those games at the Garden,” guard John W. Gantt ’47 said in his 25th Anniversary Report. “As the years have passed and my athletic career is now behind me, these are the memories that will always stick with me.”

BOSTON BOYS

After bowing out in New York, Gray left Harvard and was drafted in the first-ever NBA draft, joining the Boston Celtics. He played one season there, averaging 6.5 points per game, before bouncing around with the St. Louis Bombers and Providence Steamrollers. Gray passed away in 1994, but not before being inducted into the Bowling Green Hall of Fame.

Despite losing Gray and the other V-12 players, Mariaschin returned to captain the 1946-47 team to a 16-9 season, a mark the Crimson would not reach again until 1957-58. After graduation Mariaschin became the first Harvard grad to be drafted by an NBA team (Gray did not graduate), playing two seasons with the Celtics and averaging 7.7 points per game.