Even by 1950′s standards, what CCNY accomplished that year was nothing short of amazing.

The Beavers became the first team to win both the NCAA and NIT tournaments in the same season (back then, the NIT was held before the NCAA and teams could enter both tournaments). Perhaps the more amazing accomplishment was that coach Nat Holman and team of hometown talents transformed the Big Apple into a college sports town like no team before them had. Sure, Fordham and LIU and St. John’s and the like had their followings, but Holman’s group and its unselfish style of play was adopted by the city like no other and in 1950, that craze reached its peak.

What was life like then?