The Luther College basketball team won the Iowa Conference championship in 1949 and again in 1954. Shown here are players from the 1949 team.

"Of competitive sports the faculty stated in 1954: 'We believe that athletic competition under proper administration is a constructive and satisfying part of student life for both participants and non-participants. We strongly resist both the tendency to abandon so desirable an element in the development of a well-rounded student and also the tendency to engage in any practice which we recognize as educationally unsound.' … One inspector wrote: 'There are no athletic scholarships; yet the football record of 20 wins in 2 1/2 years is the second highest among the smaller colleges of the Middle West.' The record in other sports is also impressive, as in 1954, when the college won an Iowa Conference football championship, a basketball championship, a tie for the championship in wrestling, a championship in tennis, a championship in the Northern Division in track and field, and a tie for the championship in the Norther Division in baseball."

[Luther College 1861-1961, David T. Nelson, p 337]