Howard Goodsell Cann (October 11, 1895 – December 18, 1992) was an Americansportsman best known as the long-time men'sbasketball coach atNew York University. He was also anOlympicshot putter and a college basketball andfootball player.

Cann was born inBridgeport, Connecticut, into a family of accomplished sportsmen. His father,Frank Cann, was the director of physical education at New York University, which both Howard and his younger brotherTedford Cann attended. Tedford was an Olympic swimmer and world-record holder in the 200 meterfreestyle.

Howard first attendedBarringer High School inNewark, New Jersey, and then the High School of Commerce inNew York City. At Commerce he was captain of the basketball team, member of the track team and member of theOmega Gamma Delta fraternity.

He briefly attendedDartmouth College and then transferred to New York University. During his freshman year in 1914, Howard was the leading scorer on theNYU Violets men's basketball team. He was captain of the 1916–1917 football team, where he played as atackle, apunter, and also played in the backfield.

Cann's college career was interrupted byWorld War I. He left NYU and, along with his brother Tedford, joined theUnited States Navy. Howard resumed his studies at NYU in 1919, after the end of the war.

In 1920, Cann led the NYU basketball team to anAmateur Athletic Union National Championship title and was named theHelms Athletic FoundationPlayer of the Year as well as an All-American. A group of newspaper sportswriters also named him as the greatest player in the history of basketball to that date. As a member of thetrack and field team, he won theshot put competitions at thePenn Relays and theIC4A Middle Atlantic States event. He participated in the1920 Summer Olympics inAntwerp as a shot putter, finishingthe competition in eighth place with a throw of 13.52 meters.^[1] He had originally been scheduled to compete as a hurdler, but broke his leg. That same year, Cann graduated from NYU with a degree inengineering.^{[citation needed]}

Three years after graduating from NYU, Cann returned to the school as the men's basketball coach. He coached the team for thirty-five years, from 1923 to 1958, and compiled a 429–235 record before his retirement.

His time as the basketball coach included an unbeaten 1933–34 season and a December 29, 1934 game inMadison Square Garden where NYU defeatedNotre Dame. This first Madison Square Garden tournament helped to elevate the popularity of college basketball. Cann's1934–35 team finished the season with an 18–1 record and was retroactively named the national champion by theHelms Athletic Foundation and thePremo-Porretta Power Poll.^[2] He led the 1944–45 team to the final game of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, but lost the championship toOklahoma State University. Cann was named National Coach of the Year in 1947, and led the Violets to theNational Invitation Tournament final the next year, but was defeated bySaint Louis University.

Cann retired in 1958, having spent 39 of the first 44 years of his adult life at NYU as a player and coach.

In 1932 and 1933, Cann also coached the NYU football team. His career football coaching record at NYU was 7–7–1.^[3]

In 1968, he was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a coach. He also served as Director of Physical Education at NYU from 1931 to retirement in 1958 and is commemorated in seven Sports Halls of Fame.

Cann married Janet Cann in 1932, and they had a son, Howard Jr. Cann died at age 97 after a long illness. He was a resident ofIrvington, New York, at the time of his death.^[4]

• List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach

• Basketball Hall of Fame profile

• 1895 births
• 1992 deaths
• All-American college men's basketball players
• American male shot putters
• American men's basketball coaches
• American men's basketball players
• Barringer High School alumni
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• Basketball coaches from Connecticut
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• College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
• NYU Violets football coaches
• NYU Violets football players
• NYU Violets men's basketball coaches
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• Players of American football from Fairfield County, Connecticut
• Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni
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