Since Crawfordsville was the Cradle of Indiana basketball, the early Wabash teams drew heavily from the highly successful Crawfordsville High School teams.  Pictured below are the State Champions of 1905-06 team which had a record of 17-1.  They were coached by Ralph Jones who also coached the CHS teams and the YMCA teams in the early era.  Five of the six members of the team were from Crawfordsville.  They were L-R, Ralph Wicks, L.J.C. Freeman, Big Bill Sprow, Rome Williams, and Harter Walter.  The other member is Bill (Abe) Diddel who also designed the Crawfordsville Municipal Golf Course.

Four of the five of the members of the Championship team of 05-06 returned the next year and were again State Champs, posting a record of 17-2.  Ralph Jones was again the coach and the 1908-07 Little Giants were Ralph Wicks, L.J.C. (Brandy) Freeman, Big Bill Sprow, Walter Gipe, and Bill Diddel.