1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

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The 1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1957, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1958 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 22, 1958, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Wildcats won their fourth NCAA national championship with an 84–72 victory over the Seattle Chieftains.

Season headlines[edit]

  • Adolph Rupp won his fourth championship as he led the Kentucky Wildcats to an 84–72 win over the Seattle Chieftains and their star, Elgin Baylor. The starting unit was nicknamed the "Fiddlin' Five," after a quip by Rupp that his team were fiddlers when he really needed violinists. The Wildcats fought back from two 11-point deficits to gain the victory.[1]
  • Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson became the first player to lead the nation is scoring in his first varsity season. The sophomore (freshmen were ineligible) averaged 35.1 points per game for the Bearcats.
  • Dom Flora, a senior point guard at Washington and Lee University, finished his college career with 2,310 points and 696 free throws made, both of which were ranked fifth in their respective categories in college basketball history at the end of the 1957–58 season.[2]
  • Future Hall of Fame coach Howard Cann of NYU retired at the conclusion of the season, after 35 years at the helm.

Major rule changes[edit]

Beginning in 1957–58, the following rules changes were implemented:

  • Offensive goaltending was banned so that no player from either team could touch the ball or basket when the ball was on the basket's rim or above the cylinder. The only exception was the shooter in the original act of shooting.
  • One free throw for each common foul was taken for the first six personal fouls by one team in each half, and the one-and-one was used thereafter.
  • On uniforms, the use of the single-digit numbers one and two and any digit greater than five were prohibited.
  • A ball that passes over the backboard – either front-to-back or back-to-front — was considered out of bounds.[3]

Conference membership changes[edit]

School Former conference New conference
Cincinnati Bearcats NCAA University Division independent Missouri Valley Conference
Detroit Titans Missouri Valley Conference NCAA University Division independent
East Tennessee State Buccaneers non-NCAA University Division Ohio Valley Conference
Fresno State Bulldogs West Coast Athletic Conference NCAA University Division independent
North Texas Mean Green non-NCAA University Division Missouri Valley Conference
Texas Tech Red Raiders NCAA University Division independent Southwest Conference

Regular season[edit]

Conference winners and tournaments[edit]

Conference Regular
season winner[4]
Conference
player of the year
Conference
tournament
Tournament
venue (City)
Tournament
winner
Atlantic Coast Conference Duke Pete Brennan, North Carolina[5] 1958 ACC men's basketball tournament Reynolds Coliseum
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
Maryland
Big Eight Conference Kansas State Bob Boozer, Kansas State[6] No Tournament
Big Ten Conference Indiana None Selected No Tournament
Border Conference Arizona State None Selected No Tournament
Ivy League Dartmouth None Selected No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference St. John's None Selected No Tournament
Mid-American Conference Toledo None Selected No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference Cincinnati None Selected No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference Tennessee Tech None Selected No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference California & Oregon State None Selected No Tournament
Skyline Conference Idaho State None Selected No Tournament
Southeastern Conference Kentucky None Selected No Tournament
Southern Conference West Virginia Dom Flora, Washington and Lee[7] 1958 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Richmond Arena
(Richmond, Virginia)
West Virginia[8]
Southwest Conference Arkansas & SMU Rick Herrscher, SMU (awarded by Coach magazine) No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference San Francisco Mike Farmer, San Francisco, & Leroy Wright, Pacific[9] No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference St. Bonaventure No Tournament
Yankee Conference Connecticut None selected No Tournament

Informal championships[edit]

Conference Regular
season winner
Conference
tournament
Tournament
venue (City)
Tournament
winner
Philadelphia Big 5 Temple No Tournament

Statistical leaders[edit]

Points per game
Rebound Percentage
Field goal percentage
Free throw percentage
Player School PPG Player School REB% Player School FG% Player School FT%
Oscar Robertson Cincinnati 35.1 Boo Ellis Niagara .262 Ralph Crosthwaite W. Kentucky State 61.0 Semi Mintz Davidson 88.2
Elgin Baylor Seattle 32.5 Al Inniss St. Francis (NY) .248 Oscar Robertson Cincinnati 57.1 Gerald Myers Texas Tech 87.0
Wilt Chamberlain Kansas 30.1 Elgin Baylor Seattle .235 Pete Brunone Manhattan 56.2 Arlen Clark Oklahoma State 86.5
Bailey Howell Mississippi State 27.8 Wilt Chamberlain Kansas .216 Bob Goodall Tulsa 55.7 Joe Hobbs Florida 86.0
Red Murrell Drake 26.7 Joe Cincebox Syracuse .206 Hal Greer Marshall 54.6 Hub Reed Oklahoma City 85.1

Polls[edit]

The final top 20 from the AP and Coaches Polls.[10]

Associated Press
Ranking Team
1 West Virginia
2 Cincinnati
3 Kansas State
4 San Francisco
5 Temple
6 Maryland
7 Kansas
8 Notre Dame
9 Kentucky
10 Duke
11 Dayton
12 Indiana
13 North Carolina
14 Bradley
15 Mississippi State
16 Auburn
17 Michigan State
18 Seattle
19 Oklahoma State
20 NC State
Coaches
Ranking Team
1 West Virginia
2 Cincinnati
3 San Francisco
4 Kansas State
5 Temple
6 Maryland
7 Notre Dame
8 Kansas
9 Dayton
10 Indiana
11 Bradley
12 North Carolina
13 Duke
14 Kentucky
15 Oklahoma State
16 Oregon State
NC State
18 St. Bonaventure
19 Seattle
Michigan State
Wyoming

Post-season tournaments[edit]

NCAA tournament[edit]

Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats won their fourth National championship by defeating the Seattle Chieftains 84–72 on March 22 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.[10] Seattle's Elgin Baylor led all tournament scorers and was named the tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Final Four[edit]

National semifinals National championship game
      
M2 Kentucky 61
W1 Temple 60
2 Seattle 72
1 Kentucky 84
S1 Seattle 73
E3 Kansas State 51
  • Third Place – Temple 67, Kansas State 57

National Invitation tournament[edit]

The Xavier Musketeers entered the National Invitation Tournament with a 15–11 record, but surprised the field, defeating fellow Ohio school Dayton 78–74 to win the NIT.[11] The Musketeers' Hank Stein was named tournament MVP.

NIT Semifinals and Final[edit]

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Semifinals Final
      
1 St. John’s 56
3 Dayton 80
3 Dayton 74
2 Xavier 78
2 St. Bonaventure 53
2 Xavier 72
  • Third Place – St. Bonaventure 84, St. John's 69

Award winners[edit]

Consensus All-American teams[edit]

Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Elgin Baylor F Junior Seattle
Bob Boozer F Junior Kansas State
Wilt Chamberlain C Junior Kansas
Don Hennon G Junior Pittsburgh
Oscar Robertson G Sophomore Cincinnati
Guy Rodgers G Senior Temple


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Pete Brennan F Senior North Carolina
Archie Dees F/C Senior Indiana
Mike Farmer F Senior San Francisco
Dave Gambee F Senior Oregon State
Bailey Howell F Junior Mississippi State

Major player of the year awards[edit]

Major coach of the year awards[edit]

Other major awards[edit]

Coaching changes[edit]

A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.

Team Former
Coach
Interim
Coach
New
Coach
Reason
Columbia Lou Rossini Archie Oldham
Drake John E. Benington Maury John
Duquesne Dudey Moore Red Manning
Iowa Bucky O'Connor Sharm Scheuerman O'Connor died in an auto accident on April 22, 1958[12]
La Salle Jim Pollard Dudey Moore
Loyola (LA) Jim Hading Hank Kuzma
Marquette Jack Nagle Eddie Hickey
Memphis State Eugene Lambert Bob Vanatta
New Mexico Bill Stockton Bob Sweeney
NYU Howard Cann Lou Rossini
Ohio State Floyd Stahl Fred Taylor
Saint Louis Eddie Hickey John E. Benington
Seattle John Castellani Vincent Cazzetta After taking the Chieftains to the NCAA title game, Castellani resigned amid recruiting violations that resulted in a two-year post-season ban for the university.[13]
South Carolina Frank Johnson Walt Hambrick
Vanderbilt Bob Polk Roy Skinner (interim) Assistant coach Skinner served as interim for the season as Polk suffered a heart attack in the Fall[14]
Washington State Jack Friel Marv Harshman
Western Michigan Joe Hoy Don Boven

References[edit]

  1. ^ '58 The Fiddlin' Five Make Sweet Music
  2. ^ "Dominick A. (Dom) Flora '58". Washington and Lee University. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  3. ^ 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book – Playing-Rules History section, NCAA, retrieved 2009-05-09. Archived 2009-05-13.
  4. ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  5. ^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14
  6. ^ Kansas State Athletic Site – Wildcat Honor Roll, Kansas State University, retrieved 2009-05-17
  7. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  8. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  9. ^ 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, West Coast Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
  10. ^ a b "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
  11. ^ "National Invitation Tournament - History - Tournament Result (1950's)". Archived from the original on March 26, 2010. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  12. ^ "Frank "Bucky" O'Connor, Monroe, 1967". DesMoinesRegister.com. July 5, 2005. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  13. ^ Raley, Dan (March 27, 2017). "Where Are They Now? John Castellani, Seattle U basketball coach". SeattlePi.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  14. ^ "Bob Polk: Vandy Coaching Legend". January 3, 2007. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.