1951–52 NCAA men's basketball season

1951–52 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1951–52 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
NCAA Tournament	1952
Tournament dates	March 21, 1952 – ; March 26, 1952
National Championship	Hec Edmundson Pavilion; Seattle, Washington
NCAA Champions	Kansas Jayhawks
Helms National Champions	Kansas Jayhawks
Other champions	La Salle Explorers (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Clyde Lovellette, Kansas
	← 1950–51 1952–53 →

Season headlines

Harlem Globetrotters vs. Seattle University

On January 21, 1952, the Harlem Globetrotters played Seattle in a game designed to raise funds for the United States Olympic efforts. Five days before the game was held, Royal Brougham received a call from Howard Hobson, who was the Yale basketball coach and a United States Olympic Committee member. It was reported that money was needed to support the country's Olympic effort for the games held in Helsinki, Finland. The Globetrotters had agreed to a three-game fund-raiser against college teams in the West, Midwest and East.^[1]

Tickets cost $1.50 and they were sold out in 48 hours.^[1] Jazz great Louis Armstrong played at halftime and actress Joan Caulfield performed a ceremonial opening tip off. The game was played at the University of Washington's Hec Edmondson Pavilion and was filled to its 12,500 capacity.

The Globetrotters were considered the best basketball team in the world and the club paid their two star players "Goose" Tatum and Marques Hayes twenty five thousand dollars each.^[2] Entering the game with Seattle, the Globetrotters had played 3571 games winning 93 percent of their contests.^[2]

Seattle player Johnny O'Brien was the nation's leading scorer at that time. O'Brien would become the first player in the history of college basketball to score 1000 points in a single season.^[3] He would finish the season with 1,051 points. Against the Globetrotters, O'Brien poured in 43 points. Johnny's brother Eddie played point guard for Chieftains and his half court shot lifted the club to a 10-point lead.

After halftime, the Globetrotters got back in the game as Johnny O'Brien sat out most of the third quarter. With seconds left in the game, the Globetrotters called a time out they did not have. A free throw was made by Johnny O'Brien and there was a possession change. The Chieftains were ahead 84–81.

Globetrotter owner Abe Saperstein was so upset that he canceled the rest of the Trotters benefit schedule that year.^[2]

Other

Long Island University began the first of their six-year ban from playing NCAA basketball due to a point shaving scandal discovered in 1951.^[4]^[5]

Major rule changes

Beginning in 1951–52, the following rules change was implemented:

Games were played in four 10-minute quarters.^[6]

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[7]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Big Seven Conference	Kansas	None Selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Illinois	None Selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	New Mexico A&M & West Texas State	None Selected	No Tournament
Ivy League	Princeton	None Selected	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Miami & Western Michigan	None Selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	St. Louis	None Selected	No Tournament
Mountain States Conference	Wyoming	None Selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Western Kentucky St.	None Selected	1952 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Western Kentucky St.
Pacific Coast Conference	UCLA	None Selected	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None Selected	1952 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	West Virginia	Dick Groat, Duke^[8]	1952 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	North Carolina State^[9]
Southwest Conference	Texas Christian	None Selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Player	School	PPG	Player	School	RPG	Player	School	APG	Player	School	FG%
Points Per Game			Rebounds Per Game			Assists Per Game			Field Goal Percentage
Clyde Lovellette	Kansas	28.4	Bill Hannon	Army	20.9	Tom O'Toole	Boston College	7.9	Art Spoelstra	W. Kentucky	51.6
Dick Groat	Duke	26.0	Walter Dukes	Seton Hall	19.7	Dick Groat	Duke	7.6	Gerald Rogers	Tex. Western	50.4
Bob Pettit	LSU	25.5	Ernie Beck	Penn	19.0	Malcolm McLean	Davidson	7.5	Norm Swanson	Detroit	50.3
Chuck Darling	Iowa	25.5	Elston Tuttle	Creighton	18.9	Larry Friedman	Muhlenberg	7.3	Karl Klinar	VMI	49.2
Frank Selvy	Furman	24.6	Bill Chambers	William & Mary	18.2	Roger Chadwick	Cornell	6.9	Tom Marshall	W. Kentucky	49.1

Name	School	FT%
Free Throw Percentage
Sy Chadroff	Miami (FL)	80.5
Bob Kenney	Kansas	80.3
Drew Turner	St. Mary's (CA)	80.2
Tommy Bartlett	Tennessee	80.2
Russell Rerucha	Colorado A&M	80.0

Year-end polls

The final regular-season top 20 from the AP and Coaches Polls.^[10]

Associated Press
Ranking	Team
1	Kentucky
2	Illinois
3	Kansas State
4	Duquesne
5	Saint Louis
6	Washington
7	Iowa
8	Kansas
9	West Virginia
10	St. John's
11	Dayton
12	Duke
13	Holy Cross
14	Seton Hall
15	St. Bonaventure
16	Wyoming
17	Louisville
18	Seattle
19	UCLA
20	Texas State

Coaches
Ranking	Team
1	Kentucky
2	Illinois
3	Kansas
4	Duquesne
5	Washington
6	Kansas State
7	Saint Louis
8	Iowa
9	St. John's
10	Wyoming
11	St. Bonaventure
12	Seton Hall
13	Texas Christian
14	West Virginia
15	Holy Cross
16	Western Kentucky St.
17	La Salle
18	Dayton
19	Louisville
20	UCLA
20	Indiana

Post-Season Tournaments

NCAA tournament

Phog Allen led the Kansas Jayhawks to their first NCAA Tournament title, defeating St. John's 80–63. Jayhawk All-American Clyde Lovellette broke the NCAA record by scoring 141 points in the tournament and was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.^[10]

Final four

National Semifinals			National Championship Game

M2	St. John's	61

W1	Illinois	59
			2	St. John's	63

			1	Kansas	80
S1	Kansas	74

E3	Santa Clara	55

Third Place – Illinois 67, Santa Clara 64

National Invitation Tournament

La Salle won the National Invitation Tournament by beating Dayton, 75–64. Tom Gola and Norm Grekin were named co-MVPs.^[11]

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Semifinals			Final

1	St. Bonaventure	62

3	Dayton	69
			3	Dayton	64

			2	La Salle	75
2	Duquesne	46

2	La Salle	59

Third Place – St. Bonaventure 48, Duquesne 34

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Chuck Darling	C	Senior	Iowa
Rod Fletcher	G	Senior	Illinois
Dick Groat	G	Senior	Duke
Cliff Hagan	F	Junior	Kentucky
Clyde Lovellette	C	Senior	Kansas

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Bob Houbregs	F	Junior	Washington
Don Meineke	F	Senior	Dayton
Johnny O'Brien	G	Junior	Seattle
Mark Workman	C	Senior	West Virginia
Bob Zawoluk	F	Senior	St. John's

Major player of the year awards

Helms Foundation Player of the Year: Clyde Lovellette, Kansas

Other major awards

NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC): Ron MacGilvray, St. John's

References

^ ^a ^b Raley, Dan (2002-01-20). "Fifty years ago tonight, Seattle U. upset the mighty Globetrotters". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2009-05-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ http://www.goseattleu.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=89901&SPID=10773&DB_OEM_ID=18200&ATCLID=3638805
^ Anderson, Dave (22 March 1998). "When Sherman White Threw It All Away". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ "2009–10 LIU Blackbirds Men's Basketball Media Guide" (Flash). issuu.com. Long Island University. 2009. p. 69. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book – Playing-Rules History section, NCAA, retrieved 2009-05-09. Archived 2009-05-13.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ ^a ^b http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1952
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2009-12-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Statistical Leaders from 1953 Official Collegiate Basketball Record Book, (Copyright 1952, National Collegiate Athletic Bureau)

[seattlepi.com-1] Raley, Dan (2002-01-20). "Fifty years ago tonight, Seattle U. upset the mighty Globetrotters". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

[mylosingseason.com-2] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2009-05-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[3] ttp://www.goseattleu.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=89901&SPID=10773&DB_OEM_ID=18200&ATCLID=3638805

[4] Anderson, Dave (22 March 1998). "When Sherman White Threw It All Away". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

[5] "2009–10 LIU Blackbirds Men's Basketball Media Guide" (Flash). issuu.com. Long Island University. 2009. p. 69. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

[6] 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book – Playing-Rules History section, NCAA, retrieved 2009-05-09. Archived 2009-05-13.

[7] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.

[8] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[9] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[databasesports.com-10] ttp://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1952

[11] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2009-12-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
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