1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

1957–58 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1957–58 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
NCAA Tournament	1958
Tournament dates	March 11, 1958 – ; March 22, 1958
National Championship	Freedom Hall; Louisville, Kentucky
NCAA Champions	Kentucky Wildcats
Helms National Champions	Kentucky Wildcats
Other champions	Xavier Musketeers (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Elgin Baylor, Seattle
	← 1956–57 1958–59 →

Season headlines

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

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 was prohibited.
A ball that passed over the backboard—either front to back or back to front—was considered out of bounds.^[3]

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

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 Seven 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
Mid-American Conference	Toledo	None Selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Cincinnati	None Selected	No Tournament
Mountain States Conference	Idaho State	None Selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Tennessee Tech	None Selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon State & California	None Selected	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None Selected	No Tournament
Southern Conference	West Virginia	Dom Flora, Washington & Lee^[7]	1958 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Richmond Arena (Richmond, Virginia)	West Virginia^[8]
Southwest Conference	Southern Methodist & Arkansas	Rick Herrscher, Southern Methodist (Coach Magazine)	No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	San Francisco	Mike Farmer, San Francisco & Leroy Wright, Pacific^[9]	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Player	School	PPG	Player	School	REB%	Player	School	FG%	Player	School	FT%
Points Per Game			Rebound Percentage			Field Goal Percentage			Free Throw Percentage
Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati	35.1	Boo Ellis	Niagara	.262	Ralph Crosthwaite	W. Kentucky St.	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 St.	86.5
Bailey Howell	Mississippi St.	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

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
16	NC State
18	St. Bonaventure
19	Seattle
	Michigan State
	Wyoming

Post-Season Tournaments

NCAA Tournament

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

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

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

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

Consensus All-American teams

**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

Helms Foundation Player of the Year: Elgin Baylor, Seattle
UPI Player of the Year: Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
Sporting News Player of the Year: Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati

Major coach of the year awards

UPI Coach of the Year: Tex Winter, Kansas State

Other major awards

Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Guy Rodgers, Temple
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC): Jim Cunningham, Fordham

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former 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
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]
Western Michigan	Joe Hoy	Don Boven

References

^ '58 The Fiddlin' Five Make Sweet Music
^ "Dominick A. (Dom) Flora '58". Washington and Lee University. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ 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 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section, retrieved 2009-02-14
^ Kansas State Athletic Site – Wildcat Honor Roll, Kansas State University, retrieved 2009-05-17
^ 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
^ 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide, West Coast Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
^ ^a ^b http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1958
^ http://www.nit.org/history/nit-postseason-results-1950s.html
^ Frank "Bucky" O'Connor, Monroe, 1967
^ Where Are They Now? John Castellani, Seattle U basketball coach
^ Bob Polk: Vandy Coaching Legend

[1] '58 The Fiddlin' Five Make Sweet Music

[2] "Dominick A. (Dom) Flora '58". Washington and Lee University. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[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 2009-02-14.

[5] 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section, 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, West Coast Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07

[databasesports.com-10] ttp://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1958

[11] ttp://www.nit.org/history/nit-postseason-results-1950s.html

[12] Frank "Bucky" O'Connor, Monroe, 1967

[13] Where Are They Now? John Castellani, Seattle U basketball coach

[14] Bob Polk: Vandy Coaching Legend

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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
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25