1956–57 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

1956–57 San Francisco Dons men's basketball
1956–57 San Francisco Dons men's basketball
West Coast Athletic Conference champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Third Place
Conference	West Coast Athletic Conference
Record	21–7 (12–2 WCAC)
Head coach	Phil Woolpert (7th season);
Assistant coach	Ross Giudice
Home arena	Kezar Pavilion
	Seasons ← 1955–56 1957–58 →

1956–57 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
San Francisco	12	–	2	.857	21	–	7	.750
Santa Clara	10	–	4	.714	15	–	7	.682
Saint Mary's	10	–	4	.714	17	–	9	.654
Fresno State	7	–	7	.500	16	–	10	.615
San Jose State	7	–	7	.500	13	–	12	.520
Loyola (Calif.)	5	–	9	.357	11	–	16	.407
Pacific	3	–	11	.214	9	–	17	.346
Pepperdine	2	–	12	.143	7	–	18	.280

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1956–57 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the West Coast Athletic Conference during the 1956–57 NCAA men's basketball season. The Dons carried a 55-game unbeaten streak into the season, extending it to a then NCAA record 60-game winning streak. After falling out of the rankings, San Francisco battled back to finish the season with a 21–7 record (12–2 CBA) and reach their third consecutive Final Four. After losing to Kansas in the National Semifinals, USF defeated Michigan State in the Third Place Game.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	15	Gene Brown	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Jr	San Francisco, California
F	17	Mike Farmer	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Richmond, California
F	18	Mike Preaseau	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Redding, California
F	19	Carl Boldt	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr	Tujunga, California

Head coach

Phil Woolpert (Loyola (CA))

Assistant coach(es)

Ross Giudice (San Francisco)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 30, 1956*		at Cal State-Chico	W 63–34	1–0	Chico, California
Dec 1, 1956*		at California	W 70–56	2–0	Harmon Gym Berkeley, California
Dec 7, 1956*		San Francisco State	W 63–34	3–0	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Dec 8, 1956*		Seattle	W 57–52	4–0	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Dec 14, 1956*	No. 2	at Loyola (Chicago)	W 67–48	5–0	Alumni Gym Chicago, Illinois
Dec 17, 1956*	No. 2	at No. 7 Illinois	L 33–62	5–1	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, Illinois
Dec 19, 1956*	No. 2	vs. No. 20 Western Kentucky	L 57–61	5–2
Dec 21, 1956*	No. 2	at Washington (MO)	W 56–53	6–2	Francis Field House St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 28, 1956*	No. 19	at Oregon State	L 40–62	6–3	Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 29, 1956*	No. 19	vs. USC	L 52–58	6–4	Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 4, 1957		San Jose State	W 66–51	7–4 (1–0)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Jan 8, 1957		at Santa Clara	L 47–51	7–5 (1–1)	San Jose Civic Auditorium San Jose, California
Jan 12, 1957		Fresno State	W 68–56	8–5 (2–1)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Feb 1, 1957		Pepperdine	W 78–67	9–5 (3–1)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Feb 2, 1957		Loyola (Los Angeles)	W 66–45	10–5 (4–1)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Feb 7, 1957		at Pacific	W 67–51	11–5 (5–1)	Pacific Pavilion Stockton, California
Feb 8, 1957		Saint Mary's	W 70–60	12–5 (6–1)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Feb 12, 1957*		Santa Clara	W 58–47	13–5 (7–1)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Feb 15, 1957		Pacific	W 67–56	14–5 (8–1)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
Feb 16, 1957		at Fresno State	L 51–56	14–6 (8–2)	North Gym Fresno, California
Feb 22, 1957		at Pepperdine	W 88–66	15–6 (9–2)	Campus Gym Malibu, California
Feb 23, 1957		at Loyola (Los Angeles)	W 75–65	16–6 (10–2)	Loyola Memorial Gymnasium Los Angeles, California
Mar 1, 1957		at San Jose State	W 76–65	17–6 (11–2)	Spartan Gym San Jose, California
Mar 5, 1957		Saint Mary's	W 62–41	18–6 (12–2)	Kezar Pavillion San Francisco, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 15, 1957*		vs. No. 16 Idaho State West Regional Semifinal	W 66–51	19–6	Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 16, 1957*		vs. No. 13 California West Regional Final	W 50–46	20–6	Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 22, 1957*		vs. No. 2 Kansas National Semifinal – Final Four	L 56–80	20–7	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 23, 1957*		vs. No. 11 Michigan State National Consolation – Third Place	W 67–60	21–7	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time.

^[2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	Not released	2	2	19	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	8	5	4	17	—	19	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

^[3]^[4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
7	50	Carl Boldt	Detroit Pistons

^[5]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1956-57 West Coast Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1950-60) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 652–653. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1956-57 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^ "1957 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[1] sports-reference.com 1956-57 West Coast Athletic Conference Season Summary

[2] "Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1950-60) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[ESPN-3] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 652–653. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[4] "1956-57 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[5] "1957 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

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[5]

v t e San Francisco Dons men's basketball
Venues	Kezar Pavilion (1924–1958) St. Ignatius Gym (1924–1958) Sobrato Center (1958–present) Chase Center (alternate; 2019–present)
Culture & lore	The Don KTCT
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 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 1982–85 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
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics