1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season

1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1None
NCAA Tournament1953
Tournament datesMarch 10 – 18, 1953
National ChampionshipMunicipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA ChampionsIndiana
Helms National ChampionsIndiana
Other championsSeton Hall (NIT)
Player of the Year
(Helms)		Bob Houbregs, Washington

The 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1952, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1953 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 18, 1953, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The Indiana Hoosiers won their second NCAA national championship with a 69–68 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.

Rule changes

Teams must take a free throw after a foul, as had been the practice through the 1938–39 season. Previously, under a rule that had been in effect since the 1939–40 season, a team could waive its free throw and instead take the ball at mid-court after a foul.[1]

Season headlines

  • Prior to the season, the NCAA ruled that colleges and universities could no longer count games played against non-collegiate opponents in their annual won-loss records. Previously, it had been a common practice for many years for colleges and universities to include non-collegiate opponents in their schedules, with the games recognized as part of their official record for the season.[2]
  • The California Basketball Association began play, with five original members. It would be renamed the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956 and the West Coast Conference in 1989.
  • The NCAA forced Kentucky to suspend its men's basketball program for the entire 1952–53 season as a result of the CCNY point-shaving scandal, which had been revealed in 1951.[3]
  • The NCAA tournament expanded from 16 to 22 teams.
  • Bill Chambers of William and Mary grabbed 51 rebounds against Virginia on February 14, 1953, becoming the first player with more than 50 rebounds in one game.[4]
  • Bob Houbregs of Washington became the first player to score 40 or more points in an NCAA tournament Final Four game when he scored 42 against LSU in the national third-place game on March 18, 1953.[5]
  • Walter Dukes of Seton Hall finished the season with 734 rebounds for the year, the first player to grab 700 rebounds in a single season.[4]

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

Main article: 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball rankings

The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.[6][7]

Associated Press
Ranking Team
1 La Salle
2 Kansas State
3 Illinois
4 Seton Hall
5 Oklahoma A&M
6 NC State
7 Notre Dame
8 Holy Cross
9 Washington
10 LSU
11 Western Kentucky State
12 UCLA
13 Oklahoma City
14 St. Bonaventure
15 Tulsa
16 Minnesota
17 Saint Louis
18 California
19 Indiana
20
(tie) 		Navy
Kansas
UP Coaches
Ranking Team
1 Illinois
2 Kansas State
3 La Salle
4 Washington
5 NC State
6 Oklahoma A&M
7 UCLA
8 Indiana
9 Seton Hall
10 Saint Louis
11 Holy Cross
12 Santa Clara
13 Notre Dame
14 Duquesne
15 Wyoming
16 St. John's
17
(tie) 		BYU
Minnesota
19 Kansas
20 St. Bonaventure

Conference membership changes

School Former conference New conference
Arizona State College-Flagstaff Lumberjacks Border Conference Non-major basketball program
Bowling Green State Falcons Independent Mid-American Conference
Evansville Purple Aces Ohio Valley Conference Non-major basketball program
Marshall Thundering Herd Ohio Valley Conference Independent
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Non-major basketball program Ohio Valley Conference
Pacific Tigers Non-major basketball program California Basketball Association
Saint Mary's (Calif.) Gaels Independent California Basketball Association
San Francisco Dons Independent California Basketball Association
San Jose State Spartans Independent California Basketball Association
Santa Clara Broncos Independent California Basketball Association

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference Regular
season winner[8] 		Conference
player of the year 		Conference
tournament 		Tournament
venue (City) 		Tournament
winner
Big Seven Conference Kansas None selected No Tournament
Big Ten Conference Indiana None selected No Tournament
Border Conference Arizona & Hardin-Simmons No Tournament
California Basketball Association Santa Clara None selected No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Penn None selected No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference Manhattan No Tournament
Mid-American Conference Miami (OH) None selected No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference Oklahoma A&M None selected No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference Wyoming No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference Eastern Kentucky State None selected 1953 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky) Western Kentucky State
Pacific Coast Conference Washington (North); California (South) No Tournament;
Washington defeated California in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Southeastern Conference LSU None selected No Tournament
Southern Conference NC State Frank Selvy, Furman[9] 1953 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Reynolds Coliseum
(Raleigh, North Carolina)		 Wake Forest[10]
Southwest Conference TCU None selected No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference Niagara No Tournament
Yankee Conference Connecticut None selected No Tournament

Conference standings

1952–53 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Kansas 10 – 2   .833 19 – 6   .760
No. 12 Kansas State 9 – 3   .750 17 – 4   .810
Missouri 6 – 6   .500 11 – 9   .550
Iowa State 5 – 7   .417 10 – 11   .476
Oklahoma 5 – 7   .417 8 – 13   .381
Nebraska 4 – 8   .333 9 – 11   .450
Colorado 3 – 9   .250 10 – 11   .476
Rankings from AP Poll[11]
1952–53 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Indiana 17 – 1   .944 23 – 3   .885
No. 11 Illinois 14 – 4   .778 18 – 4   .818
Minnesota 11 – 7   .611 14 – 8   .636
Michigan State 11 – 7   .611 13 – 9   .591
Wisconsin 10 – 8   .556 13 – 9   .591
Iowa 9 – 9   .500 12 – 10   .545
Ohio State 7 – 11   .389 10 – 12   .455
Northwestern 5 – 13   .278 6 – 16   .273
Michigan 3 – 15   .167 6 – 16   .273
Purdue 3 – 15   .167 4 – 18   .182
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Border Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Hardin–Simmons 11 – 3   .786 19 – 12   .613
Arizona 11 – 3   .786 13 – 11   .542
Arizona State–Tempe 10 – 4   .714 13 – 12   .520
Texas Tech 9 – 5   .643 12 – 10   .545
West Texas State 5 – 9   .357 8 – 13   .381
New Mexico A&M 5 – 9   .357 7 – 17   .292
Texas Western 3 – 11   .214 4 – 21   .160
Arizona State–Flagstaff 2 – 12   .143 4 – 19   .174
† Regular-season co-championship winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 California Basketball Association men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 16 Santa Clara† 6 – 2   .750 17 – 7   .708
San Francisco 6 – 2   .750 10 – 11   .476
San Jose State 4 – 4   .500 15 – 8   .652
Saint Mary's 4 – 4   .500 9 – 11   .450
Pacific –   – 2 – 18   .100
† Regular-season championship winner
Rankings from AP Poll[12]
1952–53 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Pennsylvania 10 – 2   .833 22 – 5   .815
Columbia 8 – 4   .667 17 – 6   .739
Cornell 6 – 6   .500 9 – 12   .429
Yale 6 – 6   .500 10 – 15   .400
Dartmouth 5 – 7   .417 12 – 14   .462
Princeton 5 – 7   .417 9 – 14   .391
Harvard 2 – 10   .167 7 – 16   .304
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Manhattan 6 – 0   1.000 20 – 6   .769
No. 7 St. John's 5 – 1   .833 17 – 6   .739
Fordham 4 – 2   .667 18 – 8   .692
St. Francis (NY) 2 – 3   .400 19 – 7   .731
NYU 1 – 3   .250 9 – 11   .450
CCNY 1 – 5   .167 10 – 6   .625
Brooklyn 0 – 5   .000 6 – 11   .353
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Miami (Ohio) 10 – 2   .833 17 – 6   .739
Toledo 9 – 3   .750 16 – 7   .696
Cincinnati 9 – 3   .750 11 – 13   .458
Western Michigan 6 – 6   .500 12 – 9   .571
Ohio 4 – 8   .333 9 – 13   .409
Kent State 3 – 9   .250 7 – 15   .318
Western Reserve 1 – 11   .083 5 – 17   .227
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Oklahoma A&M 8 – 2   .800 23 – 7   .767
Tulsa 5 – 5   .500 15 – 10   .600
Saint Louis 5 – 5   .500 16 – 11   .593
Houston 5 – 5   .500 9 – 13   .409
Detroit 4 – 6   .400 12 – 14   .462
Wichita Municipal 3 – 7   .300 16 – 11   .593
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Wyoming 12 – 2   .857 20 – 10   .667
BYU 11 – 3   .786 22 – 8   .733
Utah State 7 – 7   .500 17 – 13   .567
Montana 6 – 8   .429 14 – 11   .560
Colorado A&M 5 – 9   .357 12 – 14   .462
New Mexico 5 – 9   .357 10 – 14   .417
Utah 5 – 9   .357 10 – 14   .417
Denver 5 – 9   .357 9 – 16   .360
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Eastern Kentucky State 9 – 1   .900 16 – 9   .640
No. 17 Western Kentucky State† 8 – 2   .800 25 – 6   .806
Murray State –   – 18 – 9   .667
Tennessee Tech –   – 14 – 11   .560
Morehead State –   – 13 – 12   .520
Middle Tennessee –   – 7 – 16   .304
† Ohio Valley Conference Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North
No. 4 Washington † 15 – 1   .938 30 – 3   .909
Idaho 8 – 8   .500 15 – 12   .556
Oregon 8 – 8   .500 14 – 14   .500
Oregon State 6 – 10   .375 11 – 18   .379
Washington State 3 – 13   .188 7 – 27   .206
South
California 9 – 3   .750 16 – 10   .615
USC 7 – 5   .583 17 – 5   .773
UCLA 6 – 0   1.000 16 – 8   .667
Stanford 2 – 10   .167 7 – 20   .259
† Conference playoff series winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 LSU 13 – 0   1.000 22 – 3   .880
Tulane 9 – 4   .692 12 – 6   .667
Florida 8 – 5   .615 13 – 6   .684
Tennessee 7 – 6   .538 13 – 8   .619
Auburn 6 – 7   .462 13 – 8   .619
Alabama 6 – 7   .462 12 – 9   .571
Ole Miss 5 – 8   .385 14 – 11   .560
Vanderbilt 5 – 8   .385 10 – 9   .526
Mississippi State 5 – 8   .385 9 – 10   .474
Georgia Tech 4 – 9   .308 5 – 17   .227
Georgia 3 – 10   .231 7 – 18   .280
Rankings from AP Poll[13]
1952–53 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 18 North Carolina State 13 – 3   .813 26 – 6   .813
No. 15 Wake Forest † 12 – 3   .800 19 – 6   .760
Maryland 12 – 3   .800 15 – 8   .652
West Virginia 11 – 3   .786 19 – 17   .528
Furman 10 – 3   .769 21 – 6   .778
Duke 12 – 4   .750 17 – 8   .680
Richmond 13 – 5   .722 21 – 7   .750
North Carolina 15 – 6   .714 17 – 10   .630
George Washington 12 – 6   .667 15 – 7   .682
Clemson 6 – 8   .429 8 – 10   .444
South Carolina 7 – 12   .368 11 – 13   .458
William & Mary 6 – 13   .316 10 – 13   .435
Virginia Tech 4 – 13   .235 4 – 19   .174
Davidson 3 – 14   .176 4 – 16   .200
VMI 1 – 14   .067 5 – 19   .208
Washington and Lee 1 – 17   .056 2 – 20   .091
The Citadel 0 – 11   .000 4 – 14   .222
† Southern Conference Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
TCU 9 – 3   .750 16 – 8   .667
Rice 8 – 4   .667 15 – 6   .714
Texas 8 – 4   .667 12 – 9   .571
Baylor 6 – 6   .500 10 – 11   .476
Arkansas 4 – 8   .333 10 – 11   .476
SMU 4 – 8   .333 8 – 12   .400
Texas A&M 3 – 9   .250 6 – 15   .286
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Western New York Little Three Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Niagara 4 – 0   1.000 22 – 6   .786
St. Bonaventure 1 – 3   .250 10 – 11   .476
Canisius 1 – 3   .250 9 – 14   .391
Rankings from AP Poll
1952–53 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Connecticut 5 – 1   .833 17 – 4   .810
Rhode Island 6 – 2   .750 13 – 10   .565
Maine 3 – 4   .429 7 – 10   .412
Vermont 1 – 2   .333 11 – 10   .524
New Hampshire 2 – 5   .286 8 – 10   .444
Massachusetts 1 – 4   .200 4 – 15   .211

Major independents

A total of 44 college teams played as major independents. Among them, Seton Hall (31–2) finished with both the best winning percentage (.939) and the most wins.[14]

Although not considered a major independent during the season,[14] Southwest Missouri State (24–4) played as an independent[14] and was ranked No. 20 in the season's final AP Poll.[15]

1952–53 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Seton Hall –   – 31 – 2   .939
No. 14 Seattle –   – 29 – 3   .906
No. 6 La Salle –   – 25 – 3   .893
No. 10 Notre Dame –   – 19 – 5   .792
Louisville –   – 22 – 6   .786
No. 13 Holy Cross –   – 20 – 6   .769
Navy –   – 16 – 5   .762
Oklahoma City –   – 18 – 6   .750
No. 9 Duquesne –   – 21 – 8   .724
Villanova –   – 19 – 8   .704
No. 19 DePaul –   – 19 – 9   .679
Georgetown –   – 13 – 7   .650
Penn State –   – 15 – 9   .625
Temple –   – 16 – 10   .615
Butler –   – 14 – 9   .609
Lehigh –   – 12 – 8   .600
Baldwin Wallace –   – 13 – 9   .591
Army –   – 11 – 8   .579
Colgate –   – 12 – 9   .571
Muhlenberg –   – 13 – 10   .565
St. Joseph's –   – 14 – 11   .560
Bradley –   – 15 – 12   .556
Dayton –   – 16 – 13   .552
Marquette –   – 13 – 11   .542
Pittsburgh –   – 12 – 11   .522
Drake –   – 13 – 12   .520
Lafayette –   – 13 – 12   .520
Loyola (La.) –   – 14 – 13   .519
Gonzaga –   – 15 – 14   .517
Loyola (Calif.) –   – 14 – 14   .500
John Carroll –   – 13 – 14   .481
Xavier –   – 11 – 12   .478
Siena –   – 10 – 11   .476
Bowling Green State –   – 12 – 15   .444
Creighton –   – 11 – 14   .440
Virginia –   – 10 – 13   .435
Miami (Fla.) –   – 9 – 12   .429
Syracuse –   – 7 – 11   .389
Rutgers –   – 8 – 13   .381
Valparaiso –   – 9 – 15   .375
Loyola (Ill.) –   – 8 – 15   .348
Boston College –   – 7 – 15   .318
Brown –   – 5 – 14   .263
Bucknell –   – 3 – 16   .158
Rankings from AP Poll

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1953 NCAA basketball tournament and 1953 NCAA Basketball Championship Game

Final Four

National semifinals National finals
    
LSU 67
Indiana 80
Indiana 69
Kansas 68
Kansas 79
Washington 53 Third place
LSU 69
Washington 88

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1953 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals Finals
    
St. John's 64
Duquesne 55
St. John's 46
Seton Hall 58
Manhattan 56
Seton Hall 74 Third place
Duquesne 81
Manhattan 67

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1953 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Ernie Beck F Senior Pennsylvania
Walter Dukes C Senior Seton Hall
Tom Gola F Sophomore La Salle
Bob Houbregs F Senior Washington
Johnny O'Brien G Senior Seattle


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Dick Knostman F Senior Kansas State
Bob Pettit C Junior Louisiana State
Joe Richey G Senior Brigham Young
Don Schlundt C Sophomore Indiana
Frank Selvy G Junior Furman

Major player of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

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

Team Former
Coach 		Interim
Coach 		New
Coach 		Reason
Kansas State Jack Gardner Tex Winter
Marquette Tex Winter Jack Nagle
Pittsburgh Doc Carlson Bob Timmons
Utah Vadal Peterson Jack Gardner

References

  1. ^ orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
  2. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Non-Collegiate Opponents". Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Joe, "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops" - ESPN - November 19, 2003
  4. ^ a b "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 13. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  5. ^ "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 11. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  6. ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  7. ^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  9. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  10. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  11. ^ sports-reference.com 1952-53 Big Seven Conference Season Summary
  12. ^ sports-reference.com 1952-53 California Basketball Association Season Summary
  13. ^ sports-reference.com 1952-53 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
  14. ^ a b c "1952-53 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "1952-53 Men's College Basketball AP Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
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