1954–55 NCAA men's basketball season

1954–55 NCAA men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1None
NCAA Tournament1955
Tournament datesMarch 8 – 19, 1955
National ChampionshipMunicipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA ChampionsSan Francisco
Helms National ChampionsSan Francisco
Other championsDuquesne (NIT)
Player of the Year
(Helms)		Bill Russell, San Francisco

The 1954–55 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1954, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1955 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 19, 1955, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The San Francisco Dons won their first NCAA national championship with a 77–63 victory over the La Salle Explorers.

Rule changes

  • The "one-and-one" free throw was introduced, allowing a player to attempt a second free throw after a foul if he made the first free throw. Previously, a player shot only one free throw after a foul.[1]
  • Games once again are divided into two 20-minute halves, as had been the practice through the 1950–51 season. From the 1951–52 season though the 1953–54 season, games had been divided into four 10-minute quarters.[1]

Season headlines

  • Tom Gola of La Salle completed his collegiate career (1952–1955) with a total of 2,462 points and 2,201 rebounds, making him the first player to achieve 2,000 or more points and 2,000 or more rebounds in his career.[2]
  • Gola was named the 1955 player of the year by United Press (later United Press International), the first player to be recognized as the national player of the year.[2]
  • Head coach Phil Woolpert of San Francisco was named coach of the year by United Press (the future United Press International), becoming the first person to be recognized as national coach of the year.[3]
  • The Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League disbanded at the end of the season. Its teams, history, and heritage were absorbed into the Ivy League the following season.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

Main article: 1954–55 NCAA men's basketball rankings

The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.[4][5]

Associated Press
Ranking Team
1 La Salle
2 Kentucky
3 Duquesne
4 Iowa
5 Holy Cross
6 Indiana
7 Dayton
8 Niagara
9 Notre Dame
10 NC State
11 Oklahoma A&M
12 Saint Louis
13 UCLA
14 Illinois
15 Wichita
16 Utah
17
(tie) 		Duke
Wake Forest
19 Penn State
20 Western Kentucky State
UP Coaches
Ranking Team
1 La Salle
2 Iowa
3 Duquesne
4 Kentucky
5 Indiana
6 Illinois
7 NC State
8 Holy Cross
9 UCLA
10 Niagara
11 Notre Dame
12 Dayton
13
(tie) 		Saint Louis
Utah
15 USC
16 DePaul
17
(tie) 		Oklahoma A&M
Oregon State
19 Cincinnati
20 Wichita

Arenas

  • Kansas began playing at Allen Fieldhouse late in the season, on March 1, 1955. The arena was named for Kansas's coach at the time, Phog Allen. Allen Fieldhouse would eventually give Kansas one of the top college basketball home-court advantages in the United States.[6]

Regular season

Conference

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference Regular
season winner[7] 		Conference
player of the year 		Conference
tournament 		Tournament
venue (City) 		Tournament
winner
Atlantic Coast Conference NC State Dickie Hemric, Wake Forest[8] 1955 ACC men's basketball tournament Reynolds Coliseum
(Raleigh, North Carolina)		 NC State
Big Seven Conference Colorado None selected No Tournament
Big Ten Conference Iowa None selected No Tournament
Border Conference Texas Tech & West Texas A&M No Tournament
California Basketball Association San Francisco Ken Sears, Santa Clara No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Princeton None selected No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference Manhattan No Tournament
Mid-American Conference Miami (OH) None selected No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference Saint Louis & Tulsa None selected No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference Utah No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference Western Kentucky State None selected 1955 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky) Eastern Kentucky State
Pacific Coast Conference Oregon State (North); UCLA (South) No Tournament;
Oregon State defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference playoff series
Southeastern Conference Kentucky None selected No Tournament
Southern Conference West Virginia Darrell Floyd, Furman[9] 1955 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Richmond Arena
(Richmond, Virginia)		 West Virginia[10]
Southwest Conference SMU None selected No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference Niagara No Tournament
Yankee Conference Connecticut None selected No Tournament

Conference standings

1954–55 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 NC State † 12 – 2   .857 28 – 4   .875
Duke 11 – 3   .786 20 – 8   .714
Maryland 10 – 4   .714 17 – 7   .708
Wake Forest 8 – 6   .571 17 – 10   .630
North Carolina 8 – 6   .571 10 – 11   .476
Virginia 5 – 9   .357 14 – 15   .483
South Carolina 2 – 12   .143 10 – 17   .370
Clemson 0 – 14   .000 2 – 21   .087
† 1955 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 15 Colorado 11 – 1   .917 19 – 6   .760
Missouri 9 – 3   .750 16 – 5   .762
Kansas State 6 – 6   .500 11 – 10   .524
Nebraska 6 – 6   .500 9 – 12   .429
Kansas 5 – 7   .417 11 – 10   .524
Iowa State 4 – 8   .333 11 – 10   .524
Oklahoma 1 – 11   .083 3 – 18   .143
Rankings from AP Poll[11]
1954–55 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 Iowa 11 – 3   .786 19 – 7   .731
No. 18 Illinois 10 – 4   .714 17 – 5   .773
No. 11 Minnesota 10 – 4   .714 15 – 7   .682
Michigan State 8 – 6   .571 13 – 9   .591
Northwestern 7 – 7   .500 12 – 10   .545
Purdue 5 – 9   .357 12 – 10   .545
Michigan 5 – 9   .357 11 – 11   .500
Wisconsin 5 – 9   .357 10 – 12   .455
Indiana 5 – 9   .357 8 – 14   .364
Ohio State 4 – 10   .286 10 – 12   .455
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Border Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
West Texas State 9 – 3   .750 15 – 7   .682
Texas Tech 9 – 3   .750 18 – 7   .720
Texas Western 8 – 4   .667 13 – 8   .619
Arizona State–Tempe 8 – 4   .667 10 – 14   .417
Hardin–Simmons 4 – 8   .333 9 – 15   .375
Arizona 3 – 9   .250 8 – 17   .320
New Mexico A&M 1 – 11   .083 6 – 13   .316
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 California Basketball Association men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 San Francisco 12 – 0   1.000 28 – 1   .966
San Jose State 7 – 5   .583 16 – 9   .640
Santa Clara 6 – 6   .500 13 – 11   .542
Pacific 4 – 8   .333 11 – 15   .423
Saint Mary's 1 – 11   .083 6 – 19   .240
Rankings from AP Poll[12]
1954–55 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Princeton† 10 – 4   .714 13 – 12   .520
Pennsylvania 10 – 4   .714 19 – 6   .760
Columbia 12 – 5   .706 17 – 8   .680
Dartmouth 9 – 5   .643 18 – 7   .720
Cornell 8 – 6   .571 10 – 13   .435
Brown 3 – 11   .214 7 – 18   .280
Harvard 3 – 11   .214 6 – 17   .261
Yale 3 – 11   .214 3 – 21   .125
† Regular-season championship winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Manhattan 6 – 0   1.000 18 – 5   .783
St. John's 5 – 11   .313 9 – 0   1.000
Fordham 3 – 2   .600 18 – 9   .667
St. Francis (NY) 3 – 3   .500 18 – 8   .692
Brooklyn 1 – 3   .250 7 – 11   .389
NYU 1 – 3   .250 7 – 13   .350
CCNY 0 – 6   .000 8 – 10   .444
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Miami (Ohio) 11 – 3   .786 14 – 9   .609
Marshall 10 – 4   .714 17 – 4   .810
Ohio 9 – 5   .643 16 – 5   .762
Western Michigan 9 – 5   .643 12 – 10   .545
Kent State 5 – 9   .357 8 – 14   .364
Bowling Green 5 – 9   .357 6 – 16   .273
Toledo 4 – 10   .286 5 – 17   .227
Western Reserve 3 – 11   .214 8 – 14   .364
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 16 Tulsa 8 – 2   .800 21 – 7   .750
No. 20 Saint Louis 8 – 2   .800 20 – 8   .714
Oklahoma A&M 5 – 5   .500 12 – 13   .480
Wichita Municipal 4 – 6   .400 17 – 9   .654
Houston 3 – 7   .300 15 – 10   .600
Detroit 2 – 8   .200 15 – 11   .577
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Utah 13 – 1   .929 24 – 4   .857
BYU 10 – 4   .714 13 – 13   .500
Utah State 9 – 5   .643 15 – 7   .682
Wyoming 9 – 5   .643 17 – 9   .654
Colorado A&M 5 – 9   .357 11 – 12   .478
Montana 4 – 10   .286 12 – 14   .462
Denver 4 – 10   .286 9 – 14   .391
New Mexico 2 – 12   .143 7 – 17   .292
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Western Kentucky State 8 – 2   .800 18 – 10   .643
Eastern Kentucky State† 6 – 4   .600 15 – 8   .652
Murray State 6 – 4   .600 11 – 15   .423
Morehead State –   – 14 – 10   .583
Tennessee Tech –   – 9 – 11   .450
Middle Tennessee –   – 11 – 16   .407
† Ohio Valley Conference Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North
No. 10 Oregon State † 15 – 1   .938 22 – 8   .733
Oregon 8 – 8   .500 13 – 13   .500
Washington 7 – 9   .438 13 – 12   .520
Washington State 5 – 11   .313 11 – 15   .423
Idaho 5 – 11   .313 8 – 18   .308
South
No. 13 UCLA 11 – 1   .917 21 – 5   .808
Stanford 7 – 5   .583 17 – 8   .680
USC 5 – 7   .417 14 – 11   .560
California 1 – 11   .083 9 – 16   .360
† Conference playoff series winner
Rankings from AP Poll[13]
1954–55 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Kentucky 12 – 2   .857 23 – 3   .885
No. 12 Alabama 11 – 3   .786 19 – 5   .792
No. 17 Vanderbilt 9 – 5   .643 16 – 6   .727
Tulane 9 – 5   .643 14 – 6   .700
Tennessee 8 – 6   .571 15 – 7   .682
Georgia Tech 7 – 7   .500 12 – 13   .480
Georgia 7 – 7   .500 9 – 16   .360
Auburn 6 – 8   .429 11 – 9   .550
Florida 5 – 9   .357 12 – 10   .545
Ole Miss 5 – 9   .357 8 – 15   .348
LSU 3 – 11   .214 6 – 18   .250
Mississippi State 2 – 12   .143 6 – 17   .261
Rankings from AP Poll[14]
1954–55 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 19 West Virginia † 9 – 1   .900 19 – 11   .633
No. 14 George Washington 8 – 2   .800 24 – 6   .800
Richmond 10 – 4   .714 19 – 9   .679
Washington and Lee 8 – 5   .615 16 – 13   .552
Furman 6 – 4   .600 17 – 10   .630
William & Mary 7 – 5   .583 11 – 14   .440
Davidson 4 – 6   .400 8 – 13   .381
VMI 4 – 9   .308 8 – 15   .348
Virginia Tech 4 – 14   .222 7 – 20   .259
The Citadel 0 – 10   .000 0 – 17   .000
† Southern Conference Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
SMU 9 – 3   .750 15 – 10   .600
TCU 8 – 4   .667 17 – 7   .708
Arkansas 8 – 4   .667 14 – 9   .609
Baylor 7 – 5   .583 13 – 11   .542
Rice 6 – 6   .500 10 – 12   .455
Texas 3 – 9   .250 4 – 20   .167
Texas A&M 1 – 11   .083 4 – 20   .167
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Western New York Little Three Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Niagara 3 – 1   .750 20 – 6   .769
Canisius 2 – 2   .500 18 – 7   .720
St. Bonaventure 1 – 3   .250 13 – 10   .565
Rankings from AP Poll
1954–55 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Connecticut 7 – 0   1.000 20 – 5   .800
Vermont 4 – 1   .800 6 – 15   .286
Massachusetts 4 – 2   .667 10 – 14   .417
Rhode Island 5 – 3   .625 17 – 10   .630
Maine 1 – 7   .125 4 – 13   .235
New Hampshire 1 – 9   .100 4 – 14   .222

Major independents

A total of 44 college teams played as major independents. Among them, Holy Cross (24–3) had the best winning percentage (.889) and La Salle (26–5) finished with the most wins.[15]

1954–55 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Marquette –   – 24 – 3   .889
Lafayette –   – 23 – 3   .885
No. 9 Dayton –   – 25 – 4   .862
No. 6 Duquesne –   – 22 – 4   .846
No. 3 La Salle –   – 26 – 5   .839
Seattle –   – 22 – 7   .759
Holy Cross –   – 19 – 7   .731
DePaul –   – 16 – 6   .727
Cincinnati –   – 21 – 8   .724
Louisville –   – 19 – 8   .704
Seton Hall –   – 17 – 9   .654
Penn State –   – 18 – 10   .643
Villanova –   – 18 – 10   .643
Loyola (Calif.) –   – 16 – 9   .640
John Carroll –   – 14 – 9   .609
Loyola (La.) –   – 14 – 9   .609
Notre Dame –   – 14 – 10   .583
Gonzaga –   – 15 – 11   .577
Muhlenberg –   – 14 – 11   .560
Colgate –   – 11 – 9   .550
Navy –   – 11 – 9   .550
Loyola (Ill.) –   – 13 – 11   .542
Valparaiso –   – 13 – 11   .542
Temple –   – 11 – 10   .524
Army –   – 9 – 9   .500
Xavier –   – 13 – 13   .500
Georgetown –   – 12 – 13   .480
Iona –   – 10 – 11   .476
Lehigh –   – 10 – 11   .476
Syracuse –   – 10 – 11   .476
Saint Joseph's –   – 12 – 14   .462
Miami (Fla.) –   – 9 – 11   .450
Drake –   – 9 – 12   .429
Butler –   – 10 – 14   .417
Portland –   – 9 – 13   .409
Pittsburgh –   – 10 – 16   .385
Washington University –   – 8 – 14   .364
Oklahoma City –   – 9 – 18   .333
Bradley –   – 9 – 20   .310
Boston College –   – 8 – 18   .308
Creighton –   – 5 – 14   .263
Siena –   – 3 – 13   .188
Bucknell –   – 3 – 18   .143
Rutgers –   – 2 – 22   .083
Rankings from AP Poll

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1955 NCAA basketball tournament and 1955 NCAA Basketball Championship Game

Final Four

National semifinals National finals
    
Iowa 73
La Salle 76
La Salle 63
San Francisco 77
Colorado 50
San Francisco 62 Third place
Iowa 54
Colorado 75

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1955 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals Finals
    
Duquesne 65
Cincinnati 61
Duquesne 70
Dayton 58
St. Francis (Pa.) 73
Dayton 79 Third place
Cincinnati 96
St. Francis (Pa.) 91

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1955 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Dick Garmaker G Senior Minnesota
Tom Gola F Senior La Salle
Sihugo Green G Junior Duquesne
Dick Ricketts F/C Senior Duquesne
Bill Russell C Junior San Francisco


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Darrell Floyd G Junior Furman
Robin Freeman G Junior Ohio State
Dickie Hemric C Senior Wake Forest
Don Schlundt C Senior Indiana
Ronnie Shavlik F/C Junior North Carolina State

Major player of the year awards

Major coach 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
La Salle Ken Loeffler Jim Pollard
Oklahoma Bruce Drake Doyle Parrack
Oklahoma City Doyle Parrack Abe Lemons
Texas A&M John Floyd Ken Loeffler

References

  1. ^ a b orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
  2. ^ a b "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 13. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  3. ^ "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 12. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  4. ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  5. ^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "King's Court: Home sweet home". ESPN.com. January 16, 2013.
  7. ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  8. ^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14
  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 1954-55 Big Seven Conference Season Summary
  12. ^ sports-reference.com 1954-55 California Basketball Association Season Summary
  13. ^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  14. ^ sports-reference.com 1954-55 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
  15. ^ "1954-55 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
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