1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

The 1957–58 NCAA Division I men's basketball season was the highest level of competition for men's college basketball. The 1958 NCAA tournament ran from March 11 to March 22, 1958, and saw the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team win the national title over the Seattle Redhawks. Elgin Baylor, for Seattle, was named Player of the Year.

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 ConferenceDukePete Brennan, North Carolina[5]1958 ACC Men's Basketball TournamentReynolds Coliseum
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
Maryland
Big Seven ConferenceKansas StateBob Boozer, Kansas State [6]No Tournament
Big Ten ConferenceIndianaNone SelectedNo Tournament
Border ConferenceArizona StateNone SelectedNo Tournament
Ivy LeagueDartmouthNone SelectedNo Tournament
Metropolitan New York ConferenceSt. John'sNone SelectedNo Tournament
Mid-American ConferenceToledoNone SelectedNo Tournament
Missouri Valley ConferenceCincinnatiNone SelectedNo Tournament
Mountain States ConferenceIdaho StateNone SelectedNo Tournament
Ohio Valley ConferenceTennessee TechNone SelectedNo Tournament
Pacific Coast ConferenceOregon State & CaliforniaNone SelectedNo Tournament
Southeastern ConferenceKentuckyNone SelectedNo Tournament
Southern ConferenceWest VirginiaDom Flora, Washington & Lee[7]1958 Southern Conference Men's Basketball TournamentRichmond Arena
(Richmond, Virginia)
West Virginia[8]
Southwest ConferenceSouthern Methodist & ArkansasRick Herrscher, Southern Methodist (Coach Magazine)No Tournament
West Coast Athletic ConferenceSan FranciscoMike Farmer, San Francisco & Leroy Wright, Pacific[9]No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Points Per Game
Rebound Percentage
Field Goal Percentage
Free Throw Percentage
PlayerSchoolPPGPlayerSchoolREB%PlayerSchoolFG%PlayerSchoolFT%
Oscar RobertsonCincinnati35.1Boo EllisNiagara.262Ralph CrosthwaiteW. Kentucky State61.0Semi MintzDavidson88.2
Elgin BaylorSeattle32.5Al InnissSt. Francis (NY).248Oscar RobertsonCincinnati57.1Gerald MyersTexas Tech87.0
Wilt ChamberlainKansas30.1Elgin BaylorSeattle.235Pete BrunoneManhattan56.2Arlen ClarkOklahoma State86.5
Bailey HowellMississippi State27.8Wilt ChamberlainKansas.216Bob GoodallTulsa55.7Joe HobbsFlorida86.0
Red MurrellDrake26.7Joe CinceboxSyracuse.206Hal GreerMarshall54.6Hub ReedOklahoma City85.1

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
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

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

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

Team Former
Coach
Interim
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

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