| Year: | 1951 |
| Preseason Ap: | None Kentucky (UP) |
| Tourney Start: | March 21, 1952 |
| Nc Date: | March 26, 1952 |
| Champ Stad: | Hec Edmundson Pavilion |
| Champ City: | Seattle, Washington |
| Champ: | Kansas Jayhawks |
| Helmschamp: | Kansas Jayhawks |
| Nit Champ: | La Salle Explorers |
| Helmspoy: | Clyde Lovellette, Kansas |
The 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1951, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1952 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1952, at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle, Washington. The Kansas Jayhawks won their first NCAA national championship with an 80–63 victory over the St. John's Redmen.
On January 21, 1952, the Harlem Globetrotters played Seattle in a game designed to raise funds for the United States Olympic efforts. Five days before the game was held, Royal Brougham received a call from Howard Hobson, who was the Yale basketball coach and a United States Olympic Committee member. It was reported that money was needed to support the country's Olympic effort for the games held in Helsinki, Finland. The Globetrotters had agreed to a three-game fund-raiser against college teams in the West, Midwest and East.[8]
Tickets cost $1.50 and they were sold out in 48 hours.[8] Jazz great Louis Armstrong played at halftime and actress Joan Caulfield performed a ceremonial opening tip off. The game was played at the University of Washington's Hec Edmondson Pavilion and was filled to its 12,500 capacity.
The Globetrotters were considered the best basketball team in the world and the club paid their two star players "Goose" Tatum and Marques Hayes twenty five thousand dollars each.[9] Entering the game with Seattle, the Globetrotters had played 3571 games winning 93 percent of their contests.[9]
Seattle player Johnny O'Brien was the nation's leading scorer at that time. O'Brien would become the first player in the history of college basketball to score 1000 points in a single season.[10] He would finish the season with 1,051 points. Against the Globetrotters, O'Brien poured in 43 points. Johnny's brother Eddie played point guard for Chieftains and his half court shot lifted the club to a 10-point lead.
After halftime, the Globetrotters got back in the game as Johnny O'Brien sat out most of the third quarter. With seconds left in the game, the Globetrotters called a time out they did not have. A free throw was made by Johnny O'Brien and there was a possession change. The Chieftains were ahead 84–81.
Globetrotter owner Abe Saperstein was so upset that he canceled the rest of the Trotters benefit schedule that year.[9]
Beginning in 1951–52, the following rules change was implemented:
| School | Former conference | New conference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri Valley Conference | Independent | ||
| Missouri Valley Conference | Independent | ||
| Non-major basketball program | Mid-American Conference | ||
| Non-major independent | Mountain States (Skyline) Conference | ||
| Border Conference | Mountain States (Skyline) Conference | ||
| Independent | Mid-American Conference |
| Conference | Regular Season Winner[13] | Conference player of the year | Conference Tournament | Tournament Venue (City) | Tournament winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| & | None Selected | No Tournament | ||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| Miami & | None Selected | No Tournament | ||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky) | Western Kentucky State | ||||
| None Selected | No Tournament; UCLA defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | |||||
| None Selected | Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky) | Kentucky | ||||
| Dick Groat, Duke[14] | Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina) | North Carolina State[15] | ||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| Canisius & | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
A total of 45 college teams played as major independents. Among them, (25–3) finished with the best winning percentage (.853) and (28–5) with the most wins.[16] [17]
Although not considered major independents during the season,[16] Seattle (27–8) and (30–1) played as independents[16] and finished the season with national rankings. In the season's final AP Poll, Seattle was ranked No. 18 and Texas State was No. 20.[18]
| "Points per game | Rebounds per game | Assists per game | Field goal percentage | ||||||||||||
| Player | School | PPG | Player | School | RPG | Player | School | APG | Player | School | FG% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28.4 | 20.9 | 7.9 | 51.6 | ||||||||||||
| 26.0 | 19.7 | 7.6 | Gerald Rogers | 50.4 | |||||||||||
| 25.5 | 19.0 | Malcolm McLean | 7.5 | 50.3 | |||||||||||
| 25.5 | Elston Tuttle | 18.9 | Larry Friedman | 7.3 | Karl Klinar | 49.2 | |||||||||
| 24.6 | 18.2 | Roger Chadwick | 6.9 | 49.1 |
| Free throw percentage | |||
| Name | School | FT% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sy Chadroff | 80.5 | ||
| 80.3 | |||
| Drew Turner | 80.2 | ||
| 80.2 | |||
| Russell Rerucha | 80.0 |
See main article: 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball rankings.
The final regular-season top 20 from the AP and Coaches Polls.[21]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See main article: 1952 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Phog Allen led the Kansas Jayhawks to their first NCAA tournament title, defeating St. John's 80–63. Jayhawk All-American Clyde Lovellette broke the NCAA record by scoring 141 points in the tournament and was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.[21]
See main article: 1952 National Invitation Tournament. La Salle won the National Invitation Tournament by beating Dayton, 75–64. Tom Gola and Norm Grekin were named co-MVPs.[22]
Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City
See main article: 1952 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.
| Player | Position | Class | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Darling | C | Senior | Iowa | |
| Rod Fletcher | G | Senior | Illinois | |
| Dick Groat | G | Senior | Duke | |
| Cliff Hagan | F | Junior | Kentucky | |
| Clyde Lovellette | C | Senior | Kansas |
| Player | Position | Class | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Houbregs | F | Junior | Washington | |
| Don Meineke | F | Senior | Dayton | |
| Johnny O'Brien | G | Junior | Seattle | |
| Mark Workman | C | Senior | West Virginia | |
| Bob Zawoluk | F | Senior | St. John's |
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown | Buddy O'Grady | Buddy Jeannette | After three seasons, O'Grady resigned.[23] | |
| North Carolina | Tom Scott | Frank McGuire | ||
| St. John's | Frank McGuire | Al DeStefano | ||
| Temple | Josh Cody | Harry Litwack | ||
| Washington & Lee | Scotty Hamilton | Billy McCann | ||