1954–55 NCAA men's basketball season explained

Year:	1954
Preseason Ap:	None
Tourney Start:	March 8
Nc Date:	19, 1955
Champ Stad:	Municipal Auditorium
Champ City:	Kansas City, Missouri
Champ:	San Francisco
Helmschamp:	San Francisco
Nit Champ:	Duquesne
Helmspoy:	Bill Russell,

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

See 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
		Dickie Hemric, ^[8]		Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	NC State
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
	&		No Tournament
		Ken Sears,	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
			No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
			No Tournament
		None selected		Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)	Eastern Kentucky State
			No Tournament; Oregon State defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference playoff series
		None selected	No Tournament
		Darrell Floyd, Furman^[9]		Richmond Arena (Richmond, Virginia)	West Virginia^[10]
		None selected	No Tournament
			No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

Major independents

A total of 44 college teams played as major independents. Among them, (24–3) had the best winning percentage (.889) and La Salle (26–5) finished with the most wins.^[11]

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

See main article: 1955 NCAA basketball tournament and 1955 NCAA Basketball Championship Game.

Final Four

• Third Place – Colorado 75, Iowa 54

National Invitation tournament

See main article: 1955 National Invitation Tournament.

Semifinals & finals

• Third Place – Cincinnati 96, St. Francis (Pa.) 91

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

See 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

• Helms Player of the Year: Bill Russell, San Francisco
• UP Player of the Year: Tom Gola, La Salle

Major coach of the year awards

• UP Coach of the Year: Phil Woolpert, San Francisco

Other major awards

• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Ed Conlin, Fordham

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

Notes and References

1. http://www.orangehoops.org/NCAA/NCAA%20Rule%20Changes.htm orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
2. Web site: Playing Rules History . . . ncaa.org . NCAA . June 25, 2024 . 13.
3. Web site: Playing Rules History . . . ncaa.org . NCAA . June 25, 2024 . 12.
4. Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia . 978-0-345-51392-2 . . 2009 . 836.
5. Web site: 1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll. College Poll Archive. August 8, 2020.
6. Web site: King's Court: Home sweet home. ESPN.com. 16 January 2013 .
7. News: 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2009. NCAA. 2009-02-14.
8. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09mbkguide083112.pdf 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section
9. http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/honorsandawards.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section
10. http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/standingsandresults.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section
11. Web site: 1954-55 Men's Independent Season Summary . . August 9, 2024.