Year: | 1955–56 |
Team: | San Francisco Dons |
Sport: | Basketball |
Conference: | California Basketball Association |
Short Conf: | CBA |
Coachrank: | 1 |
Aprank: | 1 |
Record: | 29–0 |
Conf Record: | 14–0 |
Head Coach: | Phil Woolpert |
Hc Year: | 6th |
Asst Coach1: | Ross Giudice |
Stadium: | Kezar Pavilion |
Champion: | NCAA tournament National champions CBA regular season champions |
Tourney: | National Championship Game |
Tourney Result: | W 83-71 vs. Iowa |
The 1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the California Basketball Association during the 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season. The Dons ended the season undefeated, becoming the first NCAA tournament champion to record a perfect season and the first team to go wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the AP and UP polls. San Francisco finished the season with a 29–0 record (14–0 CBA) and had won 55 consecutive games.
San Francisco won two straight NCAA titles behind a punishing defense led by Bill Russell, who turned shot blocking into an art form. He was also better scorer than history gives him credit for, averaging more than 20 points in both championship seasons. In 1956, Russell had support from guard K.C. Jones and a balanced lineup; besides Russell, five other players averaged between 7.1 and 9.8 points per game.
|-!colspan=9 style=| Regular Season|-!colspan=9 style=| NCAA Tournament[2]
See main article: 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball rankings. [3] [4]
See main article: 1956 NBA draft.
1 | 2 | Bill Russell | Boston Celtics |
2 | 1 | KC Jones | Boston Celtics |
7 | 50 | Carl Boldt | Detroit Pistons |