1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season

1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season
1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	None
NCAA Tournament	1953
Tournament dates	March 10 – 18, 1953
National Championship	Municipal Auditorium; Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Champions	Indiana
Helms National Champions	Indiana
Other champions	Seton Hall (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Bob Houbregs, Washington
NCAA Division I basketball seasons
«1951–52	1953–54»

The 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1952, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1953 NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 18, 1953, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The Indiana Hoosiers won their second NCAA national championship with a 69–68 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.

Rule changes[]

Teams must take a free throw after a foul, as had been the practice through the 1938–39 season. Previously, under a rule that had been in effect since the 1939–40 season, a team could waive its free throw and instead take the ball at mid-court after a foul.^[1]

Season headlines[]

Prior to the season, the NCAA ruled that colleges and universities could no longer count games played against non-collegiate opponents in their annual won-loss records. Previously, it had been a common practice for many years for colleges and universities to include non-collegiate opponents in their schedules, with the games recognized as part of their official record for the season.^[2]
The California Basketball Association began play, with five original members. It would be renamed the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956 and the West Coast Conference in 1989.
The NCAA forced Kentucky to suspend its men's basketball program for the entire 1952–53 season as a result of the CCNY point-shaving scandal, which had been revealed in 1951.^[3]
The NCAA Tournament expanded from 16 to 22 teams.

Season outlook[]

Pre-season polls[]

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	Kansas State
3	Illinois
4	Seton Hall
5	Oklahoma A&M
6	NC State
7	Notre Dame
8	Holy Cross
9	Washington
10	LSU
11	Western Kentucky State
12	UCLA
13	Oklahoma City
14	St. Bonaventure
15	Tulsa
16	Minnesota
17	Saint Louis
18	California
19	Indiana
20 (tie)	Navy
20 (tie)	Kansas

UP Coaches
Ranking	Team
1	Illinois
2	Kansas State
3	La Salle
4	Washington
5	NC State
6	Oklahoma A&M
7	UCLA
8	Indiana
9	Seton Hall
10	Saint Louis
11	Holy Cross
12	Santa Clara
13	Notre Dame
14	Duquesne
15	Wyoming
16	St. John's
17 (tie)	BYU
17 (tie)	Minnesota
19	Kansas
20	St. Bonaventure

Conference membership changes[]

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Arizona State College-Flagstaff Lumberjacks	Border Conference	Non-major basketball program
Bowling Green State Falcons	Independent	Mid-American Conference
Evansville Purple Aces	Ohio Valley Conference	Non-major basketball program
Marshall Thundering Herd	Ohio Valley Conference	Independent
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders	Non-major basketball program	Ohio Valley Conference
Pacific Tigers	Non-major basketball program	California Basketball Association
Saint Mary's (Calif.) Gaels	Independent	California Basketball Association
San Francisco Dons	Independent	California Basketball Association
San Jose State Spartans	Independent	California Basketball Association
Santa Clara Broncos	Independent	California Basketball Association

Regular season[]

Conference winners and tournaments[]

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[6]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Big Seven Conference	Kansas	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Indiana	None selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	Arizona & Hardin-Simmons		No Tournament
California Basketball Association	Santa Clara	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	Manhattan		No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Miami (OH)	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Oklahoma A&M	None selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Eastern Kentucky State	None selected		Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)	Western Kentucky State
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington (North); California (South)		No Tournament; Washington defeated California in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Skyline Conference	Wyoming		No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	LSU	None selected	No Tournament
Southern Conference	NC State	Frank Selvy, Furman^[7]	1953 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Wake Forest^[8]
Southwest Conference	TCU	None selected	No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference	Niagara		No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Connecticut	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders[]

Post-Season Tournaments[]

NCAA Tournament[]

Final Four[]

National Semifinals		National Finals

LSU	67

Indiana	80
		Indiana	69

		Kansas	68
Kansas	79

Washington	53

Third Place – Washington 88, LSU 69

National Invitation Tournament[]

Semifinals & Finals[]

Semifinals			Finals

	St. John's	64

	Duquesne	55
				St. John's	46

				Seton Hall	58
	Manhattan	56

	Seton Hall	74

Third Place – Duquesne 81, Manhattan 67

Awards[]

Consensus All-American teams[]

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Ernie Beck	F	Senior	Pennsylvania
Walter Dukes	C	Senior	Seton Hall
Tom Gola	F	Sophomore	La Salle
Bob Houbregs	F	Senior	Washington
Johnny O'Brien	G	Senior	Seattle

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Dick Knostman	F	Senior	Kansas State
Bob Pettit	C	Junior	Louisiana State
Joe Richey	G	Senior	Brigham Young
Don Schlundt	C	Sophomore	Indiana
Frank Selvy	G	Junior	Furman

Major player of the year awards[]

Helms Player of the Year: Bob Houbregs, Washington

Other major awards[]

NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Walter Dukes, Seton Hall

Coaching changes[]

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

Team	Former Coach	New Coach
Kansas State	Jack Gardner	Tex Winter
Marquette	Tex Winter	Jack Nagle
Pittsburgh	Doc Carlson	Bob Timmons
Utah	Vadal Peterson	Jack Gardner

References[]

^ orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Non-Collegiate Opponents". Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
^ Goldstein, Joe, "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops" - ESPN - November 19, 2003
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[1] rangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes

[2] "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Non-Collegiate Opponents". Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2014-01-01.

[3] Goldstein, Joe, "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops" - ESPN - November 19, 2003

[ESPN-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] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.

[7] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[8] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

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