1956–57 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

1956–57 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1956–57 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	None
NCAA Tournament	1957
Tournament dates	March 11, 1957 – ; March 23, 1957
National Championship	Municipal Auditorium; Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Champions	North Carolina Tar Heels
Helms National Champions	North Carolina Tar Heels
Other champions	Bradley Braves (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Lennie Rosenbluth, North Carolina

The 1956–57 NCAA men's University Division basketball season began in December 1956. It progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1957 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 23, 1957, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The North Carolina Tar Heels won their first NCAA national championship with a 54–53 triple-overtime victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.

Rule changes

The width of the free throw lane (also known as the "key"), increased from 6 to 12 feet (1.8 to 3.7 m).[1]
When teams lined up along the key for a free throw, it became mandatory that the two spaces adjacent to the end line be occupied by opponents of the player shooting the free throw. Previously, one player from each team occupied the spaces adjacent to the end line, with a player from the home team occupying a space marked "H" and a player from the visiting team occupying a space marked "V."[1]
Grasping the rim of the basket was deemed a form of unsportsmanlike conduct.[1]

Season headlines

This was the first season in which NCAA basketball was split into two levels of play – the University Division for schools competing at the highest level of play and the College Division for teams playing at lower levels with limited or no scholarships. It also was the first season in which the NCAA held more than one championship tournament — one for the University Division and one for the College Division. In 1973, the University Division would be replaced by Division I and the College Division by Division II and Division III.[2]
The California Basketball Association was renamed the West Coast Athletic Conference. It would be renamed the West Coast Conference in 1989.
In 1957, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected its national champions for the seasons from 1900–01 through 1918–19.[3]

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP Poll and the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.[4]

Associated Press
Ranking	Team
1	Kansas
2	Louisville
3	North Carolina
4	Illinois
5	SMU
6	Dayton
7	Temple
8	San Francisco
9	Saint Louis
10	Western Kentucky State
11	West Virginia
12	Oklahoma City
13	Oregon State
14	Kentucky
15	Washington
16 (tie)	NC State
16 (tie)	St. John's
18	Kansas State
19	Vanderbilt
20	Wyoming

UP Coaches
Ranking	Team
1	Kansas
2	Louisville
3	North Carolina
4	Illinois
5	SMU
6	Dayton
7	Temple
8	San Francisco
9	Saint Louis
10	Western Kentucky State
11	West Virginia
12	Oklahoma City
13	Oregon State
14	Kentucky
15	Washington
16 (tie)	NC State
16 (tie)	St. John's
18	Kansas State
19	Vanderbilt
20	Wyoming

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Drake Bulldogs	Independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Texas Tech Red Raiders	Border Conference	NCAA University Division independent

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner[5]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	North Carolina	Lennie Rosenbluth, North Carolina[6]	1957 ACC men's basketball tournament	Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	North Carolina
Big Seven Conference	Kansas	Gary Thompson, Iowa State [7]	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Indiana & Michigan State	None Selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	Texas Western	None Selected	No Tournament
Ivy League	Yale	None Selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	NYU	None Selected	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Miami (OH)	None Selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Saint Louis	None Selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Morehead State & Western Kentucky State	None Selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	California	None Selected	No Tournament
Skyline Conference	BYU	None Selected	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None Selected	No Tournament
Southern Conference	West Virginia	Rod Hundley, West Virginia[8]	1957 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Richmond Arena (Richmond, Virginia)	West Virginia[9]
Southwest Conference	SMU	None Selected	No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	San Francisco	Mike Farmer, San Francisco[10]	No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference	Canisius & St. Bonaventure		No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Connecticut	None selected	No Tournament

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Philadelphia Big 5	La Salle, St. Joseph's, & Temple	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Player	School	PPG	Player	School	REB%	Player	School	FG%	Player	School	FT%
Points per game			Rebound Percentage			Field goal percentage			Free throw percentage
Grady Wallace	South Carolina	31.2	Elgin Baylor	Seattle	.235	Bailey Howell	Mississippi St.	56.8	Ernie Wiggins	Wake Forest	87.7
Joe Gibbon	Mississippi	30.0	Boo Ellis	Niagara	.234	Alvin Innis	St. Francis (NY)	56.1	Jackie Murdock	Wake Forest	87.5
Elgin Baylor	Seattle	29.7	Charlie Tyra	Louisville	.229	Dennis Roth	Muhlenberg	54.4	Bob Seitz	NC State	87.2
Wilt Chamberlain	Kansas	29.6	Wilt Chamberlain	Kansas	.227	Bob Holtsma	William & Mary	54.2	Dave Ricketts	Duquesne	86.2
Chet Forte	Columbia	28.9	Gene Guarilia	George Washington	.218	Boo Ellis	Niagara	53.7	Bobby Plump	Butler	86.0

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Frank McGuire brought the ACC its first national championship as his undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas Jayhawks in what is considered one of the best games in NCAA history – a 54–53 triple–overtime thriller. Chamberlain was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Final Four

Played at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri

National semifinals			National championship game

E	North Carolina	74^(3OT)

ME	Michigan St.	70
			E	North Carolina	54^(3OT)

			MW	Kansas	53
MW	Kansas	80

W	San Francisco	56

Third Place – San Francisco 67, Michigan State 60

National Invitation tournament

Bradley won its first NIT title, defeating Memphis State in a one-point contest. Memphis State's Win Wilfong won the MVP in a losing cause as he poured in 89 points in the Tigers' four games, including 31 in the final.[11]

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Semifinals		Final

St. Bonaventure	78

Memphis State	80
		Memphis State	83

		Bradley	84
Bradley	94

Temple	66

Third Place – Temple 67, St. Bonaventure 50

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas

Guy Rodgers of Temple

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Wilt Chamberlain	C	Sophomore	Kansas
Chet Forte	G	Senior	Columbia
Rod Hundley	G/F	Senior	West Virginia
Jim Krebs	F/C	Senior	SMU
Lennie Rosenbluth	F	Senior	North Carolina
Charlie Tyra	C	Senior	Louisville

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Elgin Baylor	F	Sophomore	Seattle
Frank Howard	F	Junior	Ohio State
Guy Rodgers	G	Junior	Temple
Gary Thompson	G	Senior	Iowa State
Grady Wallace	F	Senior	South Carolina

Major player of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

UPI Coach of the Year: Frank McGuire, North Carolina

Other major awards

Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Guy Rodgers, Temple
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC): Chet Forte, Columbia

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	New Coach
Arizona State	Bill Kajikawa	Ned Wulk
Loyola (LA)	Jim McCafferty	Jim Harding
Texas A&M	Ken Loeffler	Bob Rogers
Virginia	Evan Male	Billy McCann
Washington & Lee	Billy McCann	Weenie Miller
West Texas A&M	Gus Miller	Borden Price
Xavier	Ned Wulk	Jim McCafferty

References

orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
"History of the NCAA". NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
"2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2010-08-14
Iowa State Athletic Site – Cyclone Tradition Archived 2010-04-08 at the Wayback Machine, Iowa State University, retrieved 2010-08-14
2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2010-08-14
2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2010-08-14
2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, West Coast Conference, retrieved 2010-08-14
The National Invitation Tournament. Arcadia Publishing. 2005. ISBN 0-7385-3904-X.

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

[2] "History of the NCAA". NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.

[3] Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved December 14, 2015.

[4] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[5] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[5] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

[6] 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2010-08-14

[7] Iowa State Athletic Site – Cyclone Tradition Archived 2010-04-08 at the Wayback Machine, Iowa State University, retrieved 2010-08-14

[8] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2010-08-14

[9] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2010-08-14

[10] 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, West Coast Conference, retrieved 2010-08-14

[11] The National Invitation Tournament. Arcadia Publishing. 2005. ISBN 0-7385-3904-X.

NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24