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.
Season headlines
The 1951–52 season was the last one in which colleges and universities could include non-collegiate opponents in their schedules with the games recognized as part of their official record for the season, a common practice for many years. After 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. Long Island University began the first season of its six-year ban from playing NCAA basketball as a result of the CCNY point-shaving scandal that had been revealed in 1951. After finishing second in the Southern Conference in regular-season play, North Carolina State became the first team to receive an automatic NCAA tournament bid by winning its conference tournament championship without finishing first in its conference during the regular season. The 1952 NCAA tournament was the first NCAA tournament to have four regional sites, and therefore was the first to have a true "Final Four," with the winners at four regional sites advancing to play at the finals site. Although four teams had advanced to the finals site since 1946, they previously had come from only two regional sites. Elmer Gross of Penn State became the first head coach to lead his alma mater into the NCAA tournament after having played in the tournament. He had played for Penn State in the 1942 NCAA basketball tournament. Doyle Parrack of Oklahoma City became the first head coach to lead a school other than his alma mater into the NCAA tournament after having played in the tournament. He had played for Oklahoma A&M in the 1945 NCAA basketball tournament. Clyde Lovellette of Kansas became the first player to score 40 or more points in an NCAA tournament game when he scored 44 against Saint Louis in a West Region final game on March 22, 1952. He was the first player to lead the United States in scoring and win the NCAA title in the same year. The NCAA tournament received regional television coverage for the first time. In the Olympic Trials held immediately after the tournaments, NCAA champion Kansas defeated NAIA champion Southwest Missouri State in the collegiate semi-finals and then NIT champion La Salle in the collegiate final. This was the first time the NIT and NCAA champions had met since the Red Cross benefit game in 1945. Kansas lost to the AAU champion Peoria Caterpillars in the Olympic Trials overall final.
Harlem Globetrotters vs. Seattle University 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.
Tickets cost $1.50 and they were sold out in 48 hours. 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. Entering the game with Seattle, the Globetrotters had played 3571 games winning 93 percent of their contests.
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. 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.
Major rule changes Beginning in 1951–52, the following rules change was implemented: Games were divided into four 10-minute quarters. Previously, they had been divided into two 20-minute halves., NCAA, retrieved 2009-05-09. 2009-05-13.
Conference membership changes
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Missouri Valley Conference Independent Missouri Valley Conference Independent Independent Mid-American Conference Independent Mountain States (Skyline) Conference Border Conference Mountain States (Skyline) Conference Independent Mid-American Conference
New arenas
Georgetown, which had played since the 1927–28 season at various off-campus sites, opened McDonough Gymnasium, its first on-campus intercollegiate basketball venue since its final season as Ryan Gymnasium in the 1926–27 season. In the first regular-season game in the new gymnasium, played the day before McDonough's official opening, the Hoyas lost to Fordham 57–50 on December 7, 1951, their only home loss of the season.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Home Courts McDonough served as Georgetown's home court until the Hoyas moved to the Capital Centre (later USAir Arena and USAirways Arena) in Landover, Maryland, for the 1981–82 season, but has hosted occasional Hoya home games since then.Paras, Matthew, "Verizon Center renamed Capital One Arena," washingtontimes.com, August 9, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2018Wallace, Ava, "Harvard makes Georgetown’s postseason stint a short one with loss in NIT," washingtonpost.com, March 20, 2019 Retrieved March 24, 2019
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments ConferenceRegular Season WinnerConference player of the yearConference TournamentTournament Venue (City)Tournament winnerBig Seven Conference Kansas None Selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Illinois None Selected No TournamentBorder Conference & None Selected No TournamentEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Princeton None Selected No TournamentMetropolitan New York Conference St. John's None Selected No TournamentMid-American Conference Miami & None Selected No TournamentMissouri Valley Conference Saint Louis None Selected No TournamentMountain States (Skyline) Conference Wyoming None Selected No TournamentOhio Valley Conference Western Kentucky State None Selected 1952 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) Western Kentucky StatePacific Coast Conference None Selected No Tournament;UCLA defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff seriesSoutheastern Conference Kentucky None Selected 1952 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) KentuckySouthern Conference West Virginia Dick Groat, Duke, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09 1952 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Reynolds Coliseum(Raleigh, North Carolina) North Carolina State, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southwest Conference TCU None Selected No TournamentWestern New York Little Three Conference Canisius & No TournamentYankee Conference Connecticut None Selected No Tournament
Conference standings
Major independents 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.
Although not considered major independents during the season, Seattle (27–8) and (30–1) played as independents 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.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerMiddle Three Conference Lafayette None selectedNo Tournament NOTE: Despite its name, the Middle Three Conference was an informal scheduling alliance rather than a true conference, and its members played as independents. In 1951–52, Lafayette finished with the best record in games played between the three members.1951-52 Men's Middle Three Conference Season Summary @ sports-reference.com Statistical leaders "Points per game Rebounds per game Assists per game Field goal percentage Player School PPG Player School RPG Player School APG Player School FG% Clyde Lovellette Kansas 28.4 Bill Hannon Army 20.9 Tom O'Toole Boston College 7.9 Art Spoelstra Western Kentucky State 51.6 Dick Groat Duke 26.0 Walter Dukes Seton Hall 19.7 Dick Groat Duke 7.6 Gerald Rogers Texas Western 50.4 Bob Pettit LSU 25.5 Ernie Beck Penn 19.0 Malcolm McLean Davidson 7.5 Norm Swanson Detroit 50.3 Chuck Darling Iowa 25.5 Elston Tuttle Creighton 18.9 Larry Friedman Muhlenberg 7.3 Karl Klinar VMI 49.2 Frank Selvy Furman 24.6 Bill Chambers William & Mary 18.2 Roger Chadwick Cornell 6.9 Tom Marshall Western Kentucky State 49.1 Free throw percentageNameSchoolFT% Sy Chadroff Miami (FL) 80.5 Bob Kenney Kansas 80.3 Drew Turner St. Mary's (CA) 80.2 Tommy Bartlett Tennessee 80.2 Russell Rerucha Colorado A&M 80.0
Year-end polls
The final regular-season top 20 from the AP and Coaches Polls. Associated PressRankingTeam1 Kentucky2 Illinois3 Kansas State4 Duquesne5 Saint Louis6 Washington7 Iowa8 Kansas9 West Virginia10 St. John's11 Dayton12 Duke13 Holy Cross14 Seton Hall15 St. Bonaventure16 Wyoming17 Louisville18 Seattle19 UCLA20 Texas State CoachesRankingTeam1 Kentucky2 Illinois3 Kansas4 Duquesne5 Washington6 Kansas State7 Saint Louis8 Iowa9 St. John's10 Wyoming11 St. Bonaventure12 Seton Hall13 Texas Christian14 West Virginia15 Holy Cross16 Western Kentucky State17 La Salle18 Dayton19 Louisville 20 UCLA Indiana
Postseason tournaments
NCAA 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.
Final Four
National Invitation tournament
La Salle won the National Invitation Tournament by beating Dayton, 75–64. Tom Gola and Norm Grekin were named co-MVPs.
NIT semifinals and final Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City
Award winners
Consensus All-American team
+ Consensus First Team 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
+ Consensus Second Team 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
Major player of the year awards
Helms Foundation Player of the Year: Clyde Lovellette, Kansas
Other major awards
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC): Ron MacGilvray, St. John's
Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.