The 1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1973, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 25, 1974, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The North Carolina State Wolfpack won its first NCAA national championship with a 76–64 victory over the Marquette Warriors.
Rule changes Holding or grabbing an opposing player away from the ball became fouls, as did illegal screens.orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
Season headlines
Prior to the beginning of the season, NCAA Division I replaced the NCAA University Division as the subdivision of the NCAA made up of colleges and universities competing at the highest level of college sports. In addition, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III replaced the NCAA College Division for colleges and universities competing at a lower level, with Division II consisting of schools awarding limited athletic scholarships and Division III consisting of schools offering no athletic scholarships. On August 5, 1973, the NCAA handed down a two-year "death penalty" (i.e., ban on competing) to the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; athletically branded "Louisiana" since the 1999–2000 season) after discovering over 100 rules violations, the most egregious of which were payments to players and falsified high school transcripts. All other Ragin' Cajun teams were placed on four years' probation and banned from competing for national championships during that period. The NCAA also proposed expelling the university from the organization, but that penalty was reduced to forfeiture of voting rights at the annual convention for three years. Additionally, the Ragin' Cajuns' participation in the 1972 and 1973 University Division tournaments was scrubbed from the record books, and the university was required to return all tournament revenue. Southwestern Louisiana became the first university to have a season cancelled by the NCAA since Kentucky in the 1952–53 season. In 1973, the first public draw for tickets to the NCAA tournament's Final Four games took place. The tickets were for the 1974 Final Four. In the Pacific 8 Conference, UCLA won its eighth of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles. To compete with the National Invitation Tournament, the NCAA created the Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament as a new postseason tournament which debuted in 1974. Renamed the National Commissioners Invitational Tournament the following season, it lasted only two years.
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll and UPI Coaches Poll during the pre-season.
Associated PressRankingTeam1UCLA2NC State3Indiana4Maryland5North Carolina6Providence7Marquette8Notre Dame9Louisville10Kentucky11San Francisco12Long Beach State13Kansas14Houston15Arizona16Penn17Jacksonville18Alabama19UNLV20Memphis State UPI CoachesRankingTeam1UCLA2NC State3Indiana4North Carolina5Maryland6Marquette7Notre Dame8Providence9Memphis State10Louisville11Alabama12Long Beach State13South Carolina14Kansas State15Cincinnati16New Mexico17(tie)PennArizona19USC20Vanderbilt
Conference membership changes
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Southland Conference Lone Star Conference (NAIA) non-Division I Division I independent non-Division I Division I independent non-Division I Division I independent non-Division I Division I independent Missouri Valley Conference Division I independent non-Division I Division I independent non-Division I Division I independent non-Division I Division I independent non-Division I Division I independent University Division independent non-Division I non-Division I Division I independent
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerAtlantic Coast Conference NC State David Thompson,NC State2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section , retrieved 2009-02-14 1974 ACC men's basketball tournament Greensboro Coliseum(Greensboro, North Carolina) NC StateBig Eight Conference Kansas Lon Kruger, Kansas State2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04 No TournamentBig Sky Conference Idaho State & Montana None selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Indiana & Michigan None selected No TournamentIvy League Penn None selected No TournamentMid-American Conference Ohio Walter Luckett, Ohio2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14 No TournamentMiddle Atlantic Conference La Salle & Rider (West) Bill Taylor, La Salle, & Earl Brown, Lafayette No TournamentMissouri Valley Conference Louisville Junior Bridgeman, Louisville No TournamentOhio Valley Conference Austin Peay & Morehead State Fly Williams, Austin Peay No TournamentPacific 8 Conference UCLA None selected No TournamentPacific Coast Athletic Association Long Beach State Leonard Gray, Long Beach State No TournamentSoutheastern Conference Alabama & Vanderbilt Jan van Breda Kolff, Vanderbilt2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06 No TournamentSouthern Conference Furman Clyde Mayes,Furman2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09 1974 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Richmond Coliseum(Richmond, Virginia)(Semifinals and Finals) Furman2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southland Conference Arkansas State Steve Brooks,Arkansas State2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07 No TournamentSouthwest Conference Texas Larry Robinson, Texas No TournamentWest Coast Athletic Conference San Francisco Frank Oleynick, Seattle No TournamentWestern Athletic Conference New Mexico None selected No TournamentYankee Conference Massachusetts None selected No Tournament Conference standings
Division I independents A total of 81 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, Notre Dame (26–3) had the best winning percentage (.897) and (28–4) finished with the most wins.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerMost Valuable PlayerPhiladelphia Big 5 Penn Ron Haigler, Penn Penn finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four
National Invitation Tournament
Semifinals & finals
Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament
The Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament debuted this season as a new postseason tournament created by the NCAA to compete with the NIT. It was renamed the National Commissioners Invitational Tournament the following year.
Semifinals & final
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
+ Consensus First Team Player Position Class Team Marvin Barnes C Senior Providence John Shumate F Junior Notre Dame David Thompson G/F Junior North Carolina State Bill Walton C Senior UCLA Keith Wilkes G/F Senior UCLA
+ Consensus Second Team Player Position Class Team Len Elmore C Junior Maryland Larry Fogle G Sophomore Canisius Bobby Jones F Senior North Carolina Billy Knight G/F Senior Pittsburgh Campy Russell F Junior Michigan
Major player of the year awards
Naismith Award: Bill Walton, UCLA Helms Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State & Bill Walton, UCLA Associated Press Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State UPI Player of the Year: Bill Walton, UCLA Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Bill Walton, UCLA Adolph Rupp Trophy: Bill Walton, UCLA Sporting News Player of the Year: Bill Walton, UCLA
Major coach of the year awards
Associated Press Coach of the Year: Norm Sloan, NC State Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Norm Sloan, NC State NABC Coach of the Year: Al McGuire, Marquette UPI Coach of the Year: Digger Phelps, Notre Dame Sporting News Coach of the Year: Digger Phelps, Notre Dame
Other major awards
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Mike Robinson, Michigan State Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ron Haigler, Penn NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Bill Campion, Manhattan
Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonArkansasLanny Van EmanEddie SuttonBoston UniversityRon MitchellRoy SiglerCanisiusJohn MorrisonJohnny McCarthyThe CitadelGeorge HillLes Robinson CornellTony ComaTom AllenBen Bluitt CreightonEddie SuttonTom Apke Sutton left to coach Arkansas.DartmouthTom O'ConnorMarcus Jackson O'Connor left to coach Loyola. DavidsonTerry HollandRobert BrickelsHolland left to coach Virginia.DrakeHoward StaceyBob Ortegel DukeNeill McGeachyBill Foster DuquesneRed ManningJohn Cinicola Cinicola was an assistant under Manning 1960-74.East CarolinaTom QuinnDave Patton George WashingtonCarl SloneBob Tallent Slone left to coach Richmond.Georgia SouthernJ. E. RoweLarry Chapman IdahoWayne D. AndersonJim JarvisIllinoisHarv SchmidtGene Bartow IowaDick SchultzLute Olson Iowa StateMaury JohnKen Trickey John coached the first five games of the 1973-74 season, but sat out the rest of the season after his cancer diagnosis. Assistant coach Gus Guydon finished the remaining 21 games. John resigned before the start of the 1974-75 season and passed away October 15, 1974.Kent StateFrank TruittRex Hughes Long Beach StateLute OlsonDwight Jones Olson left to coach Iowa.Louisiana TechScotty RobertsonEmmett Hendricks Robertson left to coach in the NBA for the New Orleans Jazz.LoyolaNap DohertyTom O'Connor Memphis StateGene BartowWayne Yates Bartow left to coach Illinois. Yates was an assistant under Bartow.MercerJoe Dan GoldBill Bibb Montana StateHank AndersonRich Juarez Anderson left to be the athletic director of Northern Arizona.Morehead StateBill HarrellJack Schalow Murray StateCal LutherFred Overton Luther stayed with Murray State to be the athletic director. Overton was an assistant under Luther from 1971-74.Northern ArizonaHerb GreggJohn Birkett OhioJim SnyderDale Bandy Oral RobertsKen TrickeyJerry Hale Trickey left to coach Iowa State.RiceDon KnodelBob Polk RichmondLewis MillsCarl Slone Saint Joseph'sJack McKinneyHarry BoothSaint LouisBob PolkRandy Albrecht Saint Peter'sBernie OckeneDick McDonaldSan Diego StateDick DavisTim Vezie South FloridaDon WilliamsBill Gibson UtahBill FosterJerry Pimm Foster left to coach Duke.VirginiaBill GibsonTerry Holland Gibson left to coach South Florida.Weber StateGene VisscherNeil McCarthy West VirginiaSonny MoranJoedy Gardner Moran left to be an athletic director for Morehead State.
References