1951–52 NCAA men's basketball season

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.

1951–52 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	None Kentucky (UP)
NCAA Tournament	1952
Tournament dates	March 21, 1952 – March 26, 1952
National Championship	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington
NCAA Champions	Kansas Jayhawks
Helms National Champions	Kansas Jayhawks
Other champions	La Salle Explorers (NIT)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Clyde Lovellette, Kansas
← 1950–51 1952–53 →

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.^[1]
• 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.^[2][3]
• 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.^[4]
• 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.^[4][5]
• 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.^[6]
• 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.^[6]
• 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.^[4] He was the first player to lead the United States in scoring and win the NCAA title in the same year.^[7]
• The NCAA tournament received regional television coverage for the first time.^[4]

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.^[8]

Tickets cost $1.50 and they were sold out in 48 hours.^[8] 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.^[9] Entering the game with Seattle, the Globetrotters had played 3571 games winning 93 percent of their contests.^[9]

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.^[10] 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.^[9]

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.^[11]

^[12]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Bradley Braves	Missouri Valley Conference	Independent
Drake Bulldogs	Missouri Valley Conference	Independent
Kent State Golden Flashes	Non-major basketball program	Mid-American Conference
Montana Grizzlies	Non-major independent	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
New Mexico Lobos	Border Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
Toledo Rockets	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.^[13][14] 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,^[15] but has hosted occasional Hoya home games since then.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular Season Winner[23]	Conference player of the year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Seven Conference	Kansas	None Selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Illinois	None Selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	New Mexico A&M & West Texas State	None Selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Princeton	None Selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	St. John's	None Selected	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Miami & Western Michigan	None Selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Saint Louis	None Selected	No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference	Wyoming	None Selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Western Kentucky State	None Selected	1952 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Western Kentucky State
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington (North); UCLA (South)	None Selected	No Tournament; UCLA defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None Selected	1952 SEC men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	West Virginia	Dick Groat, Duke[24]	1952 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	North Carolina State[25]
Southwest Conference	TCU	None Selected	No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference	Canisius & St. Bonaventure		No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Connecticut	None Selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1951–52 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 8 Kansas 11 – 1   .917 28 – 3   .903 No. 3 Kansas State 10 – 2   .833 19 – 5   .792 Missouri 6 – 6   .500 14 – 10   .583 Iowa State 4 – 8   .333 10 – 11   .476 Colorado 4 – 8   .333 8 – 16   .333 Oklahoma 4 – 8   .333 7 – 17   .292 Nebraska 3 – 9   .250 7 – 17   .292 Rankings from AP Poll[26]	1951–52 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 2 Illinois 12 – 2   .857 22 – 4   .846 No. 7 Iowa 11 – 3   .786 19 – 3   .864 Minnesota 10 – 4   .714 15 – 7   .682 Indiana 9 – 5   .643 16 – 6   .727 Michigan State 6 – 8   .429 13 – 9   .591 Ohio State 6 – 8   .429 8 – 14   .364 Wisconsin 5 – 9   .357 10 – 12   .455 Michigan 4 – 10   .286 7 – 15   .318 Northwestern 4 – 10   .286 7 – 15   .318 Purdue 3 – 11   .214 8 – 14   .364 Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Border Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT West Texas State† 12 – 2   .857 19 – 9   .679 New Mexico A&M† 14 – 4   .778 22 – 11   .667 Texas Tech 9 – 5   .643 14 – 10   .583 Arizona 6 – 8   .429 11 – 16   .407 Arizona State–Tempe 6 – 8   .429 8 – 16   .333 Hardin–Simmons 5 – 9   .357 17 – 15   .531 Texas Western 5 – 9   .357 8 – 17   .320 Arizona State–Flagstaff 1 – 13   .071 4 – 23   .148 † Regular-season co-championship winner Rankings from AP Poll
1951–52 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Princeton 10 – 2   .833 16 – 11   .593 Pennsylvania 9 – 3   .750 21 – 8   .724 Cornell 8 – 4   .667 16 – 9   .640 Columbia 7 – 5   .583 12 – 10   .545 Yale 4 – 8   .333 14 – 14   .500 Dartmouth 4 – 8   .333 11 – 19   .367 Harvard 0 – 12   .000 5 – 17   .227 Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 10 St. John's 6 – 0   1.000 25 – 6   .806 St. Francis (NY) 4 – 2   .667 20 – 8   .714 Manhattan 4 – 2   .667 12 – 9   .571 Fordham 3 – 3   .500 20 – 8   .714 NYU 2 – 3   .400 17 – 8   .680 CCNY 1 – 5   .167 8 – 11   .421 Brooklyn 0 – 5   .000 9 – 7   .563 Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Miami (Ohio) 9 – 3   .750 19 – 6   .760 Western Michigan 9 – 3   .750 16 – 8   .667 Toledo 8 – 4   .667 20 – 11   .645 Ohio 6 – 6   .500 12 – 12   .500 Cincinnati 5 – 5   .500 11 – 16   .407 Kent State 3 – 7   .300 14 – 10   .583 Western Reserve 0 – 12   .000 1 – 23   .042 Rankings from AP Poll
1951–52 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 5 Saint Louis 9 – 1   .900 23 – 8   .742 Oklahoma A&M 7 – 3   .700 19 – 8   .704 Tulsa 5 – 5   .500 14 – 10   .583 Detroit 4 – 6   .400 14 – 12   .538 Houston 3 – 7   .300 7 – 14   .333 Wichita Municipal 2 – 8   .200 11 – 19   .367 Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 16 Wyoming 13 – 1   .929 28 – 7   .800 BYU 9 – 5   .643 14 – 10   .583 Utah State 9 – 5   .643 16 – 15   .516 Utah 8 – 6   .571 19 – 9   .679 Montana 7 – 7   .500 12 – 14   .462 Denver 6 – 8   .429 11 – 15   .423 Colorado A&M 3 – 11   .214 13 – 15   .464 New Mexico 1 – 13   .071 6 – 19   .240 Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Western Kentucky State† 11 – 1   .917 26 – 5   .839 Eastern Kentucky State 10 – 2   .833 13 – 11   .542 Murray State –   – 24 – 10   .706 Marshall –   – 15 – 11   .577 Morehead State –   – 11 – 14   .440 Tennessee Tech –   – 9 – 13   .409 Evansville –   – 7 – 20   .259 † Ohio Valley Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll
1951–52 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North No. 6 Washington 14 – 2   .875 25 – 6   .806 Idaho 9 – 7   .563 19 – 13   .594 Oregon 8 – 8   .500 14 – 16   .467 Washington State 6 – 10   .375 19 – 16   .543 Oregon State 3 – 13   .188 9 – 19   .321 South No. 19 UCLA † 8 – 4   .667 19 – 12   .613 Stanford 6 – 6   .500 19 – 8   .704 California 6 – 6   .500 17 – 13   .567 USC 4 – 8   .333 16 – 14   .533 † Conference playoff series winner Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 1 Kentucky † 14 – 0   1.000 29 – 3   .906 LSU 9 – 5   .643 17 – 7   .708 Vanderbilt 9 – 5   .643 18 – 9   .667 Alabama 9 – 5   .643 13 – 9   .591 Ole Miss 8 – 6   .571 15 – 11   .577 Florida 7 – 7   .500 15 – 9   .625 Tennessee 7 – 7   .500 13 – 9   .591 Tulane 7 – 7   .500 12 – 12   .500 Auburn 6 – 8   .429 14 – 12   .538 Mississippi State 4 – 10   .286 12 – 11   .522 Georgia Tech 2 – 12   .143 7 – 15   .318 Georgia 2 – 12   .143 3 – 22   .120 † 1952 SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[27]	1951–52 Southern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 9 West Virginia 15 – 1   .938 23 – 4   .852 North Carolina State † 12 – 2   .857 24 – 10   .706 No. 12 Duke 13 – 3   .813 24 – 6   .800 Clemson 11 – 4   .733 17 – 7   .708 George Washington 12 – 6   .667 15 – 9   .625 Maryland 9 – 5   .643 13 – 9   .591 Furman 9 – 5   .643 18 – 6   .750 William & Mary 10 – 6   .625 15 – 13   .536 South Carolina 8 – 7   .533 14 – 10   .583 Wake Forest 7 – 9   .438 10 – 19   .345 North Carolina 8 – 11   .421 12 – 15   .444 Virginia Tech 3 – 10   .231 4 – 16   .200 Richmond 3 – 11   .214 7 – 15   .318 Washington and Lee 3 – 11   .214 6 – 21   .222 Davidson 4 – 15   .211 7 – 18   .280 VMI 2 – 13   .133 3 – 21   .125 The Citadel 1 – 11   .083 8 – 20   .286 † Southern Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll
1951–52 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT TCU 11 – 1   .917 24 – 4   .857 Texas 8 – 4   .667 16 – 8   .667 SMU 5 – 7   .417 11 – 13   .458 Texas A&M 5 – 7   .417 9 – 15   .375 Baylor 5 – 7   .417 6 – 18   .250 Arkansas 4 – 8   .333 10 – 14   .417 Rice 4 – 8   .333 9 – 15   .375 Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Western New York Little Three Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 15 St. Bonaventure† –   – 21 – 6   .778 Canisius† –   – 15 – 9   .625 Niagara –   – 8 – 21   .276 † Regular-season co-championship winner Rankings from AP Poll	1951–52 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Connecticut 6 – 1   .857 20 – 7   .741 Rhode Island 6 – 2   .750 10 – 13   .435 Vermont 3 – 1   .750 14 – 6   .700 New Hampshire 4 – 5   .444 11 – 9   .550 Maine 2 – 6   .250 7 – 12   .368 Massachusetts 0 – 6   .000 4 – 17   .190

Major independents

A total of 45 college teams played as major independents. Among them, Seton Hall (25–3) finished with the best winning percentage (.853) and Dayton (28–5) with the most wins.^[28][29]

Although not considered major independents during the season,^[28] Seattle (27–8) and Texas State (30–1) played as independents^[28] 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.^[30]

1951–52 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 14 Seton Hall –   – 25 – 3   .893 No. 13 Holy Cross –   – 24 – 4   .857 No. 4 Duquesne –   – 23 – 4   .852 No. 11 Dayton –   – 28 – 5   .848 La Salle –   – 24 – 5   .828 Boston College –   – 22 – 5   .815 Siena –   – 24 – 6   .800 No. 17 Louisville –   – 20 – 6   .769 Penn State –   – 20 – 6   .769 St. Joseph's –   – 20 – 7   .741 DePaul –   – 19 – 8   .704 Oklahoma City –   – 19 – 8   .704 Villanova –   – 19 – 8   .704 Syracuse –   – 14 – 6   .700 Navy –   – 16 – 7   .696 Loyola (Ill.) –   – 17 – 8   .680 Miami (Fla.) –   – 14 – 8   .636 Bowling Green State –   – 17 – 10   .630 Lafayette –   – 15 – 9   .625 Notre Dame –   – 16 – 10   .615 Saint Mary's –   – 16 – 10   .615 Georgetown –   – 15 – 10   .600 Bradley –   – 17 – 12   .586 Santa Clara –   – 17 – 12   .586 Loyola (La.) –   – 16 – 13   .552 Drake –   – 13 – 12   .520 Butler –   – 12 – 12   .500 Valparaiso –   – 12 – 12   .500 Army –   – 8 – 9   .471 Loyola (Calif.) –   – 12 – 14   .462 Marquette –   – 12 – 14   .462 San Francisco –   – 11 – 13   .458 Virginia –   – 11 – 13   .458 Colgate –   – 10 – 12   .455 Pittsburgh –   – 10 – 12   .455 John Carroll –   – 11 – 14   .440 Muhlenberg –   – 10 – 13   .435 Baldwin Wallace –   – 9 – 12   .429 Xavier –   – 10 – 14   .417 Temple –   – 9 – 15   .375 Lehigh –   – 7 – 12   .368 Bucknell –   – 8 – 16   .333 Rutgers –   – 6 – 13   .316 Creighton –   – 6 – 15   .286 Brown –   – 5 – 15   .250 Rankings from AP Poll

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner[31]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Middle Three Conference	Lafayette	None selected	No 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.^[32]

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 percentage
Name	School	FT%
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

Main article: 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball rankings

The final regular-season top 20 from the AP and Coaches Polls.^[33]

Associated Press Ranking Team 1 Kentucky 2 Illinois 3 Kansas State 4 Duquesne 5 Saint Louis 6 Washington 7 Iowa 8 Kansas 9 West Virginia 10 St. John's 11 Dayton 12 Duke 13 Holy Cross 14 Seton Hall 15 St. Bonaventure 16 Wyoming 17 Louisville 18 Seattle 19 UCLA 20 Texas State

Coaches Ranking Team 1 Kentucky 2 Illinois 3 Kansas 4 Duquesne 5 Washington 6 Kansas State 7 Saint Louis 8 Iowa 9 St. John's 10 Wyoming 11 St. Bonaventure 12 Seton Hall 13 Texas Christian 14 West Virginia 15 Holy Cross 16 Western Kentucky State 17 La Salle 18 Dayton 19 Louisville 20 UCLA Indiana

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main article: 1952 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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.^[33]

Final Four

	National semifinals				National championship game
	St. John's	61
	Illinois	59
					St. John's	63
					Kansas	80
	Kansas	74
	Santa Clara	55			Third place
					Illinois	67
					Santa Clara	64

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1952 National Invitation Tournament

La Salle won the National Invitation Tournament by beating Dayton, 75–64. Tom Gola and Norm Grekin were named co-MVPs.^[34]

NIT semifinals and final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

	Semifinals				Final
	St. Bonaventure	62
	Dayton	69
					Dayton	64
					La Salle	75
	Duquesne	46
	La Salle	59			Third place
					St. Bonaventure	48
					Duquesne	34

Award winners

Consensus All-American team

Main article: 1952 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

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.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Georgetown	Buddy O'Grady		Buddy Jeannette	After three seasons, O'Grady resigned.[35]
North Carolina	Tom Scott		Frank McGuire
St. John's	Frank McGuire		Al DeStefano
Temple	Josh Cody		Harry Litwack
Washington & Lee	Scotty Hamilton		Billy McCann