1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

The 1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the California Basketball Association during the 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season. The Dons ended the season undefeated, becoming the first NCAA tournament champion to record a perfect season and the first team to go wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the AP and UP polls. San Francisco finished the season with a 29–0 record (14–0 CBA) and had won 55 consecutive games.

1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions CBA regular season champions
National Championship Game, W 83-71 vs. Iowa
Conference	California Basketball Association
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	29–0 (14–0 CBA)
Head coach	Phil Woolpert (6th season)
Assistant coach	Ross Giudice
Home arena	Kezar Pavilion
Seasons ← 1954–55 1956–57 →

1955–56 California Basketball Association men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 San Francisco	14	–	0		1.000			29	–	0		1.000
Pacific	9	–	5		.643			15	–	11		.577
Loyola (Calif.)	9	–	5		.643			13	–	12		.520
Saint Mary's	8	–	6		.571			16	–	10		.615
San Jose State	8	–	6		.571			15	–	10		.600
Santa Clara	6	–	8		.429			8	–	16		.333
Fresno State	2	–	12		.143			9	–	17		.346
Pepperdine	0	–	14		.000			2	–	23		.080
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Season summary

San Francisco won two straight NCAA titles behind a punishing defense led by Bill Russell, who turned shot blocking into an art form. He was also better scorer than history gives him credit for, averaging more than 20 points in both championship seasons. In 1956, Russell had support from guard K.C. Jones and a balanced lineup; besides Russell, five other players averaged between 7.1 and 9.8 points per game.

Roster

1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown 3 Hal Payne — — G 4 K. C. Jones 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr San Francisco, California C 6 Bill Russell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Oakland, California 7 John Koljian — — 8 Bill Bush — — 10 Steve Balchios — — 11 Warren Baxter — — 12 Bill Mallen — — 14 Vince Boyle — — G 15 Gene Brown 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So San Francisco, California 16 Tom Nelson — — F 17 Mike Farmer 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Richmond, California F 18 Mike Preaseau 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Redding, California F 19 Carl Boldt 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr Tujunga, California 21 Jack King — — G 23 Hal Perry 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) — Sr Ukiah, California	Head coach Phil Woolpert (Loyola Marymount) Assistant coach(es) Ross Giudice (San Francisco) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

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Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site city, state
Regular Season
Dec 2, 1955*	No. 1	Cal State-Chico	W 70–39	1–0	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Dec 3, 1955*	No. 1	Southern California	W 58–42	2–0	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Dec 6, 1955*	No. 1	San Francisco State	W 72–47	3–0	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Dec 16, 1955*	No. 1	vs. Marquette DePaul Tournament	W 65–58	4–0	–	–	–	University Auditorium  Chicago, Illinois
Dec 17, 1955*	No. 1	at DePaul DePaul Tournament	W 82–59	5–0	–	–	–	University Auditorium  Chicago, Illinois
Dec 20, 1955*	No. 1	at Wichita State	W 75–65	6–0	–	–	–	University of Wichita Field House  Wichita, Kansas
Dec 23, 1955*	No. 1	at Loyola (LA)	W 61–43	7–0	–	–	–	Loyola Field House  New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 26, 1955*	No. 1	vs. La Salle ECAC Holiday Festival	W 79–62	8–0	–	–	–	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Dec 28, 1955*	No. 1	vs. No. 14 Holy Cross ECAC Holiday Festival	W 67–51	9–0	–	–	–	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Dec 30, 1955*	No. 1	vs. UCLA ECAC Holiday Festival	W 70–53	10–0	–	–	–	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Jan 6, 1956	No. 1	Pepperdine	W 62–51	11–0 (1–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Jan 10, 1956	No. 1	Santa Clara	W 74–56	12–0 (2–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Jan 13, 1956	No. 1	at Fresno State	W 69–50	13–0 (3–0)	–	–	–	College Gym  Fresno, California
Jan 28, 1956*	No. 1	at California	W 33–24	14–0	–	–	–	Cow Palace  Daly City, California
Jan 31, 1956	No. 1	San Jose State	W 67–40	15–0 (4–0)	–	–	–	Cow Palace  Daly City, California
Feb 3, 1956	No. 1	Loyola (Los Angeles)	W 68–46	16–0 (5–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Feb 7, 1956	No. 1	at Pacific	W 77–60	17–0 (6–0)	–	–	–	Pacific Pavilion  Stockton, California
Feb 10, 1956	No. 1	Fresno State	W 79–46	18–0 (7–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Feb 14, 1956	No. 1	at San Jose State	W 76–52	19–0 (8–0)	–	–	–	Spartan Gym  San Jose, California
Feb 17, 1956	No. 1	at Saint Mary's	W 74–63	20–0 (9–0)	28 – Russell	–	–	Madigan Gymnasium  Moraga, California
Feb 24, 1956	No. 1	at Santa Clara	W 80–44	21–0 (10–0)	29 – Russell	–	–	San Jose Civic Auditorium  San Jose, California
Feb 28, 1956	No. 1	Pacific	W 87–49	22–0 (11–0)	28 – Russell	–	–	Kezar Pavilion  San Francisco, California
Mar 2, 1956	No. 1	at Pepperdine	W 68–40	23–0 (12–0)	–	–	–	Campus Gym  Malibu, California
Mar 3, 1956	No. 1	at Loyola (Los Angeles)	W 65–48	24–0 (13–0)	–	–	–	Alumni Memorial Gymnasium  Los Angeles, California
Mar 6, 1956	No. 1	Saint Mary's	W 82–49	25–0 (14–0)	–	–	–	Cow Palace  Daly City, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 16, 1956*	No. 1	vs. No. 8 UCLA Far West Regional semifinal	W 72–61	26–0	23 – Brown	23 – Russell	–	Oregon State Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 17, 1956*	No. 1	vs. No. 18 Utah Far West Regional Final	W 92–77	27–0	27 – Russell	22 – Russell	–	Oregon State Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 22, 1956*	No. 1	vs. No. 7 SMU National semifinal – Final Four	W 86–68[3]	28–0	26 – Farmer	23 – Russell	–	McGaw Hall  Evanston, Illinois
Mar 23, 1956*	No. 1	vs. No. 4 Iowa National Championship Game	W 83–71[4]	29–0	26 – Russell	27 – Russell	–	McGaw Hall  Evanston, Illinois
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. FW=Far West. All times are in Pacific Time.

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Rankings

Main article: 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	Not released	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Coaches	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	Not released

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Awards and honors

• Bill Russell – Consensus First Team All-America selection, Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (2x), UPI College Basketball Player of the Year, California Basketball Association Player of the Year
• K. C. Jones – Consensus Second Team All-America selection
• Phil Woolpert – UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year

Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1956 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	2	Bill Russell	Boston Celtics
2	1	KC Jones	Boston Celtics
7	50	Carl Boldt	Detroit Pistons

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References

1. sports-reference.com 1955-56 California Basketball Association Season Summary
2. "usfdons.com Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine." Retrieved on July 27, 2009.
3. "54TH IN ROW WON BY SAN FRANCISCO; Dons Beat S.M.U., 86 to 68". The New York Times. March 23, 1956. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
4. "San Francisco Wins 55th Straight, Second NCAA Championship, 83-71". The Southern Illinoisan via newspapers.com. March 25, 1956. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
5. "Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1950-60) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
6. • ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 643–644. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
7. "1955-56 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
8. "1956 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.