1958–59 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

The 1958–59 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley in NCAA University Division basketball competition. Led by fifth-year head coach Pete Newell, the Golden Bears won their only national championship.

1958–59 California Golden Bears men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions PCC champions
National Championship Game, W 71-70 vs. West Virginia
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 11
Record	25–4 (14–2 PCC)
Head coach	Pete Newell (5th season)
Assistant coach	Rene Herrerias
Home arena	Men's Gym
Seasons ← 1957–58 1959–60 →

1958–59 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 11 California	14	–	2		.875			25	–	4		.862
Washington	11	–	5		.688			18	–	8		.692
UCLA	10	–	6		.625			16	–	9		.640
Stanford	10	–	6		.625			16	–	9		.640
USC	8	–	8		.500			15	–	11		.577
Oregon State	7	–	7		.500			13	–	13		.500
Idaho	6	–	10		.375			11	–	15		.423
Oregon	3	–	13		.188			9	–	16		.360
Washington State	3	–	13		.188			10	–	16		.385
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Season summary

Cal was not a team that thrilled many people beyond its own fans. One writer described the Bears as "just a bunch of guys named Joe."^{[citation needed]} But Cal was coached by one of the greats, Pete Newell, and his team-oriented, defensive style won the national championship as the Bears beat two teams in the Final Four that featured two of the best guards in history, Cincinnati (Oscar Robertson) and West Virginia (Jerry West).

Roster

1958–59 California Golden Bears men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G Al Buch (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Sr North Hollywood, California F 34 Bob Dalton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr San Leandro, California Dick Doughty 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Jr Oakland, California G Denny Fitzpatrick 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — Sr Costa Mesa, California F Tandy Gillis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Jr Long Beach, California F 33 Jack Grout 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Sr Visalia, California C 40 Darrall Imhoff 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) — Jr Alhambra, California Jim Langley 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Salinas, California Jerry Mann 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — San Francisco, California F 42 Bill McClintock 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So Milwaukee, Wisconsin G Earl Shultz 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So South Gate, California Bernie Simpson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — Omaha, Nebraska	Head coach Pete Newell (Loyola Marymount) Assistant coach(es) Rene Herrerias (San Francisco) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 19 April 2018

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
December 3, 1958*		San Jose State	W 60–36	1–0	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
December 6, 1958*		San Francisco	W 50–43	2–0	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
December 9, 1958*		No. 14 Saint Mary's	W 57–55	3–0	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
December 12, 1958*		No. 3 Kansas State	L 65–68	3–1	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
December 19, 1958*	No. 15	at Iowa	W 71–52	4–1	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
December 20, 1958*	No. 15	vs. Wisconsin	W 68–53	5–1	Iowa Field House[2]  Iowa City, IA
December 23, 1958*	No. 14	at No. 16 Saint Louis	L 43–55	5–2	Kiel Auditorium  St. Louis, MO
December 27, 1958	No. 14	Arizona	W 90–46	6–2	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
January 2, 1959	No. 20	at Washington	W 54–43	7–2 (1–0)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion  Seattle, WA
January 3, 1959	No. 20	at Oregon	L 57–59	7–3 (1–1)	McArthur Court  Eugene, OR
January 9, 1959		Washington	W 55–44	8–3 (2–1)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
January 10, 1959		Idaho	W 64–39	9–3 (3–1)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
January 16, 1959	No. 20	at Stanford	L 53–56	9–4 (3–2)	Stanford Pavilion  Stanford, CA
January 17, 1959		Stanford	W 67–46	10–4 (4–2)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
January 31, 1959*	No. 20	at Santa Clara	W 66–55	11–4	San Jose Civic Auditorium  San Jose, CA
February 6, 1959	No. 19	at UCLA	W 60–58	12–4 (5–2)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium[3]  Los Angeles, CA
February 7, 1959	No. 19	at USC	W 82–55	13–4 (6–2)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
February 13, 1959	No. 18	Oregon	W 83–55	14–4 (7–2)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
February 14, 1959	No. 18	UCLA	W 64–51	15–4 (8–2)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
February 20, 1959	No. 15	at Washington State	W 61–37	16–4 (9–2)	Bohler Gymnasium  Pullman, WA
February 21, 1959	No. 15	at Idaho	W 65–46	17–4 (10–2)	Memorial Gym  Moscow
February 23, 1959	No. 15	at Oregon State	W 57–40	18–4 (11–2)	Oregon State Coliseum  Corvallis
February 27, 1959	No. 12	USC	W 70–64	19–4 (12–2)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
February 28, 1959	No. 12	Washington State	W 65–45	20–4 (13–2)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
March 7, 1959	No. 11	Oregon State	W 55–52	21–4 (14–2)	Men's Gym  Berkeley, CA
NCAA Tournament
March 13, 1959*	No. 11	vs. No. 18 Utah West Regional semifinals	W 71–53	22–4	Cow Palace  Daly City, CA
March 14, 1959*	No. 11	vs. No. 15 Saint Mary's West Regional Finals	W 66–46	23–4	Cow Palace  Daly City
March 20, 1959*	No. 11	vs. No. 5 Cincinnati National semifinals	W 64–58	24–4	Freedom Hall (18,619) Louisville, KY
March 21, 1959*	No. 11	vs. No. 10 West Virginia National Championship	W 71–70	25–4	Freedom Hall (18,498) Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

^[4]

Rankings

Main article: 1958–59 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

^[5][6]

Awards and honors

NBA draft

Two Golden Bears were selected in the next two NBA drafts

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1959	6	45	Bob Dalton	Syracuse Nationals
1960	1	3	Darrall Imhoff	New York Knicks

Source:^[7]

References

1. "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
2. "Cal Throttles Badgers, 68-53; Huskies Win". Los Angeles Times. December 21, 1958. ProQuest 167395777.
3. Florence, Mal (February 8, 1959). "Idaho Knocks Off Bruins; Bears Easily Defeat Troy: UCLA Upset, 91-87, in Spite of 38-Point Splurge by Torrence". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 167429852.
4. California History (2003-04 ed.). Cal Athletics. p. 141. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
5. • ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 670–671. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
6. "1958-59 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
7. "1959 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Archived from the original on March 18, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2009.