The 1954–55 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1954, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1955 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 19, 1955, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The San Francisco Dons won their first NCAA national championship with a 77–63 victory over the La Salle Explorers.

Rule changes

  • The "one-and-one" free throw was introduced, allowing a player to attempt a second free throw after a foul if he made the first free throw. Previously, a player shot only one free throw after a foul.[1]
  • Games once again are divided into two 20-minute halves, as had been the practice through the 1950–51 season. From the 1951–52 season though the 1953–54 season, games had been divided into four 10-minute quarters.[1]

Season headlines

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.[2][3]

Associated Press
Ranking Team
1 La Salle
2 Kentucky
3 Duquesne
4 Iowa
5 Holy Cross
6 Indiana
7 Dayton
8 Niagara
9 Notre Dame
10 NC State
11 Oklahoma A&M
12 Saint Louis
13 UCLA
14 Illinois
15 Wichita
16 Utah
17
(tie)		 Duke
Wake Forest
19 Penn State
20 Western Kentucky State
UP Coaches
Ranking Team
1 La Salle
2 Iowa
3 Duquesne
4 Kentucky
5 Indiana
6 Illinois
7 NC State
8 Holy Cross
9 UCLA
10 Niagara
11 Notre Dame
12 Dayton
13
(tie)		 Saint Louis
Utah
15 USC
16 DePaul
17
(tie)		 Oklahoma A&M
Oregon State
19 Cincinnati
20 Wichita

Arenas

  • Kansas began playing at Allen Fieldhouse late in the season on March 1. The arena was named for their coach at the time Phog Allen. Allen Fieldhouse would eventually become one of the top college basketball home court advantages in the country.[4]


Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference Regular
season winner[5]		 Conference
player of the year		 Conference
tournament		 Tournament
venue (City)		 Tournament
winner
Atlantic Coast ConferenceNC StateDickie Hemric, Wake Forest[6]1955 ACC men's basketball tournamentReynolds Coliseum
(Raleigh, North Carolina)		NC State
Big Seven ConferenceColoradoNone selectedNo Tournament
Big Ten ConferenceIowaNone selectedNo Tournament
Border ConferenceTexas Tech & West Texas A&MNo Tournament
California Basketball AssociationSan FranciscoKen Sears, Santa ClaraNo Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball LeaguePrincetonNone selectedNo Tournament
Metropolitan New York ConferenceManhattanNo Tournament
Mid-American ConferenceMiami (OH)None selectedNo Tournament
Missouri Valley ConferenceSaint Louis & TulsaNone selectedNo Tournament
Ohio Valley ConferenceWestern Kentucky StateNone selected1955 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournamentJefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)Eastern Kentucky State
Pacific Coast ConferenceOregon State (North); UCLA (South)No Tournament;
Oregon State defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference playoff series
Skyline ConferenceUtahNo Tournament
Southeastern ConferenceKentuckyNone selectedNo Tournament
Southern ConferenceWest VirginiaDarrell Floyd, Furman[7]1955 Southern Conference men's basketball tournamentRichmond Arena
(Richmond, Virginia)		West Virginia[8]
Southwest ConferenceSMUNone selectedNo Tournament
Western New York Little Three ConferenceNiagaraNo Tournament
Yankee ConferenceConnecticutNone selectedNo Tournament

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four

National semifinals National finals
      
Iowa 73
La Salle 76
La Salle 63
San Francisco 77
Colorado 50
San Francisco 62
  • Third Place – Colorado 75, Iowa 54

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals Finals
      
  Duquesne 65
  Cincinnati 61
  Duquesne 70
  Dayton 58
  St. Francis (Pa.) 73
  Dayton 79
  • Third Place – Cincinnati 96, St. Francis (Pa.) 91

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Dick Garmaker G Senior Minnesota
Tom Gola F Senior La Salle
Sihugo Green G Junior Duquesne
Dick Ricketts F/C Senior Duquesne
Bill Russell C Junior San Francisco


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Darrell Floyd G Junior Furman
Robin Freeman G Junior Ohio State
Dickie Hemric C Senior Wake Forest
Don Schlundt C Senior Indiana
Ronnie Shavlik F/C Junior North Carolina State

Major player of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team Former
Coach		 Interim
Coach		 New
Coach		 Reason
La Salle Ken Loeffler Jim Pollard
Oklahoma Bruce Drake Doyle Parrack
Oklahoma City Doyle Parrack Abe Lemons
Texas A&M John Floyd Ken Loeffler

References

  1. 1 2 orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
  2. ↑ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  3. ↑ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ "King's Court: Home sweet home". ESPN.com. January 16, 2013.
  5. ↑ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  6. ↑ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14
  7. ↑ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  8. ↑ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
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