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
ConferenceCalifornia Basketball Association
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record29–0 (14–0 CBA)
Head coach
Assistant coachRoss Giudice
Home arenaKezar Pavilion
Seasons
1955–56 California Basketball Association men's basketball standings
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

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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

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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
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

[2]

Schedule and results

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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.

[5]

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APNot released111111111111111
Coaches111111111111111Not released

[6][7]

Awards and honors

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Team players drafted into the NBA

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

[8]

References

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  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.