1963-64

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At a Glance
NCAA Champion--UCLA (30-0; coached by John Wooden/16th of 27 seasons with Bruins; won AAWU title by six games with a 15-0 record).
NIT Champion--Bradley (23-6; coached by Chuck Orsborn/eighth of nine seasons with Braves; finished in third place in Missouri Valley with a 7-5 record, which was three games behind Wichita State and Drake).
New Conference--Big Sky.
NCAA Probation--Dayton, Indiana, New Mexico State.
NCAA Consensus First-Team All-Americans--Gary Bradds, C, Sr., Ohio State (30.6 ppg, 13.4 rpg, 52.4 FG%); Bill Bradley, F, Jr., Princeton (32.3 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 52.2 FG%, 85 FT%); Walt Hazzard, G, Sr., UCLA (18.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg); Cotton Nash, F, Sr., Kentucky (24 ppg, 11.7 rpg); Dave Stallworth, F, Jr., Wichita State (26.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 54.6 FG%).
National Players of the Year--Bradds (AP/UPI) and Hazzard (USBWA).
National Coach of the Year--John Wooden, UCLA (30-0/UPI, USBWA).

Undefeated UCLA won its first of 10 NCAA titles in 12 years, a stretch of dominance many believe ranks among the greatest achievements in the history of competitive sports. The Bruins had never won a Final Four game despite finishing in a final Top 20 wire-service poll eight times in the previous 14 seasons under coach John Wooden.

Absent from Sports Illustrated's preseason Top 20, they were projected as one that "could cause trouble" but dismissed from national consideration for their lack of height and losing all 12 games decided by one point or two points over the previous three years. UCLA's closest homecourt decision was an 83-79 victory over Illinois despite a school-record 24 rebounds by the Illini's Skip Thoren.

Kentucky set an NCAA single-game record with 108 rebounds in a 102-59 mauling of Mississippi (see accompanying box). Don Kessinger finished among the top three scorers in the SEC for the third consecutive year despite hitting just one of 19 field-goal attempts for Ole Miss against the Rebels. Kessinger was playing major league baseball by the end of the summer. . . . Mississippi State finished in 11th place after capturing the SEC title the previous year. . . . Georgia Tech, coached by Whack Hyder, finished in a tie for second place behind Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference in the Yellow Jackets' final season as a member of the league. . . . Georgia's 8-6 mark in the SEC was the Bulldogs' first winning record in league competition in 24 years. . . . Cincinnati's 86-game homecourt winning streak, which started in 1957, was snapped by Kansas, 51-47, when KU centers George Unseld and Walt Wesley combined for 31 points. The Jayhawks lost eight of their next 11 outings en route to concluding the campaign with a 13-12 record. Cincinnati finished out of the top 10 of the final AP poll for the first time in seven years.

Defending national scoring champion Nick Werkman of Seton Hall scored almost four points per game more than he did the previous season (from 29.5 to 33.2), but finished runner-up to Bowling Green's Howard Komives, a 6-1 guard who averaged 36.7 points per game after hitting 50 consecutive free throws in his last five games. Komives finished 45th in the country in scoring the previous year with a 20.2 norm. Werkman and Komives were among five players to score more than 32 points per game. Werkman's 52 points against Scranton is still a school record.

Princeton's Bill Bradley set a mark for most points in an Ivy League contest when he poured in 51 against Harvard. Harvard's only victory in one seven-game conference stretch was an 88-82 verdict over Princeton, which might be the biggest upset in Crimson history. Harvard was in the midst of 30 consecutive non-winning Ivy League records through 1969-70. . . . Bradley, fouling out with almost 13 minutes remaining, scored a career-low 17 points in Princeton's 76-71 loss against Syracuse at Miami. . . . Setting school single-game scoring records were Hardin-Simmons' Nate Madkins (52 points vs. West Texas State), Texas Western's Jim Barnes (51 vs. Western New Mexico), Xavier's Steve Thomas (50 vs. Detroit), Ohio State's Gary Bradds (49 vs. Illinois), Boston College's John Austin (49 vs. Georgetown) and Northwestern's Rich Falk (49 vs. Iowa). . . . Barnes also grabbed a school-record 36 rebounds in the Western New Mexico contest. Bradds' outburst was one of six consecutive 40-point games for him in Big Ten competition.

Komives, Werkman, Western Michigan's Manny Newsome (32.7 ppg), Princeton's Bradley (32.3), Xavier's Steve Thomas (30), Boston College's John Austin (29.2), Texas Western's Barnes (29.2), Davidson's Fred Hetzel (27.3), Sandy Williams (27.3) of St. Francis (Pa.), Oregon State's Mel Counts (26.7), Yale's Rick Kaminsky (24.9), Delaware's Dave Sysko (23.9) and Santa Clara's Russ Vrankavich (22.5) set school records for highest scoring average in a single season. Sysko established a Delaware modern era single-game scoring mark with 45 points at Lafayette.

Komives' average is the highest in Mid-American Conference history. Two of Western Michigan's three defeats in its first four games came at Michigan State (101-100) despite Newsome's 45 points and against defending NCAA champion Loyola of Chicago (105-102) despite Newsome's 44 points.

Texas A&M, coached by Shelby Metcalf, captured its first outright Southwest Conference championship since 1923. A&M's Bennie Lenox set a school and Southwest Conference record with a national single-game high of 53 points against Wyoming in the All-College Tournament at Oklahoma City. He was one of 10 different players to score 50 or more in a single game during the season. . . . Creighton's Paul Silas finished his varsity career as the only player in Division I history to average more than 20 rebounds each season of a career that lasted at least three years. He had 13 games with at least 27 rebounds.

Iowa's Jimmy Rodgers, who shared the Big Ten Conference lead in free-throw shooting (85.5 percent), went on to become coach of the Boston Celtics for two seasons in 1988-89 and 1989-90. . . . Ohio State, coached by Fred Taylor, captured an unprecedented fifth consecutive Big Ten title. The Buckeyes, however, saw their 50-game homecourt winning streak snapped when they were dumped by Lefty Driesell-coached Davidson, 95-73. . . . Forward Pete Gent led Michigan State in scoring for the third consecutive year. Gent went on to become a receiver for five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and also authored "North Dallas Forty," a highly-recognizable novel. . . . Junior twins Dick (42) and Tom (34) Van Arsdale combined for 76 points to power Indiana past Notre Dame, 108-102, at Fort Wayne. . . . Arthur "Bill" Davis, a 6-7 senior forward who averaged 12.5 ppg for a Minnesota team that included Archie Clark and Lou Hudson, was a first baseman later in the decade with the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres.

Senior Terry Holland's nation-leading 63.1 percent field-goal shooting helped Davidson pace the country at 54.4 percent. Holland, who would coach Virginia to the Final Four in 1981 and 1984, is the only Final Four coach to previously lead the nation in a statistical category as a major-college player. . . . Another player who would become a prominent coach was Providence center John Thompson, who ranked among the nation's top 20 in scoring (26.2 ppg), rebounding (14.5 rpg) and field-goal shooting (58.8 percent). Thompson became Georgetown's all-time winningest coach and guided the Hoyas to the 1984 NCAA Tournament championship. . . . Digger Phelps, who coached Notre Dame to the 1978 Final Four, was a graduate assistant at Rider when the Broncs stunned NYU, ending the Violets' homecourt winning streak that dated back to 1941. NYU, anointed No. 1 by SI and other publications in advance of the season, wound up with 10 defeats and didn't finish in the Top 20. . . . Connecticut guard Dom Perno, averaging more than nine points per game for an NCAA playoff team for the second straight year, eventually coached his alma mater for nine seasons from 1977-78 through 1985-86, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1979. . . . Ron Rothstein, who finished his career at Rhode Island with a five-point scoring average, went on to coach the NBA's Miami Heat.

Forward Joe Caldwell became the only player in Arizona State history to earn first-team all-conference honors on three different occasions--Border (1962) and WAC (1963 and 1964). Jumpin' Joe cleared 6 feet-7 inches in the high jump as a member of the school's track squad. . . . Arizona lost its last three games but registered the Wildcats' first winning record in 10 seasons (15-11). . . . Hardin-Simmons (20-6/coached by Lou Henson) had its winningest season in school Division I history.

Duke won a league-record 27 consecutive games against ACC competition (subsequently tied) until bowing at Wake Forest, 72-71. Duke, coached by Vic Bubas, captured the ACC Tournament by an average margin of 23 points. The Blue Devils' trek to the Final Four was unnerving when their 85-seat charter airplane skidded off a rain-slick runway upon landing at Kansas City's Municipal Airport. . . . Duke forward Jeff Mullins, a three-time All-ACC first-team selection, became UNC Charlotte's all-time winningest coach when he toiled for 11 seasons with the 49ers from 1985-86 through 1995-96. . . . Clemson, coached by Bobby Roberts, won four of its last five games to compile the Tigers' first winning record (13-12) in 12 years. A pair of double-overtime triumphs over North Carolina enabled the Tigers to end a 25-game losing streak in their series with the Tar Heels. Clemson notched its first winning record in ACC competition (8-6) since the league's inaugural season in 1953-54. . . . North Carolina junior Billy Cunningham reached double digits in scoring and rebounding in the same game a total of 22 times during the season and on 60 occasions in his three-year varsity career, including an NCAA-record 40 consecutive contests. The Tar Heels' only losing ACC mark (6-8) in a 47-year stretch from 1955 through 2001 probably wouldn't have occurred if they recruited in-state African-American standouts Happy Hairston (NYU) and Lou Hudson (Minnesota). Hairston and Hudson combined for 40.6 points and 20.7 rebounds per game. . . . N.C. State backup guard Les Robinson went on to coach East Tennessee State and his alma mater in the NCAA Tournament. . . . All-ACC first-team selection Chip Connor, Virginia's leading scorer with 18.8 ppg, underwent emergency surgery only hours before his final career home game. He eventually coached South Florida for five seasons from 1975-76 through 1979-80.

VMI guard Bill Blair, an All-Southern Conference first-team selection, went on to coach his alma mater and Colorado. He guided the Keydets to the 1976 East Regional final. Teammate Bobby Watson, who led VMI in rebounding (9.1 rpg), became Evansville's first Division I coach before dying in a plane crash that claimed the Purple Aces' squad on December 13, 1977. . . . Furman (11-15), which lost 12 of its first 17 games, pulled off one of the top upsets of the season by shocking fourth-ranked Davidson, 70-55, after losing to the Wildcats by 26 points earlier in the year. David Selvy scored 17 points for the Paladins to help commemorate the 10th anniversary of brother Frank Selvy's 100-point explosion.

Tennessee assistant coach Bill Gibbs was killed in Florida when a small commuter plane bound for a scouting assignment crashed shortly after takeoff. . . . Tulane was winless through 22 games until winning its season finale against LSU, 80-68. . . . Kansas State finished first or second in the Big Seven/Big Eight Conference standings for the ninth consecutive season. The Wildcats lost twice to undefeated UCLA by a total of just nine points. K-State finished in a wire-service final Top 20 poll for the eighth straight year and 12th time since the inception of national rankings in 1948-49. Kentucky (13) was the only school at that point to have more final Top 20 rankings than the Wildcats. Prominent institutions such as Arkansas, Georgetown, Missouri, Oklahoma, Purdue and Syracuse had yet to reach that lofty status. . . . Drake, coached by Maury John, earned a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title after finishing in last place the previous year. . . . Junior forward Dave Stallworth of MVC co-champion Wichita State was an NCAA unanimous first-team All-American but only an all-league second-team selection. The MVC's all-senior first-teamers included four players who wound up playing at least three seasons in the ABA and/or NBA--Cincinnati's Ron Bonham and George Wilson, Drake's McCoy McLemore and Bradley's Levern Tart. Stallworth was the fifth different MVC player over the last seven seasons to become an NCAA first-team choice.

Detroit, coached by Bob Calihan, became the only Michigan Division I team ever to lead the nation in scoring. The 14-11 Titans averaged 96.1 points per game, which was well above the national average of 74.4. . . . Minnesota, coached by John Kundla, compiled a 17-7 record to snap a streak of six consecutive non-winning seasons. . . . DePaul, coached by Ray Meyer, finished in the Top 20 of a final wire-service poll for the only time in a 22-year span from 1953-54 through 1974-75. . . . Texas A&M, in Shelby Metcalf's first season as coach of the Aggies, finished in the Top 20 of a final wire-service poll for the only time in a 28-year span from 1951-52 through 1978-79. . . . Xavier's Bob Pelkington grabbed a school-record 31 rebounds in a game against St. Francis (Pa.). . . . Dayton coach Tom Blackburn died one day before the Flyers' final game. Assistant coach Don Donoher handled the team in the last three contests. Providence and St. Joseph's were the only schools other than Dayton to compete in as many as eight national postseason tournaments during the 1960s. The only years in the decade that the Flyers didn't appear in the postseason were 1963 and 1964 when they were on NCAA probation.

Idaho's Tom Moreland set a Big Sky Conference single-game standard by tying a school mark with 31 rebounds against Whitworth. . . . Utah State finished in a final national Top 20 for the third time in five years. . . . Ben Carnevale was in his 18th season as Navy's coach when the Midshipmen posted their first losing record in 21 years (10-12). . . . Oklahoma State's Hank Iba posted the 700th victory of his college coaching career with an 80-47 triumph over Oklahoma in State's final game of the season.

UCLA senior guard Walt Hazzard, the USBWA national player of the year, went on to coach his alma mater for four seasons from 1984-85 through 1987-88. . . . Gary Sutherland, who averaged 7.4 ppg as the shortest player on USC's squad, went on to play 13 years of major league baseball as a utilityman. . . . Jim Brovelli, a starting guard with San Francisco for the second straight year in the NCAA playoffs, coached San Diego in the 1984 NCAA tourney. . . . Pacific ended a streak of seven consecutive losing seasons and started a string of 11 straight winning campaigns by compiling a 15-11 record under first-year coach Dick Edwards. . . . Kentucky Wesleyan, a small-college power, defeated Baylor, South Carolina and Virginia. . . . Western Kentucky's Ed Diddle retired after a 42-year coaching career with a 759-302 record. Diddle's teams won an amazing 31 conference championships (13 in the KIAC, 8 in the SIAA and 10 in the OVC). But he lost his last 13 games decided by fewer than six points. . . . Oregon State's Slats Gill ended his 36-year coaching career with a 599-392 mark. . . . Marquette's Eddie Hickey, who previously coached Creighton and St. Louis, ended his 26-year career with a 435-231 record. Marquette compiled a 5-21 mark, ending Hickey's streak of 21 consecutive winning records.

1964 NCAA Tournament
Summary: Sixteen unanswered points by UCLA late in the first half were instrumental in helping venerable coach John Wooden capture his first NCAA Tournament championship. UCLA's Kenny Washington, the only player with a single-digit season scoring average (6.1) to tally more than 25 points in a championship game, scored 26 in a 98-83 triumph over Duke in the final. Washington became the only player to score 25 or more points in a final and not be named to the All-Tournament team. The Bruins won the national championship by a modest average of 7.5 points after gifted guards Gail Goodrich and Walt Hazzard sparked them to 12 double-digit margin victories in their last 13 regular-season games. Goodrich (21.5 points per game) and Hazzard (18.6 ppg) represent the only backcourt twosome to be the top two scorers on the season for an NCAA championship team. Despite shooting a meager 40.3% from the floor and 52.9% from the free-throw line, UCLA overcame a 13-point deficit to end San Francisco's 19-game winning streak (76-72) in the West Regional final. Eight of their 30 victories were by seven points or less, including a 58-56 triumph at California. The Bruins became the only school to win an NCAA title one year after appearing in the playoffs and losing their tournament opener by a double-digit margin (93-79 to Arizona State in 1963).
Outcome for Defending Champion: Loyola of Chicago compiled a 22-6 record. The Ramblers' first defeat was in their seventh game (69-58 against Georgetown). Loyola, eliminated in the second round of the national tournament by Michigan, became the only team in the era of three-year eligibility to have four teammates finish their careers at the same time with more than 1,000 points--center Les Hunter (1,472), guards John Egan (1,315) and Ron Miller (1,299), and forward Vic Rouse (1,169).
Star Gazing: Hazzard, the second-leading scorer over the entire season for UCLA's first championship team with an average of 18.6 points per game, was named Most Outstanding Player although he was the Bruins' fourth-leading scorer at the Final Four. "I never had a better man on the fast break than Walt," UCLA coach John Wooden said. Hazzard had a two-game total of 30 points, finishing behind the scoring aggregates compiled by teammates Goodrich (41), Washington (39) and Keith Erickson (36). Erickson's 28-point outburst in a 90-84 national semifinal victory over Kansas State was the only one of UCLA's 30 games when neither Goodrich nor Hazzard at least shared the Bruins' scoring lead. Erickson was a volleyball Olympian for the U.S. later in the year. . . . Starting center Fred Slaughter went scoreless and grabbed just one rebound for UCLA in the NCAA final, but the Bruins got a lift from Doug McIntosh, who contributed eight points and 11 rebounds.
Biggest Upset: Kentucky, ranked No. 3 by UPI and No. 4 by AP entering the tourney, dropped its opener to Ohio, 85-69, when the Wildcats fell behind by 16 points at intermission.
One and Only: Goodrich, a 6-1 junior, became the shortest undergraduate to average more than 20 points per game for an NCAA titlist (21.5 ppg). He was the only non-Southern California player in a six-year span from 1961 through 1966 to lead the Pacific-8 Conference in scoring. . . . UCLA's Washington became the only championship team player to have a season scoring average of less than six points per game entering a Final Four but accumulate at least 30 points in the national semifinals and final. Washington had a season scoring average of 5.2 points per game entering the Final Four before erupting for a total of 39 points in victories over Kansas State and Duke. He is the only player with a single-digit season scoring average to score more than 25 points in a championship game (26 against Duke to finish the year with a 6.1-point average). Goodrich scored 27 in the final when he and Washington combined to become the only teammate duo to each score more than 25 in an NCAA final until UCLA's Ed O'Bannon (30) and Toby Bailey (26) achieved the feat in 1995. . . . UCLA's championship enabled California to become the only state with as many as four different universities capture an NCAA title. Stanford, San Francisco and California previously won crowns. . . . Villanova guard Wali Jones became the only player to outscore Bill Bradley (34-30 in East Regional third-place game) in the Princeton All-American's nine playoff contests.
Celebrity Status: Rick Wright, who hit both of his field-goal attempts in Princeton's 86-60 victory over VMI in the first round, became National Finance Director during the 2000 presidential campaign of Bradley (New Jersey Senator) after the attorney helped create the Department of Energy in the Carter Administration. . . . Oakland native Fritz Pointer, Creighton's third-leading scorer and rebounder, was younger brother of the famous girl group, The Pointer Sisters.
Numbers Game: Of the individuals to both play and coach in the NCAA Tournament, Jeff Mullins leads that group in both scoring and rebounding totals. He managed a tourney-high 43 points in an 87-73 victory over Villanova in the East Regional semifinals. Mullins, who later guided UNC Charlotte to the tourney, garnered 200 points and 63 rebounds in eight playoff games to help Duke twice reach the Final Four. . . . Jim "Bad News" Barnes accounted for 61.8% of Texas Western's offense by scoring 42 points in the Miners' 68-62 victory against Texas A&M in the first round of Midwest Regional. In the Miners' next game, Barnes was whistled for three quick personal fouls in the opening minutes against Kansas State and spent almost the entire first half on the bench. He was assessed fouls No. 4 and No. 5 early in the second half and fouled out with four points in their 64-60 defeat. . . . Mullins, Barnes and Wichita's Dave Stallworth (37 vs. Kansas State in regional final) set existing school NCAA playoff single-game scoring records. . . . Michigan, participating in the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, became the only Final Four team ever to have a duo each average more than 23 points per game - guard Cazzie Russell (24.8) and center Bill Buntin (23.2). . . . UCLA had seven players average more than four rebounds per game. . . . Stanford center Tom Dose's 38 points was the highest single-game output by an individual against the Bruins during the season. . . . Creighton's Paul Silas outrebounded Oklahoma City's Eddie Jackson, 27-24, in the Bluejays' 89-78 victory over OCU in the first round of the Midwest Regional. . . . Arizona State and Seattle were the only schools to participate in the last four NCAA playoffs. . . . Kansas State had a 1-7 Final Four record after finishing in fourth place for the third time. . . . Wichita's Ralph Miller posted his first NCAA playoff victory in his 13th season.
What Might Have Been: Wichita (23-6) reached the Midwest Regional final before bowing to Kansas State, 94-86. The Shockers were without standout senior guard Ernie Moore, who was averaging 17.4 points per game when declared ineligible for postseason play. . . . Louisville might have fared better in the playoffs if center Sam Smith didn't become academically ineligible in mid-season and eventually transfer to Kentucky Wesleyan, where he led the Panthers in scoring and rebounding for their 1966 College Division champion.
Scoring Leader: Jeff Mullins, Duke (116 points, 29 ppg).
Highest Scoring Average: Dave Stallworth, Wichita State (59 points, 29.5 ppg).
Rebounding Leader: Paul Silas, Creighton (57 rebounds, 19 rpg).
Highest Rebounding Average: Dave Stallworth, Wichita State (39 rebounds, 19.5 rpg).

All-Tournament Team
Bill Buntin, C, Jr., Michigan (52 points, 23 rebounds in final two games)
Gail Goodrich, G, Jr., UCLA (41 points, nine rebounds)
*Walt Hazzard, G, Sr., UCLA (30 points, 10 rebounds)
Jeff Mullins, F, Sr., Duke (43 points, 12 rebounds)
Willie Murrell, F, Sr., Kansas State (49 points, 23 rebounds)
*Named Most Outstanding Player.

Championship Team Results
Regional Semifinal: UCLA 95 (Hazzard team-high 26 points), Seattle 90 (Tresvant/Wheeler 20)
Regional Final: UCLA 76 (Hazzard 23), San Francisco 72 (Johnson 22)
National Semifinal: UCLA 90 (Erickson 28), Kansas State 84 (Murrell 29)
Championship Game: UCLA 98 (Goodrich 27), Duke 83 (Mullins 22)