1947 NAIA Basketball Tournament

Last updated
1947 (1947) NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams32
Finals Site Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
Champions Marshall
(1st title, 1st title game,
1st Fab Four)
Runner-Up Mankato State
(1st title game,
1st Fab Four)
Semifinalists Arizona State-Flagstaff
Emporia State
Chuck Taylor MVP Irvin Leifer
(Eastern Washington)
  1946 NAIA Division I
Men's Tournaments
1948  

The 1947 NAIA National Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 10th annual men's basketball tournament of what is now the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. [1]

Contents

It would be the first time since 1945 the NAIA Semifinalist would feature four new teams. Becoming the 3rd tournament to do so, and a feat that would not be repeated until 1965.

The championship game featured Marshall defeating Mankato State, 73–59. The third place game featured Arizona State-Flagstaff, now Northern Arizona, defeating Emporia State, 47–38.

1947 kicked off the "golden age" of NAIA National Tournaments. Harold Haskins became the first of 16 all-time leading scorers. Coach John Wooden withdrew Indiana State from the tournament because the NAIB would not allow black student-athlete Clarence Walker to play. [2] The NAIB changed in time for Walker to play for Indiana in the 1948 tournament.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1947 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

Bracket

First Round
March 11, 1947
Second Round
March 12, 1947
Elite EightNAIA National SemifinalsNAIA National Championship
          
Beloit 75
Arkansas State 60
Beloit63
Texas Wesleyan 53
Texas Wesleyan 84
Linfield 50
Beloit 52
TOP TIER
Emporia State55
Canterbury (IN) 68
Western Carolina 55
Canterbury 48
Emporia State60
Emporia State 78
Lawrence Tech 54
Emporia State 55
Marshall56*
Dakota Wesleyan 44
Southern Illinois 39
Dakota Wesleyan 48
Eastern Washington State62
Eastern Washington State 51
Culver–Stockton 48
Eastern Washington State 48
TOP TIER
Marshall56
Hamline 71
New Mexico 49
Hamline 54
Marshall55
Marshall 113
River Falls State 80
Marshall73
Mankato State 59
Whittier 70
Northwestern State (LA) 56
Whittier 49
NE Missouri State51
NE Missouri State 76
Delta State 58
Arizona State-Flagstaff59
BOTTOM TIER
NE Missouri State 55
Arizona State-Flagstaff 49
Youngstown 45*
Arizona State-Flagstaff44
Houston 42***
Houston 60
Montana State 58
Arizona State-Flagstaff 46
Mankato State52
Hastings 53
Loyola Maryland 44
Hastings 42
Southeastern State48
Southeastern State (OK) 53NAIA Third Place Game
Eastern Illinois State 42
Southeastern State 44 Arizona State-Flagstaff47
BOTTOM TIER
Mankato State50Emporia State 38
Mankato State 71
Loras 63
Mankato State65
DePauw 54
DePauw 82
Oglethorpe 30

See also

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References

  1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  2. Keefer, Zak (March 16, 2017). "Indiana basketball player broke racial barrier, changed game forever". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  3. NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine