1956–57 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball | |
---|---|
Southern Conference champions | |
NCAA tournament, first round | |
Conference | Southern Conference |
Ranking | |
AP | No. 7 |
Record | 25–5 (12–0 SoCon) |
Head coach | |
Home arena | WVU Field House |
1956–57 Southern Conference men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 7 West Virginia † | 12 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 25 | – | 5 | .833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Washington and Lee | 10 | – | 3 | .769 | 20 | – | 7 | .741 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Virginia Tech | 12 | – | 5 | .706 | 14 | – | 8 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Furman | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 10 | – | 17 | .370 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richmond | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 15 | – | 11 | .577 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William & Mary | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 9 | – | 18 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Citadel | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 11 | – | 14 | .440 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Davidson | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 7 | – | 20 | .259 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George Washington | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 3 | – | 21 | .125 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
VMI | 1 | – | 13 | .071 | 4 | – | 22 | .154 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† Tournament winner As of April 30, 1957 Rankings from AP Poll |
The 1956–57 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represented West Virginia University in NCAA college basketball competition in the 1956–57 season. Coached by Fred Schaus and competing in the Southern Conference, the Mountaineers started the season strong, beating their first eight opponents, which included 19th-ranked NC State. However, in the 1956 Dixie Classic, the undefeated streak fell apart, and West Virginia lost all three of their tournament games. [1] The team regrouped and won their next 11, only losing one more game in the regular season. They cruised through the Southern Conference tournament, beating Davidson, Richmond, and Washington & Lee each by double-digit margins for their third consecutive Southern Conference championship. [2] However, their season came to an abrupt end when 20th-ranked Canisius felled them in the first round of the NCAA tournament. [3]
Robert Edward Huggins is an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed “Huggy Bear,” he is currently the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team. Huggins previously held the head coaching positions at Walsh College (1980–1983), the University of Akron (1984–1989), the University of Cincinnati (1989–2005) and Kansas State University (2006–2007). He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mountaineers have been a member of the Big 12 Conference since 2012. At that time, the Mountaineers joined the Mid-American Conference as an affiliate member for men's soccer. The two major sports at the university are football and basketball, although many of the other sports have large followings as well.
Matthew Curtis Painter is an American basketball coach and former player. He is currently the men's basketball coach at Purdue University, having held that position since 2005. Before Purdue, Painter held coaching positions at Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Barton College, and Washington & Jefferson College.
John Patrick Beilein is an American professional basketball coach who currently serves as the Senior Player Development Advisor for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before being hired by Detroit, Beilein served as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Prior to joining the Cavaliers, he coached the Michigan Wolverines (2007–2019), West Virginia Mountaineers (2002–2007), Richmond Spiders (1997–2002), Canisius Golden Griffins (1992–1997) in NCAA Division I as well as Le Moyne College (1983–1992), Nazareth College (1982–1983) and Erie Community College (1978–1982). Beilein has won 754 career games at four-year universities and 829 games altogether, including those at the junior college level. Beilein’s overall career wins counting the time spent in Cleveland is 843 games.
Wendell Gale Catlett is a retired American basketball coach who was head coach at the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University.
The Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Home games are played at Cassell Coliseum, located on Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg.
The Dayton Flyers men's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) representing the University of Dayton in Ohio. The Flyers play their home games at University of Dayton Arena. The Flyers are coached by Anthony Grant who is in his fifth season. In March 2020, Dayton was ranked #3 in the AP Top 25 Poll, its highest ranking since the 1955–56 season when it was ranked #2. The Flyers have never been ranked #1, but Dayton did receive a lone first place vote in the final AP poll of the 2019-2020 season.
The VCU Rams are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The most successful teams have been the men's tennis and basketball teams, which have had success in their conference and on the regional and national stages. The school's colors are black and gold. The athletic director is Ed McLaughlin. The official student supporter group is known as the Rowdy Rams.
The George Washington Colonials men's basketball team represents George Washington University in the United States' capital, Washington, D.C. It plays its home games in the Charles E. Smith Center, which is also shared with other George Washington Colonials athletic programs. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The head coach is Chris Caputo.
The VCU Rams men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball team that represents Virginia Commonwealth University. The Rams joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in the 2012–13 season after previously competing in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). In 2017, VCU was ranked the 40th most valuable men's basketball program in the country by The Wall Street Journal. With a valuation of $56.9 million, VCU ranked second in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and second in the A-10 Conference. The team is coached by Mike Rhoades.
Raymond Chevalier "Bucky" Waters is an American basketball broadcaster with ESPN and Madison Square Garden Network and a retired basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach at West Virginia University from 1965 to 1969 and at Duke University from 1969 to 1973, compiling a career college basketball coaching record of record of 133–96.
The West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represents West Virginia University in NCAA Division I college basketball competition. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. WVU has won 13 conference tournament championships, and has 29 appearances in the NCAA tournament, including two Final Fours, most recently in 2010. The Mountaineers have also appeared in 16 National Invitation Tournaments, and have won two championships, in 1942 and 2007.
Chris Smith is an American former college basketball player for the Virginia Tech Hokies from 1957 to 1961. He was nicknamed "Moose" at Charleston High School in West Virginia where he played as a 6-foot-6 center during an era of exceptional local talent in what was then known as the Kanawha Valley. Smith was later dubbed "the human pogo stick" by former Roanoke sportswriter Bill Brill.
The Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represents Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. They compete in the NCAA Division I as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball team is the college basketball team that represents St. Bonaventure University, located near the city of Olean, New York. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference and plays its home games at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies are currently coached by all-time coaching wins leader Mark Schmidt, who during his 12th season surpassed former coach Larry Weise with his 203rd victory.
Michael Alan Carey is the former head coach of the West Virginia University women's basketball team. He had previously served as head basketball coach for the Salem International University men's basketball team.
The 1956–57 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team represented the College of William & Mary in intercollegiate basketball during the 1956–57 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. Under the fifth, and final, year of head coach Boydson Baird, the team finished the season 9–18, 7–11 in the Southern Conference. This was the 52nd season of the collegiate basketball program at William & Mary, whose nickname is now the Tribe. William & Mary played its home games at Blow Gymnasium.
The 1959 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game was the final of the 1959 NCAA University Division basketball tournament and determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) national champion in men's basketball for the 1958–59 season. The game was held on March 21, 1959, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The California Golden Bears defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers, 71–70, to win the school's only national title in men's basketball.
The Cincinnati–West Virginia rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and West Virginia University Mountaineers, which are about 300 miles (480 km) apart. The rivalry dates from their first college football game in 1921, and has continued across all sports, including basketball since 1940. The rivalry intensified while the two schools were conference foes and members of the Big East Conference from 2005 to 2011.
The 1956 Dixie Classic was a mid-season college basketball tournament held December 27–29, 1956 at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the eighth iteration of the Dixie Classic and it was part of the 1956–57 NCAA University Division men's basketball season.