1947 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1947 National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) 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] 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.

1947 (1947) NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams32
ChampionsMarshall
(1st title, 1st title game,
1st Fab Four)
Runner-UpMankato State
(1st title game,
1st Fab Four)
SemifinalistsArizona State-Flagstaff
Emporia State
Chuck Taylor MVPIrvin Leifer
(Eastern Washington)

The championship game featured Marshall University (W. Va.) defeating Mankato State (Minn.) by a score of 73 to 59. The third place game featured Arizona State-Flagstaff, now Northern Arizona University, defeating Emporia State University by a score of 47 to 38.

1947 kicks 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:

  • Leading scorer est. 1963
  • Leading rebounder est. 1963
  • Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
  • Coach of the Year est. 1954
  • Player of the Year est. 1994
  • Top single-game scoring performances: 2nd by Nate DeLong, Wisconsin-River Falls vs. Marshall (W.Va.). Delong scored 22 field goals had 12 free throws totaling 56 points.
  • All-time scoring leader; first appearance: Harold Haskins, 12th, Hamline (Minn.) (1947,48,49,50), 14 games, 104 field goals, 72 free throws, 280 total points, 20.0 average per game.[3]

1947 NAIA bracket

First Round
March 11
Second Round
March 12
Elite Eight NAIA National Semifinals NAIA National Championship
               
- Beloit (Wisc.) 75
- Arkansas State 60
- Beloit 63
- Texas Wesleyan 53
- Texas Wesleyan 84
- Linfield (Ore.) 50
- Beloit 52
TOP TIER
- Emporia State 55
- Canterbury (Ind.) 68
- Western Carolina (N.C.) 55
- Canterbury 48
- Emporia State 60
- Emporia State (Kan.) 78
- Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 54
- Emporia State 55
- Marshall 56*
- Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 44
- Southern Illinois 39
- Dakota Wesleyan 48
- Eastern Washington State 62
- Eastern Washington State 51
- Culver–Stockton (Mo.) 48
- Eastern Washington State 48
TOP TIER
- Marshall 56
- Hamline (Minn.) 71
- New Mexico 49
- Hamline 54
- Marshall 55
- Marshall (W.Va.) 113
- River Falls State (Wisc.) 80
- Marshall 73
- Mankato State 59
- Whittier (Calif.) 70
- Northwestern State (La.) 56
- Whittier 49
- Northeast Missouri State 51
- Northeast Missouri State 76
- Delta State (Miss.) 58
- Arizona State-Flagstaff 59
BOTTOM TIER
- Northeast Missouri State 55
- Arizona State-Flagstaff 49
- Youngstown (Ohio) 45*
- Arizona State-Flagstaff 44
- Houston 42***
- Houston (Tex.) 60
- Montana State 58
- Arizona State-Flagstaff 46
- Mankato State 52
- Hastings (Neb.) 53
- Loyola (Md.) 44
- Hastings 42
- Southeastern Oklahoma State 48
- Southeastern Oklahoma State 53
- Eastern Illinois State 42
- Southeastern Oklahoma State 44
BOTTOM TIER
- Mankato State 50
- Mankato State (Minn.) 71
- Loras (Iowa) 63
- Mankato State 65
- DePauw 54
- DePauw (Ind.) 82
- Oglethorpe (Ga.) 30
  •  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

NAIA Third Place Game
   
- Arizona State-Flagstaff 47
- Emporia State 38

References

  1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. 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
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