1952–53 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team

In the 1952–53 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball season, the Sycamores were led by coach John Longfellow, NAIB All-American Dick Atha and All-Indiana Collegiate Conference players Roger Adkins, Cliff Murray and Sam Richardson. They participated in their 8th NAIA Tourney. The Sycamores finished as the National Third Place team, with their victory over East Texas State and finished with a record of 23–8. This season represented Indiana State's 5th NAIA Final Four and its 1st National Third Place finish.

1952–53 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball
NAIA District 21 Champions
ConferenceIndiana Collegiate Conference
1952–53 record23–8 (6–4 ICC)
Head coach
Assistant coachPaul Stemm
Home arenaIndiana State Teacher's College Gymnasium

Regular season

During the 1952–53 season, Indiana State finished the regular season to finish 17–7, 6–4 in the Indiana Collegiate Conference; they won by an average of 14 points per game, and set a new school scoring record, (2,321 points). They broke the 100-point mark twice; scoring 106 points (vs. Kansas Wesleyan in the Midwest Tournament) and 101 vs. Manchester (IN) They averaged 89 points a game WITHOUT the 3-point shot! They finished the season at 23-8; the fourth highest win total in school history to that point.

Coach John Longfellow's fifth team raced out of the gate, opening the season with 8 consecutive wins. They began conference play with a record of 8-1, the sole loss coming in the mid-season Mid-Western Tournament to Indiana Central. They placed 2nd in the Indiana Collegiate Conference title race and won the NAIA District 21 tourney, qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament.

Post-season

In 1953, Longfellow's fifth basketball team finished second in the Indiana Collegiate Conference title, won the NAIA District 21 title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City; this was Longfellow's fourth trip to the National Tournament and the eighth for Indiana State. In Kansas City, the stormed into the National Quarterfinals winning their first three games by an average 26 points, scoring 100 or more in each game; they dropped a game to defending champion Southwest Missouri State but rallied for a win over East Texas State to finish 3rd Nationally. Southwest Missouri State would successfully defend their 1952 title; becoming the second time to win consecutive titles.

Dick Atha received several honors at the end of regular season. He was selected to the NAIA All-American team, the Helms Foundation All-American team and was named 1st team All-Indiana Collegiate Conference. Joining him on the all-conference team was Roger Adkins.

Roster

The Sycamores were led by All-American Atha and Roger Adkins' with 14.9 averages. They were followed by Jim Crockom's 12.7 average. The starting lineup featured two future 1,000 career point scorers; Atha and Richardson. The roster also included a future well-known basketball coach in Indiana high circles, Basil Sfreddo - as the 6th man, Sfreddo would go on to coach the legendary George McGinnis at Indianapolis' George Washington High. Austin "Pete" Pritchett would go on to statewide fame as a girls high school coach, winning 2 IHSAA State Titles and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.[1]

No.NamePositionHt.YearHometown
32Sam RichardsonG64So.South Bend, Indiana
33Cliff MurrayF62Sr.Elkhart, Indiana
34Russell BlackburnG62Fr.Oolitic, Indiana
50Dick AthaG62Jr.Otterbein, Indiana
54Basil SfreddoF62Jr.Bruceville, Indiana
55Roger AdkinsG60Sr.Martinsville, Indiana
56Dale SmithG511Jr.Flora, Illinois
57Jim CoxG511So.Winchester, Indiana
58Tom SmithC64Sr.Huntingburg, Indiana
72Jerry FergusonF63Sr.Terre Haute, Indiana
73Jim CrockumF64Jr.Ventura, California
74Wayne ParkerG63So.Robinson, Illinois
75Charles MillerF63Sr.Louisville, Kentucky
76Pete PritchettF63Fr.Oolitic, Indiana
77Dick RichmondG61Fr.Terre Haute, Indiana
81Clarence DisneyF62S0.Terre Haute, Indiana
82Forrest DunnuckG510So.Nappanee, Indiana
92Dick SpearC68So.Monon, Indiana

COACHES

  • Head Coach John Longfellow - NAIA Champion and Hall of Fame coach
  • Assistant Coach - Paul Stemm

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
12/4/1952*
at Hanover College W 61-53  1-0
 
Hanover, Indiana
12/6/1952*
at Concordia-St. Louis W 57-51  2-0
 
Clayton, Missouri
12/9/1952*
at DePauw W 61-58  3-0
 
Greencastle, Indiana
12/11/1952*
Oakland City College W 86-59  4-0
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
12/16/1952*
Eastern Illinois State W 77-69  5-0
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
12/18/1952
vs. Valparaiso W 69-55  6-0
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
12/27/1952*
Kansas Weleyan
Mid-West Tournament
W 106-75  7-0
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
12/29/1978*
at Franklin College (IN)
Mid-West Tournament
W 76-61  8-0
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
12/30/1952*
Indiana Central College
Mid-West Tournament Finals
L 72-77  8-1
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
1/8/1953*
DePauw W 81-75  9-1
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
1/10/1953
at Butler L 64-78  9-2 (0-1)
Butler Fieldhouse 
Indianapolis, Indiana
1/15/1953
Indiana State_Muncee W 63-61  10-2 (2-1)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
1/17/1953
Evansville College L 74-79  10-3 (2-2)
Evansville Armory 
Evansville, Indiana
1/22/1953
St. Joseph’s (IN) W 83-69  11-3 (3-2)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
1/24/1953
at Northern Illinois L 64-72  11-4 (3-2)
 
DeKalb, Illinois
1/30/1953
No. 5 at Indiana State_Muncee L 61-80  11-5 (3-3)
Ball Gymnasium 
Muncee, Indiana
1/31/1953
at Valparaiso W 75-67  12-5 (4-3)
Hilltop Gymnasium 
Valparaiso, Indiana
2/5/1953
Evansville College W 80-65  13-5 (5-3)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
2/7/1953
Manchester College W 101-76  14-5 (5-3)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
2/10/1953
No. 2 at St. Joseph’s (IN) L 53-57  14-6 (5-4)
Scharfman Fieldhouse 
Rensselaer, Indiana
2/12/1953
No. 2 at Butler W 56-51  15-6 (6-4)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
2/17/1953*
Eastern Illinois State W 71-67  16-6 (6-4)
Health Education Building 
Charleston, Illinois
2/21/1953*
No. 2 at Washington-St. Louis W 63-58  17-6 (6-4)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
2/27/1953*
Southern Illinois L 58-76  17-7 (6-4)
Davies Gym 
Carbondale, Illinois
3/3/1953*
Indiana Central College
NAIA District 21 playoffs
W 87-64  18-7 (6-4)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
3/4/1953
Evansville College
NAIA District 21 playoffs
W 62-59  19-7 (6-4)
ISTC Gymnasium 
Terre Haute, Indiana
3/9/1953*
Midwestern State (TX)
NAIA Nationals – First Round
W 100-76  20-7 (6-4)
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, Missouri
3/10/1953*
Arkansas Tech
NAIA Nationals – Second Round
W 100-82  21-7 (6-4)
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, Missouri
3/11/1953*
vs. Findlay College
NAIA Nationals – Elite Eight
W 106-70  22-7 (6-4)
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, Missouri
3/13/1953*
vs. Southwest Missouri State
NAIA National Semifinals
L 78-84  21-8 (6-4)
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, Missouri
3/14/1953*
vs. Eastern Texas
NAIA National Consolation Game
W 74-71  23-8 (6-4)
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Awards and honors

  • Dick Atha - Consensus NAIA All-American teams
  • Dick Atha – 1953 NAIA All-Tournament Team

References

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