1954–55 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

1954–55 San Francisco Dons men's basketball
1954–55 San Francisco Dons men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions; CBA regular season champions
National Championship Game, ; W 77-63 vs. La Salle
Conference	California Basketball Association
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	28–1 (12–0 CBA)
Head coach	Phil Woolpert (5th season);
Assistant coach	Ross Giudice
Home arena	Kezar Pavilion
	Seasons ← 1953–54 1955–56 →

1954–55 California Basketball Association men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 San Francisco	12	–	0	1.000	28	–	1	.966
San Jose State	7	–	5	.583	16	–	9	.640
Santa Clara	6	–	6	.500	13	–	11	.542
Pacific	4	–	8	.333	11	–	15	.423
Saint Mary's	1	–	11	.083	6	–	19	.240

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1954–55 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco in NCAA competition in the 1954–55 season. The Dons, a member of the California Basketball Association (now known as the West Coast Conference), finished the season ranked #1 in the nation.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	4	K. C. Jones	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	San Francisco, California
C	6	Bill Russell	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Oakland, California
F	14	Jerry Mullen	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Berkeley, California
G	23	Hal Perry	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Jr	Ukiah, California

Head coach

Phil Woolpert (Loyola Marymount)

Assistant coach(es)

Ross Giudice (San Francisco)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site city, state
Regular Season
Dec 2, 1955*		Cal State-Chico	W 70–39	1–0	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Dec 10, 1954*		at Loyola (Los Angeles)	W 54–45	2–0	–	–	–	Alumni Memorial Gymnasium Los Angeles, California
Dec 11, 1954*		at No. 13 UCLA	L 40–47	2–1	–	–	–	UCLA Men's Gymnasium Los Angeles, California
Dec 17, 1954*		Oregon State	W 60–34	3–1	–	–	–	Cow Palace Daly City, California
Dec 18, 1954*		No. 8 UCLA	W 56–44	4–1	–	–	–	Cow Palace Daly City, California
Dec 20, 1954*		vs. No. 17 Wichita State All-College Tournament	W 94–75	5–1	–	–	–	Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 21, 1954*	No. 17	at Oklahoma City All-College Tournament	W 75–51	6–1	–	–	–	Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 22, 1954*	No. 17	vs. No. 8 George Washington All-College Tournament	W 73–57	7–1	–	–	–	Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 29, 1954*	No. 5	San Diego State	W 70–56	8–1	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Jan 4, 1955	No. 5	at Saint Mary's	W 51–37	9–1 (1–0)	–	–	–	Madigan Gymnasium Moraga, California
Jan 10, 1955	No. 5	San Jose State	W 56–30	10–1 (2–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Jan 12, 1955	No. 5	at Santa Clara	W 54–44	11–1 (3–0)	–	–	–	Oakland, California
Jan 14, 1955	No. 5	Pacific	W 62–49	12–1 (4–0)	12 – Tied	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Jan 28, 1955*	No. 2	Stanford	W 76–60	13–1	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Jan 29, 1955*	No. 2	California	W 84–62	14–1	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Feb 4, 1955*	No. 2	Loyola (Los Angeles)	W 65–55	15–1	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Feb 5, 1955	No. 2	Saint Mary's	W 69–48	16–1 (5–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Feb 9, 1955	No. 1	at Pacific	W 72–52	17–1 (6–0)	–	–	–	Pacific Pavilion Stockton, California
Feb 11, 1955	No. 1	at San Jose State	W 59–49	18–1 (7–0)	–	–	–	Spartan Gym San Jose, California
Feb 14, 1955	No. 1	at Santa Clara	W 66–52	19–1 (8–0)	31 – Russell	–	–	San Jose Civic Auditorium San Jose, California
Feb 16, 1955	No. 1	at Saint Mary's	W 65–57	20–1 (9–0)	–	–	–	Madigan Gymnasium Moraga, California
Feb 23, 1955	No. 1	at San Jose State	W 64–40	21–1 (10–0)	–	–	–	Spartan Gym San Jose, California
Feb 26, 1955	No. 1	Pacific	W 67–57	22–1 (11–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
Mar 2, 1955	No. 1	Santa Clara	W 73–61	23–1 (12–0)	–	–	–	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 8, 1955*	No. 1	vs. West Texas A&M First round	W 89–66	24–1	29 – Russell	11 – Tied	–	Cow Palace Daly City, California
Mar 11, 1955*	No. 1	vs. No. 7 Utah West Regional semifinal	W 78–59	25–1	24 – Mullen	9 – Russell	–	Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 12, 1955*	No. 1	vs. No. 10 Oregon State West Regional Final	W 57–56	26–1	29 – Russell	16 – Russell	–	Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 18, 1955*	No. 1	vs. No. 15 Colorado National semifinal	W 62–50	27–1	24 – Russell	9 – Russell	–	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 19, 1955*	No. 1	vs. No. 3 La Salle National Championship Game	W 77–63	28–1	24 – Jones	25 – Russell	–	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time.

^[2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	—	—	17	5	5	5	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	1
Coaches	—	—	—	6	5	5	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1

^[3]^[4]

Awards and honors

Bill Russell, First Team All-America selection

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	11	Jerry Mullen	New York Knicks
10	76	K. C. Jones	Minneapolis Lakers

^[5]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1954-55 California Basketball Association Season Summary
^ "Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1950-60) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 634–635. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1954-55 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^ "1955 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[1] sports-reference.com 1954-55 California Basketball Association Season Summary

[2] "Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1950-60) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[ESPN-3] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 634–635. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[4] "1954-55 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[5] "1955 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e San Francisco Dons men's basketball
Venues	Kezar Pavilion (1924–1958) St. Ignatius Gym (1924–1958) Sobrato Center (1958–present) Chase Center (alternate; 2019–present)
Culture & lore	The Don KTCT
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics