1957-58

Sophomores Jerry West of West Virginia and Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati burst on the scene in 1957–58 and led their teams to the top of the final AP Top 25.

West and the Mountaineers were 26–1 through the regular season, winning their fourth straight Southern Conference title. Cincinnati was 24–2 and conference champ in its first year as a member of the Missouri Valley, while Robertson became the first soph ever to lead the nation in scoring (35.1) and gain Player of the Year honors. Come the NCAAs, however, both teams lost their opening games—West Virginia to unranked Manhattan and Cincinnati to No.3 Kansas State.

The eventual national champion turned out to be ninth-ranked Kentucky, giving coach Adolph Rupp four NCAA titles. The Wildcats reached the Final Four in Louisville, then proceeded to slip past Temple, 61–60, in the semifinals and beat Elgin Baylor and Seattle by 12 for the championship.

Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas, NCAA finalists in 1957, lost the Big Eight crown to Kansas State and didn't make it back for the '58 tournament. Wilt then decided not to return for the 1958–59 season and signed with the Harlem Globetrotters for $65,000.

In the NIT, unranked Xavier of Ohio, which entered the tourney just four games over .500, upset defending champion and No.14 Bradley in the quarterfinals and did the same to No.11 Dayton in the finals—winning 78–74 in overtime.  

Rules changes

• Offensive goaltending is banned. 1-and-1 goes into effect on the seventh foul of the half. Uniform numbers “1”, “2” and any digit greater than “5 “ are banned.

Final AP Top 20 (Writers' poll taken before major tournaments).

Note: Kentucky won the NCAAs and unranked Xavier (15–11, Jim McCafferty, 19–11) won the NIT.

  Consensus All-America  (In alphabetical order)

  First Team

·         Elgin Baylor, Seattle

·         Bob Boozer, Kansas St.

·         Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas

·         Don Hennon, Pittsburgh

·         Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati

·         Guy Rodgers, Temple

Second Team

·         Pete Brennan, North Carolina

·         Archie Dees, Indiana

·         Dave Gambee, Oregon St.

·         Mike Farmer, San Francisco

·         Bailey Howell, Mississippi St.

AP POLL

1. West Virginia
2. Cincinnati
3. Kansas State
4. San Francisco
5. Temple
6. Maryland
7. Kansas
8. Notre Dame
9. Kentucky
10. Duke

UPI COACHES POLL

1. West Virginia
2. Cincinnati
3. San Francisco
4. Kansas State
5. Temple
6. Maryland
7. Notre Dame
8. Kansas
9. Dayton
10. Indiana

NCAA Results

First Round
Dartmouth 75, Connecticut 64
Manhattan 89, West Virginia 84
Maryland 86, Boston College 63
Miami (Ohio) 82, Pittsburgh 77
Notre Dame 94, Tennessee Tech 61
Oklahoma State 59, Loyola (La.) 42
Idaho State 72, Arizona State 68
Seattle 88, Wyoming 51
Regional Semifinals
Dartmouth 79, Manhattan 62
Temple 71, Maryland 67
Notre Dame 94, Indiana 87
Kentucky 94, Miami (Ohio) 70
Oklahoma State 65, Arkansas 40
Kansas State 83, Cincinnati 80 (OT)
California 54, Idaho State 43
Seattle 69, San Francisco 67
Regional Third Place
East:
Maryland 59, Manhattan 55
Mideast:
Indiana 98, Miami (Ohio) 91
Midwest:
Cincinnati 97, Arkansas 62
West:
San Francisco 57, Idaho State 51
Regional Finals
East: Temple 69, Dartmouth 50
Mideast: Kentucky 89, Notre Dame 56
Midwest: Kansas State 69, Oklahoma State 57
West: Seattle 66, California 62 (OT)
National Semifinals
Kentucky 61, Temple 60
Seattle 73, Kansas State 51
National Third Place
Temple 67, Kansas State 57
Championship Game
Kentucky 84, Seattle 72

Kentucky leaders: F Johnny Cox, Jr.; F John Crigler, Sr.; C Ed Beck, Sr.; G Vern Hatton, Sr.; G Adrian Smith, Sr.

All-NCAA Tournament Team

Top 10

All-America Team

Leaders
Team
Offense: Marshall, 88.0
Defense: San Francisco, 50.5

Individual Scoring

Rebounding

  Notes

• Unranked Xavier (Ohio) defeated No. 11 Dayton 78-74 to win NIT and finish at 19-11.
• Oscar Robertson became first sophomore to lead the nation in scoring.
• Manhattan upset No. 1 West Virginia in NCAA.

Adolph Rupp not only coached them, he named them.

The players who represented Kentucky in the 1958 season were far from the Baron's finest but, collectively, they ranked among his favorite teams. Their achievement exceeded all expectations.

The coach had little reason to believe this group would be the one to restore Kentucky to the throne of college basketball, to earn the Wildcats another championship that he felt had been unfairly denied the school.

These players weren't particularly big or talented, they had contributed to a disappointing finish the previous year and then they opened the '84 season by losing three of their first seven games.

"We've got fiddlers, that's all," Rupp decided. "They're pretty good fiddlers. Be all right entertaining at a barn dance.

"But I tell you, you need a violinist to play in Carnegie Hall. We don't have any violinists."

Thus was born the legend of the "Fiddlin' Five."

It was a team without a dominant player, a major star. Not only would no Kentucky player win consensus All-America recognition after the season, but the Wildcats didn't even place a man on the All-Southeastern Conference first team.

Kentucky compensated for its shortcomings with balance, its ability to run Rupp's intricate offensive patterns with precision and an uncanny knack for winning tight games.

Even in claiming the conference title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, however, the Wildcats did not appear a formidable contender for the national championship. Their overall pre-tournament record of 19-6 was subpar for a team coached by Rupp.

Working in Kentucky's favor was a schedule that granted the Wildcats a home-state advantage throughout the NCAA meet. In fact, the Mideast Regional was being staged at the Memorial Coliseum on Kentucky's Lexington campus for the second consecutive year. And Freedom Hall in Louisville would host the Final Four in 1958.

The Wildcats, featuring four seniors and a junior, were at their best in the regional, blowing past Miami of Ohio, 94-70, and Notre Dame, 89-56. And while they were having their way, many top teams suffered stunning upsets.

West Virginia, No. 1 in both wire-service polls, was a first-round loser to Manhattan in the East Regional. Cincinnati, ranked second, was beaten by Kansas State in the Midwest semifinals and San Francisco, rated third in one poll and fourth in the other, was toppled by Seattle in a Far West semifinal.

Suddenly, a path to the top had been cleared.

And Rupp wanted nothing so much as he did a fourth championship. He still was steaming over NCAA sanctions that forced Kentucky to cancel its 1953 season.

The Wildcats, playing with a vengeance the next season, won all 25 games but declined to participate in the NCAA Tournament because their three best players were graduate students and ineligible for postseason competition. The 1954 national tournament was won by a La Salle team Kentucky had beaten by 13 points during the season.

All of this preyed on Rupp's mind. Again and again he had vowed, "I will not retire until Kentucky wins another NCAA championship."

Now, surprisingly, he had the opportunity. At 56, Rupp was taking his fiddlers down the road to Louisville for the big dance.

The other three national semifinalists were Temple, Kansas State and Seattle. Of the Final Four teams, Temple was the quickest, Kansas State the tallest and Seattle the possessor of the most extraordinary player, Elgin Baylor.

If Kentucky had any edge, it was in teamwork.

Although the Wildcats had handed East Regional winner Temple one of its two regular-season defeats, the Kentucky triumph in December was anything but decisive. It required, among other things, three overtimes and a half-court shot by Vern Hatton. And that game had been played on Kentucky's home floor.

Once again Kentucky and Temple were matched up, and once again they played an enthralling game. Sparked by Guy Rodgers, the brilliant guard, Temple held a 60-59 lead with 23 seconds left.

During a timeout, Rupp told the Wildcats to place the ball in Hatton's hands. The 6-foot-3 senior guard promptly drove the lane, ducked underneath traffic around the basket and dropped in a layup. Temple had time to reverse matters, but sophomore Bill "Pickles" Kennedy couldn't connect with a Rodgers pass and Kentucky hung on to win, 61-60.

With 6-8 Bob Boozer, 6-9 Jack Parr and 6-8 Wally Frank on the front line, Kansas State was the most imposing team in Louisville. Parr had been particularly effective in the regular season against Wilt Chamberlain, helping coach Tex Winter's team supplant Kansas as the Big Eight Conference champion. But Kansas State's trio was no match for the smooth and powerful Baylor, who led Seattle to a 73-51 romp in the other semifinal.

Baylor had been unstoppable during the season. He averaged more than 30 points per game in the Chieftains' free-lance attack. The 6-6 youngster from Washington, D.C., who had taken a football scholarship at the College of Idaho and transferred to Seattle after proving himself in basketball, had a bewildering series of fakes and, in apparent defiance of gravity, was able to hang in the air long after defenders returned to earth.

There was considerable doubt in Rupp's mind that Kentucky could contain Baylor. His strategy was to attack Baylor at the defensive end and force him into foul trouble. To that end, he was aided by John Castellani, the young Seattle coach.

Rupp had expected Baylor to draw the defensive assignment on 6-7 center Ed Beck, who didn't look to score but was content to rebound and play defense. For that reason, Rupp and assistant Harry Lancaster had planned to have Beck drive to the basket around set screens. But Castellani chose to send Baylor -- who was playing with injured ribs -- against John Crigler, a quick 6-3 forward. During an early timeout, Crigler was instructed to drive the baseline whenever possible.

As a result, while Baylor hurt the Wildcats on offense, the Seattle star had his hands full with Crigler on defense. The Chieftains raced to a 29-18 lead, but Baylor was charged with three fouls in the first 10 minutes.

Determined to keep him in the game, Castellani switched to a zone defense, with Baylor on the back line, and slowed the tempo on offense. The outside shooting of Hatton and forward Johnny Cox brought Kentucky back, cutting the deficit to 39-36 at halftime.

"Baylor had those three fouls," Castellani said, "and with his rib injury, we had to slow it down to protect him. My object was to go to the locker room with a lead and only three fouls on Baylor."

The strategy succeeded in that regard. And Seattle pushed the lead to 44-38 in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half. It was then that Baylor drew his fourth foul, curtailing his natural aggressiveness for the rest of the game.

Kentucky seized the initiative.

Cox, a 6-4 junior, led the charge. Exploiting the Chieftains' zone, he scored 16 of his 24 points in the final 15 minutes. It was his long jump shot that tied the score at 56-56. The Wildcats finally grabbed the lead at 61-60 on a hook shot by reserve Don Mills, who entered the game when Beck got into foul difficulty attempting to handle Baylor.

Cox followed Mills' basket with another jump shot and Kentucky, thanks to an 8-O run, was en route to victory and the unlikeliest of its four championships.

The gallant 25-point effort by Baylor was not sufficient against Kentucky's superior team play. Seattle's consensus All-American was accorded outstanding player honors, but Hatton led all scorers in the title game with 30 points as Kentucky wound up an 84-72 winner. Rupp preened after the trophy presentation.

"These were just a bunch of ugly ducklings," he said. "Not one of them made the all-conference team. And I didn't get a single vote for 'coach of the year,' so I know it wasn't overcoaching.

"Frankly, I didn't think we'd get this far."

The fiddlers got as far as any team in Rupp's tenure, and they presented him with what would be his final national championship. For that reason or perhaps because they squeezed so much out of their abilities, they remained special to him until the day he died in 1977.

"This team played the best, as a unit, of any of the championship teams I've coached," he said that night in Louisville, "each player making up for the particular weaknesses that the others had."

The 1958 Wildcats made such beautiful music together that no one missed the violinist.