1971-72

Only one man has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice—John Wooden.

He was enshrined the first time in 1960 when he was cited for his accomplishments as a star guard at Purdue from 1930–32. Wooden captained the Boilermakers his junior and senior years and was Player of the Year in 1932, the school's only national championship season.

In 1972 he was honored again, this time for his coaching achievements at UCLA. Ordinarily, Halls of Fame wait until an all-time great has retired before they hand him a plaque, but Wooden's eight NCAA championships were anything but ordinary, so they elevated the Wizard of Westwood now.

And he wasn't finished yet. Not with the arrival of Bill Walton. In '72, UCLA went 30–0 and posted an average winning margin of 33 points. Both Walton and Wooden were everybody's picks for Player and Coach of the Year.

Meanwhile in Kentucky, Adolph Rupp, the only other coach to win as many as four NCAA titles, retired after 41 years and 875 wins.

The low point of the year in amateur basketball came during the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, where the unbeaten United States team, (62–0) lost for the first time ever in a controversial gold medal final agasint the Soviet Union. The Russians were given three chances to win the game in the final seconds and finally won, 51–50. The Americans refused to accept the silver medal.

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

Note: UCLA won the NCAAs and Maryland won the NIT.

Consensus All-America  (In alphabetical order)

First Team

·         Henry Bibby, UCLA

·         Jim Chones, Marquette

·         Dwight Lamar, Southwestern Louisiana

·         Bob McAdoo, North Carolina

·         Ed Ratleff, Long Beach St.

·         Tom Riker, South Carolina

·         Bill Walton, UCLA

Second Team

·         Richard Fuqua, Oral Roberts

·         Barry Parkhill, Virginia

·         Jim Price, Louisville

·         Bud Stallworth, Kansas

AP POLL

1. UCLA
2. North Carolina
3. Pennsylvania
4. Louisville
5. Long Beach State
6. South Carolina
7. Marquette
8. SW Louisiana
9. BYU
10. Florida State

UPI COACHES POLL

1. UCLA
2. North Carolina
3. Pennsylvania
4. Louisville
5. South Carolina
6. Long Beach State
7. Marquette
8. SW Louisiana
9. BYU
10. Florida State

NCAA Results

Marquette 73, Ohio University 49
Florida State 83, Eastern Kentucky 81
South Carolina 53, Temple 51
Villanova 85, East Carolina 70
Penn 76, Providence 60
Southwestern Louisiana 112, Marshall 101
Texas 85, Houston 74
Weber State 91, Hawaii 64
Long Beach State 95, Brigham Young 90 (ot)
Regional Semifinals
Kentucky 85, Marquette 69
Florida State 70, Minnesota 56
North Carolina 92, South Carolina 69
Penn 78, Villanova 67
Louisville 88, Southwestern Louisiana 84
Kansas State 66, Texas 55
UCLA 90, Weber State 58
Long Beach State 75, San Francisco 55
Regional Third Place
Mideast: Minnesota 77, Marquette 72
East: South Carolina 90, Villanova 78
Midwest: Southwestern La. 100, Texas 70
West: San Francisco 74, Weber State 64
Regional Finals
Mideast: Florida State 73, Kentucky 54
East: North Carolina 73, Penn 59
Midwest: Louisville 72, Kansas State 65
West: UCLA 73, Long Beach State 57
National Semifinals
Florida State 79, North Carolina 75
UCLA 96, Louisville 77
National Third Place
North Carolina 105, Louisville 91
Championship Game
UCLA 81, Florida State 76

UCLA leaders: Bill Walton, So., C; Henry Bibby, Sr., G; Keith Wilkes, So., F; Larry Farmer, Jr., F; Greg Lee, So., G

All-NCAA Tournament Team

Top 10

All-America Team

Leaders
Team
Offense: Oral Roberts, 105.1
Defense: Minnesota, 58.0

Individual Scoring

Rebounding

  Notes

• Maryland crushed Niagara 100-69 to win the NIT title.

• Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp — “The Baron of the Bluegrass” — retired after a 41-year career. His record was 875-190.  

Jan 25 7' Ohio State center Luke Witte is stomped in face during a brawl in a college basketball game with Minnesota.

Feb 16 Wilt Chamberlain hit 30,000 point mark during a game with Phoenix Suns.  

Mar 27 Adolph Rupp of the the University of Kentucky retired after 42 years of coaching the college baskrtball Wildcats. During his long tenure at Kentucky, Rupp won 874 games for a winning average of 82.1 percent.

Freshman rule adopted for college basketball

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

1972
*John Beckman, Player
*Bruce Drake, Coach
*Arthur C. Lonborg, Coach
*Elmer H. Ripley, Contributor
Adolph Schayes, Player
John R.Wooden, Coach  (Enshrined as a Player in 1960)

 

TSN Photo

Bill Walton

This was the second coming, nothing less.

Opponents who had lived through the era of Lew Alcindor cursed their fate as they looked upon Bill Walton. Once again, the dominant team had enlisted a dominant player.

Walton stretched 6 feet, 11 inches from the soles of his feet to the top of his curly red hair. He had huge hands, a take-charge attitude and a rare gift for the game. The arrival of Walton, the standout of a remarkable recruiting class, moved UCLA from the category of team to beat to that of unbeatable team.

Those who were relieved to see four starters from the 1971 champions graduate were appalled when they saw the replacements. In addition to Walton, two other sophomores stepped directly into prime roles. Keith Wilkes was a smooth, versatile forward with a fine shooting touch. Greg Lee was a 6-4 point guard whose ability to direct an offense freed 6-1 senior Henry Bibby, the only returning starter, to concentrate on his jump shot. Larry Farmer, a 6-5 junior who had played behind Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe the previous season, claimed the other starting position.

While the team's inexperience gave opponents some hope, they were distressed by the realization that these Bruins would be around for three years. Besides, while coach John Wooden was pointing out how many mistakes his youngsters were making, they were trouncing some pretty good teams.

Unlike the Alcindor group that appeared to play with almost professional detachment, the Walton Gang approached the task like a band of religious zealots.

The result was a succession of routs. This UCLA team didn't just win, it plundered. A prime example was a game against a solid Ohio State team in the final of the Bruin Classic at Pauley Pavilion. The Buckeyes had been a regional finalist in the NCAA Tournament the previous season, had won seven of their first eight games and were ranked sixth in one wire-service poll. But UCLA assumed an impressive 32-10 lead en route to a 79-53 triumph.

That was the norm, not the exception. Walton was an outstanding scorer, but he preferred to expend his energy on rebounding, passing and coaching the revived zone press from his safety position. While he didn't have Alcindor's grace as a shooter, he was a greater force on the backboards, and his crisp, quick outlet passes sparked many a fast break.

Walton's style created a situation in which the maximum number of players shared in the glory. He cringed at the attention focused on him.

"It hurts me when people talk as if I'm the only player on the team," he said. "I wish reporters wouldn't ask me anything personally at all. I would like to see them get the whole team together to talk. I don't like to be singled out as an individual because we don't play as individuals, we play as a team."

When it came to basketball, Walton preferred to express himself on the court. He was shielded from the media by Wooden, much as the coach had done for Alcindor five years earlier, but he was outspoken among teammates and in the general college community.

It would develop that Walton had opinions about almost everything but the sport that brought him fame.

In sweeping all 26 opponents in the regular season, UCLA was threatened only once. That was at Oregon State, where the Beavers came within six points, 78-72. UCLA's average margin of victory entering the NCAA Tournament was a staggering 32.2 points per game, well beyond the previous record of 27.2 established by the 1954 Kentucky team.

As if UCLA needed another edge in its quest for a sixth consecutive NCAA championship, the Final Four was scheduled for the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

In addition, the team voted most likely to challenge the Bruins in the tournament, Marquette, was undone by the decision of 6-11 consensus All-America center Jim Chones, the oldest child in a poor family, to sign a professional contract late in the season.

Though the Warriors were undefeated at the time of the defection, Chones had the blessing of his coach, Al McGuire, who said, "I've looked in his refrigerator."

Marquette was eliminated in the semifinal round of the Mideast Regional by Kentucky. For Adolph Rupp, it was his 875th and final victory. He had reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. Two days later, he suffered his 190th defeat when upstart Florida State eliminated the Wildcats, 73-54.

Second-ranked North Carolina overpowered third-ranked Pennsylvania to win the East Regional. Louisville held off Kansas State in the Midwest. Meanwhile, UCLA breezed through the West Regional at Provo, Utah, crushing Weber State, 90-58, and grinding down a fine Long Beach State team, 73-57.

Lending the national semifinals a neat little twist was the pairing of UCLA and Louisville, which pitted teacher against student -- Wooden vs. Denny Crum. The latter had sat on the Bruins' bench at the Final Four only the year before. In his first season as a head coach, Crum had led the Cardinals to their first Final Four appearance in 13 years.

"We are pleased to play a team led by one of our own, proud that Dennis Crum has taken his team this far, and we expect a difficult game," Wooden said diplomatically.

Crum smiled.

"I don't think Mr. Wooden will give me anything," he said.

What Mr. Wooden and the Bruins gave Crum and his team was a headache. Despite double- and occasional triple-teaming, Walton did as he pleased. He hit 11-of-13 field-goal attempts, added 11-of-12 from the free-throw line and complemented his 33 points with 21 rebounds and six blocked shots.

The Bruins romped, 96-77, as 10 UCLA players scored.

To the surprise of many, Florida State defeated North Carolina and consensus All-American Bob McAdoo, 79-75, in the other semifinal.

By qualifying for their first championship game, the Seminoles added a touch of controversy to the event. They had just regained tournament eligibility after serving three years of NCAA probation for recruiting violations. Many coaches were not pleased to see Florida State in the spotlight.

One said so publicly. His name was Bill Wall of MacMurray (Ill.) College, and he happened to be president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

"I resent the fact that they're here," he said at a news conference, "and a lot of other coaches do, too. Our coaches are amazed, disgusted and disillusioned at this. Their coach was caught with his fingers in the till not once, but twice."

While Seminoles coach Hugh Durham charged that Wall was ignorant of the facts and Florida State president Stanley Marshall announced that the university was considering legal action, Wooden said he regretted the fuss on the eve of the season finale.

"I'm sorry about this," he told Durham. "I want you to know we don't feel the same way (as Wall)."

The Seminoles began the game as if they had something to prove. After two misses, they hit their next seven field-goal attempts to open a 21-14 lead. It marked the first time all season UCLA had trailed by as many as seven. The magic moment, however, did not last.

The Seminoles tried to contain Walton by having 6-10 Reggie Royals help 6-11 Lawrence McCray.

That tactic, however, left Wilkes open in the high post, and he shot and scored. Bibby, like Walton a consensus All-American, popped open in the corners. He shot and scored. Guard Tommy Curtis, another of those sensational sophomores, came off the bench. He shot and scored, his 12-footer staking the Bruins to a 27-25 lead.

Six minutes into the game, McCray had to take a seat with three fouls and UCLA poured it on. By halftime, Bibby had 16 points, Walton had 15, Wilkes had 13 and the Bruins led, 50-39. It was up to 67-51 with 12:18 left in the second half.

Less than a minute later, Walton was charged with his fourth foul and sat down. In his absence, reserve center Swen Nater was victimized by McCray, and Seminoles guard Ron King found the target repeatedly with his corner jumper.

Florida State cut the deficit to seven on four occasions while Walton was on the bench. Walton re-entered the game with about five minutes remaining, at which point Wooden ordered a delay game.

Three times in the next three minutes the Seminoles gained possession with a chance to force the issue, but each time they committed a turnover. Finally, Wilkes scored an uncontested layup, giving him 23 points for the game, to boost the UCLA lead to 81-72 in the final minute. Two baskets by forward Ron Harris reduced the final deficit to 81-76 -- the Bruins' smallest margin of victory all year.

Although the Seminoles did not treat the close score as a moral victory, the Bruins seemed to regard it as a moral defeat.

"I'm really embarrassed," said Walton, who finished with 24 points, 20 rebounds and the outstanding player award. "I can't believe how bad I played. I'd have to say it was one of my worst games. We should have beat these guys with ease.

"I guess I should be happy that we won, but, in all honesty, I'm not."

In all honesty, only Curtis seemed overjoyed. He had good reason. He had contributed eight points and six assists against a team from his hometown. In his hands, he held one of the nets and his championship watch.

"It will be something to show the people back in Tallahassee," he said.

The rest of the Bruins were rather unimpressed with their championship and undefeated season. "It gets to be old after a while," sighed Bibby, a senior who had his third title in as many seasons.

Indeed, it already was getting old for Walton, unaccustomed to an open locker room and prying reporters. Reluctantly, he proceeded to an interview session he was requested to attend. He answered a few questions disdainfully, grew hostile over others and finally stalked off, mumbling, "I've answered enough questions."

Clearly, Walton was a different breed of basketball player. Just as clearly, every other every other college team was in a familiar position, looking up at UCLA.