1947–48 record 27–7 (7–0 IIC) | Head coach John Wooden | |
Conference Indiana Intercollegiate Conference Home arena Indiana State Teacher's College Gymnasium | ||
In 1947–48 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball season, the Sycamores were led by coach John Wooden, NAIB All-American Duane Klueh and future NBA players, John Hazen and Bob Royer. The Sycamores finished as the National Runner-Up with a record of 27–7; they lost to Louisville by 82-70 in the title game. This season represented Indiana State's 2nd NAIA Final Four, its 2nd National Title game and its 2nd National Runner-Up finish.
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Regular season
During the 1947–48 season, Indiana State finished the regular season to finish 23–6, 7–0 in the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference; they won by an average of 18 points per game, setting a new school scoring record, (2,287 points). They finished the season at 27-7; the second highest win total in school history.
Coach John Wooden's second team sprinted out of the gate, winning 11 of their first 12 games; including the mid-season Mid-Western Tournament over Southeastern Oklahoma and North East Missouri. They won their 2nd consecutive Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title, qualifying for the NAIA Tournament.
Post-season
In 1947, Wooden's first basketball team won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City. Wooden refused the invitation, citing the NAIB's policy banning African American players; one of Wooden's players was Clarence Walker, an African-American from East Chicago, Indiana.
In 1948, after winning their 2nd Conference title, Indiana State was again invited to the NAIB tournament; the NAIB had reversed its policy banning African-American players that year, and Wooden coached his team to the NAIB National Tournament final, losing to Louisville. This was the only championship game a Wooden-coached team ever lost. That year, Walker became the first African-American to play in any post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament, as the NIT and NCAA tournaments did not integrate until after 1950.
In Kansas City they won their first two games. Duane Klueh received several honors at the end of regular season. He won the Chuck Taylor Award as the Most Valuable Player of the Year in the NAIA, he was also selected to the NAIA All-American team. Joining him on the All-Tournament Team was Bob Royer, who was making his 2nd All-Tournament team. Royer mas again a member of the All-Tournament Team in 1949 as Indiana State finished 4th in the tournament.
Roster
The Sycamores were led by All-American Klueh, the NAIA Player of the Year, with 17.6 average. He was followed by Don McDonald’s 9.4 average. The starting lineup featured four future 1,000 career point scorers; Klueh, Don McDonald, the 1950 Chuck Taylor Award-winner Lenny Rzeszewski, and Bob Royer. The roster also included future Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer, Jim Powers, who became high school coach to actor Michael Warren.
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