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1955-56 San Francisco Team Profile

1955-56 San Francisco Profile

All week, we will be profiling the seven undefeated NCAA Champions ... 

1955-56 SAN FRANCISCO (29-0)

Click here for their game-by-game results

Location: San Francisco, Cal.

Conference: California Basketball Association (West Coast Conference).

Bid: Automatic.

Opponents' final record: 415-326 (.560).

NCAA Tournament/Through that season: 9-0 (2 Titles, 2 Final Fours).
NCAA Tournament/Since that season: 12-14 (0 Titles, 1 Final Four).

Head coach: Phil Woolpert.
Through that season — School and Overall: 101-49 (6 years).
Career — School: 153-78 (9 years). Overall: 243-168 (16 years).

Title game starters, Pos., Hgt. , Yr., Pts., Reb., FG%, FT%
Mike Farmer, F, 6-7 , So., 8.4, 7.7, 37.1, 54.8
Mike Preaseau, F, 6-5 , So., 4.0, 3.1, 36.5, 60.9
Carl Boldt, F, 6-4 , Jr., 8.6, 5.0, 32.6, 78.3
Bill Russell, C, 6-10 , Sr., 20.5, 21.0, 51.3, 49.5
Tom Nelson, C, 6-4 , Sr., 0.4, 0.6, 20.0, 60.0

Title game key subs
Harold Perry, G, 5-10 1/2, Sr., 9.1, 1.9, 36.5, 72.9
Gene Brown, G, 6-2 1/2, So., 7.1, 4.3, 37.6, 64.1
Warren Baxter, G, 5-8 , Sr., 2.2, 0.6, 30.1, 66.7

NCAA Tournament DNP
K.C. Jones, G, 6-2 , Sr., 9.8, 5.2, 36.5, 65.4

About the Dons: Played NCAA Tournament without Jones, a fifth-year player whose eligibility had expired during the regular season because he had played one game in 1953-54. The league kind of swept that game under the rug, but the NCAA eventually found it ... Led by Carl Cain, Iowa took an early 15-4 lead in the title game before Woolpert made a defensive switch, putting Brown on Cain. He and Russell sparked a surge defensively, and the Dons were ahead by 38-33 at intermission and led by as many as 17 in the second half ... Russell totaled 26 points, 27 rebounds and 20 blocked shots in the title game (video of entire game available on YouTube), but did not get the Most Outstanding Player Award. That went to Temple's Hal Lear, who had 48 points in the consolation game and averaged 32 for the tournament ... Won NCAA games by 11, 15, 20 and 12 ... Russell was called for 48 personal fouls in the entire season ... USF had dethroned defending champion La Salle in the 1955 title game, 77-63, and topped the Explorers, 79-62, in the first round of the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 26 ... The Dons were 14-7 and did not reach the tournament (finishing second in the conference) in Russell's sophomore season ... Were in midst of 60-game winning streak, which started (1954) and ended (1956) on Dec. 17. Still the second-longest streak in men's Division I history.