1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions; MVC Co-champions
National Championship Game, ; W 71-59 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	29–2 (10–2 MVC)
Head coach	Ed Jucker (2nd season);
Assistant coach	Tay Baker
Home arena	Armory Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 1960–61 1962–63 →

1961–62 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Cincinnati	10	–	2	.833	29	–	2	.935
No. 5 Bradley	10	–	2	.833	21	–	7	.750
Wichita Municipal	7	–	5	.583	18	–	9	.667
Drake	6	–	6	.500	16	–	8	.667
Saint Louis	5	–	7	.417	11	–	15	.423
Tulsa	4	–	8	.333	7	–	19	.269
North Texas State	0	–	12	.000	3	–	23	.115

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented University of Cincinnati. Cincinnati won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and defended its national championship with a 71–59 defeat of top-ranked in-state foe Ohio State again before 18,469 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.^[2] The head coach was Ed Jucker.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	11	Larry Shingleton	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Jr	Madison	Madison, Indiana
F	14	Bill Abernethy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	So	Wyoming	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	15	Fred Dierking	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr	Valley Stream Central	Valley Stream, New York
G	20	Tony Yates	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Jr	Lockland Wayne	Lawrenceburg, Indiana
F	21	Ron Bonham	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	So	Muncie Central	Muncie, Indiana
C	22	Paul Hogue	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Austin	Knoxville, Tennessee
F	24	Dale Heidotting	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Jr	Greenhills	Greenhills, Ohio
G	25	Tom Thacker	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	William Grant	Covington, Kentucky
G	31	Jim Calhoun	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Sr	Carr Creek	Carr Creek, Kentucky
C	32	George Wilson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	John Marshall	Chicago, Illinois
G	33	Tom Sizer	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr	Middletown	Middletown, Ohio
G	34	Larry Elsasser	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	So	Central	Cincinnati, Ohio
C	35	Ron Reis	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Sr	Woodward	Cincinnati, Ohio

Head coach

Ed Jucker (Cincinnati)

Assistant coach(es)

Tay Baker (Cincinnati)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: April 17, 2020

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 2, 1961*	No. 2	Indiana State	W 63–30	1–0	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
December 5, 1961*	No. 2	Miami (OH)	W 63–30	2–0	Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH
December 6, 1960*	No. 2	at Wisconsin	W 86–67	3–0	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
December 11, 1961	No. 2	at Drake	W 60–59	4–0 (1–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, IA
December 16, 1961*	No. 2	Marshall	W 77–49	5–0	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
December 18, 1961	No. 2	at Wichita State	L 51–52	5–1 (1–1)	Levitt Arena Wichita, KS
December 21, 1961*	No. 2	Colorado	W 84–67	6–1	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
December 26, 1961*	No. 2	vs. St. John's Holiday Festival	W 97–68	7–1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
December 28, 1961*	No. 2	vs. La Salle Holiday Festival	W 64–56	8–1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
December 30, 1961*	No. 2	vs. Wisconsin Holiday Festival	W 101–71	9–1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
January 4, 1962	No. 2	Saint Louis	W 62–47	10–1 (2–1)	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
January 6, 1962	No. 2	Tulsa	W 72–43	11–1 (3–1)	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
January 10, 1962	No. 2	at Bradley	L 68–70 ^OT	11–2 (3–2)	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, IL
January 16, 1962*	No. 3	Dayton	W 80–61	12–2	Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH
January 18, 1962*	No. 3	at No. 5 Duquesne	W 62–54	13–2	Duquesne Gymnasium Pittsburgh, PA
January 25, 1962	No. 3	North Texas	W 89–61	14–2 (4–2)	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
January 30, 1962	No. 3	Drake	W 73–52	15–2 (5–2)	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
February 1, 1962*	No. 3	at Houston	W 60–52	16–2	Jeppesen Field House Houston, TX
February 3, 1962	No. 3	at North Texas	W 77–50	17–2 (6–2)	North Texas Men's Gym Denton, TX
February 8, 1962	No. 3	at Saint Louis	W 54–48	18–2 (7–2)	Kiel Auditorium Saint Louis, MO
February 10, 1962	No. 3	at Tulsa	W 70–52	19–2 (8–2)	Expo Square Pavilion Tulsa, OK
February 12, 1962*	No. 3	George Washington	W 83–43	20–2	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
February 16, 1962*	No. 3	Houston	W 59–47	21–2	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
February 19, 1962	No. 3	No. 5 Bradley	W 72–57	22–2 (9–2)	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
February 24, 1962	No. 2	Wichita State	W 84–63	23–2 (10–2)	Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
March 1, 1962*	No. 2	Xavier Crosstown Shootout	W 61–58	24–2	Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH
March 12, 1962	No. 2	vs. No. 6 Bradley Missouri Valley Conference Playoff	W 61–46	25–2 (11–2)	Roberts Memorial Fieldhouse Evansville, IN
NCAA Tournament
March 16*	No. 2	vs. Creighton Midwest Region Semifinals	W 66–46	26–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
March 17*	No. 2	vs. No. 9 Colorado Midwest Region Finals	W 73–46	27–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
March 23*	No. 2	vs. UCLA Final Four	W 72–70	28–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
March 24*	No. 2	vs. No. 1 Ohio State National Championship	W 71–59	29–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[3] ^[4]

Rankings

Awards and honors

All-American

USBWA First Team: Paul Hogue
NABC, NEA Second Team: Paul Hogue
AP, NEA Third Team: Paul Hogue

National honors

Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year: Paul Hogue

Missouri Valley Conference honors

All-MVC

Source^[5]

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	2	Paul Hogue	New York Knicks

^[6]

In the spring of 1962, Cleveland Pipers owner George Steinbrenner signed Jerry Lucas to a player-management contract worth forty thousand dollars.^[7] With the Lucas signing, Steinbrenner had a secret deal with NBA commissioner Maurice Podoloff. The Pipers would merge with the Kansas City Steers and join the NBA. A schedule was printed for the 1963–64 NBA season with the Pipers playing the New York Knicks in the first game.^[8] Steinbrenner and partner George McKean fell behind in payments to the NBA and the deal was cancelled.

References

^ sports-reference.com 1961-62 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
^ Joseph M. Sheehan, Ohio State Bows, Bearcats Win, 71-59, for 2d N.C.A.A. Title -- Hogue Is Star, New York Times, March 24, 1962
^ "1961-62 Cincinnati Bearcats Schedule and Results".
^ "2019-20 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
^ "2019-20 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
^ "1962 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Archived from the original on March 31, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
^ Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0
^ Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0

[1] sports-reference.com 1961-62 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary

[2] Joseph M. Sheehan, Ohio State Bows, Bearcats Win, 71-59, for 2d N.C.A.A. Title -- Hogue Is Star, New York Times, March 24, 1962

[3] "1961-62 Cincinnati Bearcats Schedule and Results".

[4] "2019-20 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

[5] "2019-20 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

[6] "1962 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Archived from the original on March 31, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2009.

[7] Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0

[8] Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0

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v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 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 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 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 appearances in italics