The 1956–57 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team was a Division I

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team that represented the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. Coached by

Dick Harp Richard F. Harp (March 28, 1918 – March 18, 2000) was an American college basketball coach who spent the majority of his career at the University of Kansas. He became the Kansas Jayhawks' fourth men's basketball coach in 1956. He coached for e ...

, the Jayhawks posted a 24–3 win–loss record, winning the then- Big Seven Conference and qualifying for the

1957 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1957 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's college basketball in the NCAA University Division, replaced in 1973 by NCAA Division I. ...

. Kansas won three games in the NCAA tournament to reach the

championship game In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, where the Jayhawks lost to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

in triple overtime.

Season summary

was named the head coach of the Jayhawks before the 1956–57 season. The previous coach, Phog Allen, had been forced to leave the program due to an enforced retirement age in place at the school. The 1956–57 Jayhawks featured future

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center Wilt Chamberlain, in his first season with the varsity program. Expectations for the team were high entering the season; Allen said of the Jayhawks' new player that "Anybody could win the national championship with Wilt Chamberlain and four cheerleaders." Chamberlain averaged 29.6 points and 18.8

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game over the course of the season. In Kansas' opening game against Northwestern, he scored 52 points and compiled 31 rebounds in an 87–69 win. The Jayhawks won their next five games by at least 10 points each, and began the season with 12 consecutive victories. Following that streak,

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

defeated Kansas 39–37. Kansas lost one other game in the regular season, on February 20, 1957, against

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

by a score of 56–54. The Jayhawks wrapped up the Big Seven title, and an NCAA Tournament berth, with a 64–57 win over Kansas State on March 7. They ended the regular season with a record of 20–2, and a Big Seven record of 11–1. In the first round of the NCAA tournament, Kansas faced SMU and was forced into an overtime period. Behind 36 points by Chamberlain, the Jayhawks won 73–65 to advance to the regional finals. There, the Jayhawks defeated

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

81–61 to reach the Final Four. Chamberlain posted 30 points in the contest, adding 15 rebounds. The two-time defending NCAA Tournament champions,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, faced Kansas in the Final Four's host site, Kansas City. With a field goal percentage of almost 60 percent, the Jayhawks posted an 80–56 win to advance to the championship game against undefeated North Carolina, the number one-ranked team in the country. The Tar Heels defeated the Jayhawks 54–53 in triple overtime; North Carolina's Joe Quigg made the tying and go-ahead

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s in the final seconds.

Roster

*Bob Billings * Wilt Chamberlain *John Cleland *Eddie Dater *Gene Elstun *Joe Ensley *Lee Green *Blaine Hollinger *Harry Jett *Lew Johnson *Monte Johnson *Ron Johnston *Larry Kelley *Lyn Kindred * Maurice King *Ron Loneski *John Parker *Gary Thompson

Schedule and results

Rankings

From the beginning of the season, the Jayhawks topped the

Associated Press Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

, holding their position until mid-January. After the Jayhawks' loss to Iowa State, the team fell to number two in the poll. Kansas stayed in that position for the rest of the season. In the

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Poll, the Jayhawks held the top overall ranking at the start of the season and remained there until the January 22 rankings, when they fell to second behind North Carolina. They stayed in that position in each subsequent poll during the season.

In popular culture

The team, specifically starting center Wilt Chamberlain and coach Phog Allen, where the focus of the 2014 film ''

Jayhawkers Jayhawkers and red legs are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs we ...

'', which was directed by Kansas University film professor

Kevin Willmott Kevin Willmott (born August 31, 1959) is an Academy Award Winning American film director and screenwriter, and professor of film at the University of Kansas. He is known for work focusing on black issues including writing and directing '' Nint ...

. The film featured former Jayhawk basketball player

Scot Pollard The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

and Justin Wesley, who was on the roster at the time of the release. Additionally, Kansas alumni Jay Karnes portrays Chancellor Franklin Murphy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1956-57 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons