The 1957–58 Seattle Chieftains men's basketball team (now known as Redhawks) represented

Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate prog ...

during the

1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season The 1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1957, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1958 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game ...

. Led by future top draft pick

Elgin Baylor Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lake ...

, Seattle was the runner-up in the NCAA tournament, falling to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in the finals in

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

NCAA tournament

*West **Seattle 69,

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 ...

67 **Seattle 66,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

62 *Final Four ** Seattle 73,

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

51 **

84, Seattle 72

NCAA Championship

The NCAA Final Four was played at

Freedom Hall Freedom Hall is a multi-purpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is best known for its use as a basketball arena, previously serving as the home ...

in Louisville, Seattle had an integrated team, and played in front of an all-white crowd of 18,803. Elgin Baylor was the nation's second-best scorer (32.5) behind

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

. The Chieftains led Kentucky by 11 points in the first half, and were leading with seven minutes in the game. Seattle lost the game for a After the championship game, Baylor hinted that he might return for his senior season. Castellani had two recruits with him from the South Bend area, forwards Don Piasecki and Don Ogorek. The Chieftains also added a transfer from Indiana, guard

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American ar ...

. The feeling was that the team would have a bright future.

Rankings

Awards and honors

– NCAA Men's MOP Award,

Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year The Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual men's college basketball award given to the most outstanding men′s player in the United States. It was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation, an organization founded in ...

, Consensus First-team All-American

Team players drafted into the NBA

References

External links

Sports Press Northwest
– Wayback Machine – Seattle U.'s 1958 Final 4 run {{DEFAULTSORT:1957-58 Seattle Chieftains Men's Basketball Team

Seattle Chieftains The Seattle Redhawks are the intercollegiate varsity athletic teams of Seattle University of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. They compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I as a member ins ...

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Seattle Redhawks men's basketball seasons