The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team represents the College of the Holy Cross in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

(about 40 miles (64 km) west of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

) in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

competition. The team competes in the Patriot League and plays their home games in the

Hart Center Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex is the main athletic center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1975 and is home to the Holy Cross Crusaders athletic teams. It is named for the Rev. Francis J. H ...

.Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball 2007–08 media guide
Accessed April 20, 2008. The program boasts such notable alumni as Boston Celtics legends

Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy (, born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. Cousy played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...

and

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcast ...

, and longtime Providence College basketball coach Joe Mullaney. Under coach

Doggie Julian Alvin Fred "Doggie" Julian (April 5, 1901 – July 28, 1967) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Muhlenberg College from 1936 to 1945, at the College of the Holy Cross fr ...

, the Crusaders won a national championship in 1947. It is the only school from

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to win an NCAA tournament.

History

Beginnings and national prominence

Basketball first appeared at Holy Cross in 1900 but was discontinued several times until its reinstatement in 1939. The Crusaders originally played their home games at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (lat ...

and the South High Community School. In 1947, the Crusaders, behind coach

, NCAA tournament MVP George Kaftan, star Joe Mullaney and freshman point guard

, beat Oklahoma at Madison Square Garden to win the NCAA championship. The team entered the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as the last seed in the 8-team tournament. In the first game, Holy Cross defeated the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

55–47, in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. Mullaney led the team in scoring with 18 points, mostly in part to Navy coach

Ben Carnevale Bernard Louis Carnevale (October 30, 1915 – March 25, 2008) was an American basketball coach and college athletic administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1944 to 1946 and the ...

's decision to have his players back off from Mullaney, who was reputed as being more of a playmaker than a shooter. In the semi-final match, Holy Cross faced the City College of New York, coached by

Nat Holman Nat Holman (October 19, 1896 – February 12, 1995) was an American professional basketball player and college coach. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is the only coach to lead his team to NCAA and National Invi ...

. The Crusaders, led by Kaftan's 30-point game, defeated the Beavers 60–45.Reynolds, p52. In the championship game, Holy Cross faced a

Bruce Drake Bruce Drake (December 5, 1905 – December 4, 1983) was a college men's basketball coach. The Gentry, Texas native was head coach at the University of Oklahoma between 1938 and 1955, compiling a 200–181 record. He also coached the Air Force team ...

coached

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

team in another sold-out game at Madison Square Garden. Kaftan followed up his semi-final game performance with 18 points in the title game, leading the Crusaders to a 58–47 victory against the Sooners. Along with

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...

, Holy Cross is one of the two

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

schools to ever win the NCAA tournament. Holy Cross finished the 1947 championship season with 23 straight wins and became the first college from the New England area (as well as from the state of

) to win a national college basketball title. 35,000 people watched a parade in the team's honor on Holy Cross Day in

. Future NBA legend Cousy was named AP and UP player of the year. In 1989, the NCAA voted teammate George Kaftan to the all-decade team of the 1940s. The Crusaders followed up their championship by advancing to the 1948 NCAA Tournament's Final Four. After advancing to the Elite Eight in 1953, the Crusaders would wait 63 years before claiming another win in the NCAA Tournament. In 1954, Holy Cross won the

NIT Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

behind another future NBA Hall-of-famer and

Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

legend Tom Heinsohn. This is widely recognized as the College's second national title in basketball due to the prestige of the NIT at the time. In 1977, Holy Cross defeated a talented Providence team twice on last-second shots by forward Chris Potter and led top-ranked

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

at the half in the first round of the NCAA tournament before being defeated. The following year,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

ranked Holy Cross and freshman of the year Ronnie Perry ninth in its pre-season poll. Following the team's championship years of the 40s and 50s, the Crusaders have been ranked only occasionally by the Associated Press. After appearing in 65 of 116 total weekly polls (56%) in the 1950s, the Crusaders appeared in only 5 of 126 weekly polls (4%) in the 1960s and 9 of 148 (6%) in the 1970s. The Crusaders have not been nationally ranked since January 1978.

Patriot League

Holy Cross could have joined the newly founded

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

in 1980, but college President Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., vetoed the move for academic reasons. Holy Cross stayed independent until joining the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

(MAAC) to start the 1983–84 season. It moved to the Patriot League in 1991. In recent decades, the men's basketball team has been the leading varsity program of the Holy Cross' athletic department. The men's basketball team has won six Patriot League titles (1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2016) since the league's formation in 1991. With

Ralph Willard Ralph Daniel Willard (born March 28, 1946) is an American former basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Western Kentucky University from 1990 to 1994, the University of Pittsburgh from 1994 to 1999, and the College of ...

as head coach, the Holy Cross men's team nearly accomplished three major upsets in the NCAA tournament. In 2001 as a fifteen seed, the Crusaders lost 72–68 to a second-seeded Kentucky team who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. In 2002, the sixteenth-seeded Crusaders nearly became the first #16 seed to defeat a #1 seed, losing 70–59 to a top-seeded Kansas squad who advanced to the Final Four. The Crusaders led 37–35 at halftime, 44–39 with 11 minutes remaining and trailed by three points with fewer than two minutes remaining. In 2003 as a fourteenth seed, the Crusaders lost 72–68 to third-seeded, Dwyane Wade-led Marquette that would advance to the Final Four. In 2016, the Crusaders made a miraculous run in the postseason. The team entered the Patriot League Tournament as the ninth seed and ultimately defeated second-seeded Lehigh in the championship game to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007. The Crusaders then defeated Southern University marking the first NCAA win for the program since 1953.

Seasons

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Crusaders have appeared in the NCAA tournament 13 times. Their combined record is 8–13. They were national champions in 1947.

Men's NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player

* 1947 – George Kaftan

NIT results

The Crusaders have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 12 times. Their combined record is 11–11. They were NIT Champions in 1954.

Men's National Invitation Tournament Most Valuable Player

* 1954 – Togo Palazzi

CIT results

The Crusaders have appeared in the

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was an American men's college basketball postseason tournament founded by Collegeinsider.com. The tournament was oriented toward schools that did not get selected for the NCAA Division I men's ...

(CIT) one time. Their record is 1–1.

Appearances in final national polls

Holy Cross has made 79 appearances in the

AP 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 broad ...

since it was introduced during the 1948-1949 season, peaking at No. 1 for five weeks in 1950. The College last appeared in the AP Poll during the 1977–1978 season. Holy Cross has finished the year ranked by the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1947 and in the final Associated Press poll of the season on six occasions:

Honored jerseys

Note: As the College program stated, the jerseys were retired but not the "numbers" so other players can wear them:

NBA players

George Blaney George R. Blaney (born November 12, 1939) is an American former basketball player and coach. Blaney played high school basketball at St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City. After playing basketball at the College of the Holy Cross durin ...

(1961–1962) *

(1950–1963) * Jack Foley (1962–1963) *

(1956–1965) * George Kaftan (1948–1953) *

Malcolm Miller The ''Malcolm Miller'' is a sistership of the three-mast schooner ''Sir Winston Churchill'' designed by Camper & Nicholsons. She was built by John Lewis & Sons in Aberdeen and first served as a Sail training ship before being converted into ...

(2011-2015) * Joe Mullaney (1949–1950) * Dermie O'Connell (1948–1950) * Togo Palazzi (1954–1960) *

Kevin Stacom Kevin M. Stacom (born September 4, 1951) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'3" (1.90 m) guard from Holy Cross High School, Flushing, New York; and Providence College, Stacom played six seasons (1974–1979; 1981–1982) ...

(1974–1982) * Garry Witts (1981–1982)

International players

Jehyve Floyd Jehyve Floyd (born June 27, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for Galatasaray Nef of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). Born and raised in Parlin, New Jersey, Floyd played high school basketball at Sayreville War Memorial. He pl ...

(born 1997), in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

Awards

;All-America * 1947 – George Kaftan (Second Team) * 1948 – George Kaftan (Second Team),

(Third Team) * 1949 – Bob Cousy (Second Team) *

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

–

(First Team) *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

– Togo Palazzi (Third Team) * 1954 – Togo Palazzi (Third Team) * 1955 –

(Third Team) *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

–

(First Team) *

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

– Jack Foley (Second Team)

References

External links

* {{Patriot League men's basketball navbox Basketball teams established in 1900