The 1947 NAIA National Tournament was held in March at
Municipal Auditorium in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
. The 10th annual men's basketball tournament of what is now the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...
(NAIA) featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
It would be the first time since
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat.
Events
World War II will be ...
the NAIA Semifinalist would feature four new teams. Becoming the 3rd tournament to do so, and a feat that would not be repeated until
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
.
The championship game featured
Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
** Marshall railway station
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Is ...
defeating
Mankato State, 73–59. The third place game featured
Arizona State-Flagstaff, now Northern Arizona, defeating
Emporia State, 47–38.
1947 kicked off the "golden age" of NAIA National Tournaments. Harold Haskins became the first of 16 all-time leading scorers.
Coach
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...
withdrew
Indiana State from the tournament because the NAIB would not allow black student-athlete
Clarence Walker to play. The NAIB changed in time for Walker to play for Indiana in the
1948 tournament.
Awards and honors
Many of the records set by the 1947 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
*Leading scorer est. 1963
*Leading rebounder est. 1963
*Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
*Coach of the Year est. 1954
*Player of the Year est. 1994
*Top single-game scoring performances: ''2nd'' by
Nate DeLong, Wisconsin-River Falls vs. Marshall (W.Va.). Delong scored 22 field goals had 12 free throws totaling 56 points.
*All-time scoring leader; first appearance: ''Harold Haskins, 12th,'' Hamline (Minn.) (1947,48,49,50), 14 games, 104 field goals, 72 free throws, 280 total points, 20.0 average per game.
NAIA Championship History
Bracket
* * denotes overtime.
See also
* 1947 NCAA basketball tournament
The 1947 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1947, and ended with the championship game on ...
* 1947 National Invitation Tournament
The 1947 National Invitation Tournament was the 1947 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. The Utah Utes won the tournament, led by Wataru Misaka. Misaka later joined the New York Knicks and became the first person of color t ...
References
{{NAIA men's basketball tournament
NAIA men's basketball championship
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
1947 in sports in Missouri