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 →

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.

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]

Roster

1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

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

[2]

[1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

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 →