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The National Basketball Report: April 7, 1957
The Legacies of Five Men, Now Up For Review

When considering the evening that played out before us, and the evening to come in Boston, we realized that, while we were correct in considering legacies, we failed to consider all of them.

Washington Continues March, Knocks Out West Virginia

The Washington Huskies continue to be the most surprising top-seeded team in recent memory.

Consider that for a moment: a top seed, bringing surprise against a fifth seed. It seems preposterous, no? A fifth seed is typically a team that dreamed a most impossible dream, traveled the road most are unable to traverse, and end up into the national semifinal feeling their season already a massive success.

Consider the fifth seed Washington eliminated on Saturday night: 30-6 West Virginia, the defending last loser of last season…if that is something to defend. They were considered by many, including this very publication, to be solid favorites heading into their semifinal against Washington.

Nobody, it appeared, bothered to inform the Huskies that they were supposed to roll over.

Bad dogs. (Bad pun, but we digress.)

The Huskies (29-6) finished West Virginia’s season in thrilling fashion in the nightcap of a wonderful doubleheader at Boston Garden on Saturday evening. The final action of the evening brought with it the most suspense. It was also fitting, in a bookend sense.

On the game’s first possession, Frank Calhoun found senior forward Gisbert Bittes flashing inside for a basket. On their final possession, Gisbert Bittes caught a pass just outside the outstretched fingertips of Demarcus Woods. He took off towards the basket. Matthew Olsen came crashing from the weak side.

Bittes leapt. Olsen did, though he said he should not have.

“Once he goes up, he has the basket,” said Olsen. “I understand trying to make him earn it from the line. But I had no chance, once he got in the air. Trying to stop him is just plain dumb. I made a plain dumb play.”

Olsen fouled Bittes, who threw down the slam dunk with both hands. That put a man tormented by the free throw line all game in a position that he found somewhat unenviable.

More on that later.

First, let’s discuss Fenton for a moment. The senior guard was named the Man of the Game for the thirty-seventh time in his 131 games as a player. This particular game pitted Fenton against Hildebrand, West Virginia’s legendary point guard, in a game involving two of the three top point guard professional prospects in the nation. In this particular game, Fenton, with his 21 points, four rebounds, and two steals, outplayed Hildebrand, who had 11 points and six assists, but four fouls. His presence was definitely missed: Wolfolk, forced to handle the basketball more than he is used to, had six turnovers. He also made a decision that will forever be discussed and debated by WVU fans, and college basketball followers.

There will be much more on Fenton later, too. His story is not finished.

“That was a barnburner, wasn’t it?” asked West Virginia head coach Lonnie Williams afterward. “Shucks, someone had to lose that game. You never want it to be you, but heck, we got here again. I couldn’t be more proud of a group of young men, especially when so many of you said we would be paying customers on a field trip to New England if we were to show up. The way they kept coming at us, they were like hound dogs, you know? They had our scent. We couldn’t get far enough away from them, and those hound dogs, you know…once they got your scent, you’re not going to be far away from them for long.”

Early on, though, it seemed like the Mountaineers had slipped the Huskies, distancing themselves with what many believed was an early knockout blow.

Both teams came out firing, and Washington held a 17-15 lead with 11:55 left. Tony Gregory’s jumper, five seconds later, was followed by an Olsen jumper. Fenton’s understudy and heir apparent, Marquis Gray, threw the ball out of bounds. Gregory hit another jumper. On Washington’s next possession, Jared Bazan got a steal out of the WVU press. He converted a layup. Olsen got a steal immediately after, and while they did not convert, Washington was confused and reeling.

With 6:01 left, when Michael Morton, a deep reserve whose story will also be told later, scored off a Hildebrand pass, it was 31-17, West Virginia. The Huskies were the recipient of a Mountaineer 14-0 run. It was their first severe test of the game. Degrasse, as is his custom, let the Huskies play through it.

“They are grown men,” he said. “They are going to have to deal with issues far tougher than how to put a ball in a basket. And they’re going to have to deal with teams far less accustomed to one another than they are. We gave them the tools throughout the season to see their way back. It was up to them to use those tools.”

After two Olsen free throws with 4:58 left, Washington began to claw back. Quite naturally, it was Fenton who got things going; his jumper made it 33-19 with 4:08 left. Italo Malocco got a steal of a Olsen pass, got a layup, and was fouled by Hildebrand. He made the free throw, cutting it to 33-22 with 3:09 to go. Freeland was called for an illegal screen, and Fenton hit a jump shot.

The deficit was at nine. West Virginia called time, and restored some order to the chaos bestowed upon them.

Fenton fouled Woolfolk, who sank two free throws. But Washington would close the half on a 6-2 run, cutting the halftime deficit to 37-30. They would immediately start chiseling away again at the start of the second half.

Hildebrand found Woods to open the second half, but, once again, it was Fenton who got the ball rolling. He hit a jumper immediately following Woods’ basket. His defense forced Hildebrand into a travel on WVU’s next possession. Malocco hit a shot from the right corner; WVU answered, but Fenton scored again. WVU scored again, after Hildebrand found Woolfolk; however, Frank Calhoun scored on a layup, and was fouled by Freeland. His free throw cut the WVU lead to four, 43-39, just two minutes in. Hildebrand scored in response, which brought forth an interesting diverging philosophy from fans the two teams:

For West Virginia, Washington kept coming on. They could not get away, and it was only a matter of time before they pulled even. For Washington, West Virginia had an answer for everything the Huskies threw at them. It would only be a matter of time before the Mountaineers went on another run, and the mountain, if you pardon the expression, would have yet another peak to climb.

Fenton beat WVU’s press, making it a 45-41 lead. The Huskies thought they caught a break, when WVU was hit with a shot-clock violation; however, Manny Parenteau’s layup was off the mark. Hildebrand grabbed the rebound, came down, and hit a jump shot. Burt Lingle found Parenteau out of a trap for a layup. That made it 47-43. Woods was fouled by Malocco, but made just one of two from the line. Malocco made up for that by hitting a jump shot, but Woods responded, getting the WVU lead back to five, at 50-45.

Washington fans’ fears were briefly met when they the teams exchanged empty possessions, then Freeland drew a charge on Gregoire Dupretz. Olsen scored off a slip pass from Freeland, making it 52-45. Calhoun traveled on Washington’s next possession, and Hildebrand hit a jump shot. With fourteen minutes left, it was 54-45, and Washington’s hard work to get the game back to even seemed to be for naught.

This seemed especially true when Malocco was fouled on a shot, and made one of two. He got the rebound on the second, but missed the putback.

But then, the Huskies came roaring back once again.

Dupretz stole a pass, and Fenton, once again, was the scoring catalyst. He hit a jumper off a Malocco pass. Bittes got a steal, and Fenton was fouled by Freeland. He hit one of two; Gregory missed a layup, Fenton corralled the miss, and found Dupretz. It was suddenly 54-51. The teams exchanged empty possessions for the next minute, before Malocco found his mark from the top of the key.

It was 54-53. West Virginia called timeout. The mostly pro-WVU crowd was quiet…a small contingent of Husky fans, consisting of fans from Washington and those who became fans during the tournament…were quite boisterous.

The Mountaineers got a small reprieve, when Morton was fouled. He hit the first, missed the second, but Gregory beat Calhoun for the tip-in. That made it 57-53. The Huskies responded immediately, with Gray finding Jose Park, who beat the coverage down the floor.

The Huskies had a chance to tie after Gregory was called for traveling at the eleven-minute mark. Bittes was fouled by a troubled Gregory. However, the forward missed both free throws. He seemed frustrated, obviously not knowing what was to come. His next shot was blocked, but Lingle, a deep reserve, got the rebound. The offense began anew. The ball returned to him, but Olsen fouled him. With WVU in the penalty, at 10:04 to go, Lingle went to the line.

On the season, he was 21-29 from the line. He went 3-4 in this game; these two tied the score, at 57-57.

Now, it was ten minutes until Monday night.

Olsen gave WVU the lead once more, on a Hildebrand missed. Fenton responded immediately. Gray picked Hildebrand’s pocket, but Washington came up empty. Hildebrand found Woods. Bittes was fouled again; again, he missed the front end. Calhoun backed him up, though, tipping in the miss.

Woods scored, and Calhoun missed his shot. Bazan then forced a turnover on Fenton; perhaps Washington’s best chance had slipped away.

Then, there was Lingle again, this time blocking Gregory’s dunk attempt.

“That was huge,” said Fenton afterwards. “If (Gregory) throws that down, that may have been a deflator. But Burt came up with that block, stonewalled him…it lifted us. We knew, even if we got done by four or six, we had time, and we can find stops.”

The Huskies continued to come up hollow on the offensive end, and when Bazan hit a shot from the corner with 5:41 left, it was a four-point WVU lead. Parenteau, though, hit another quick shot…Washington was good at catching WVU on the transition from offensive to defense, finding them out of position and defensive rhythm several times. Hildebrand scored again, making it 67-63 with five minutes to go.

On Washington’s next possession, Hildebrand fouled another reserve. This time, it was guard Wayne Toro. In this game, Toro would play six minutes, and register just two points.

They came here.

Malocco fouled Hildebrand with 4:31 left, and fouled out of the game. Hildebrand hit both free throws, making it a 69-65 lead. Now, the Huskies were without their Italian import, putting the weight on Fenton’s shoulders that much more. The 6’1, 208-pound well-proportioned guard was up for that challenge.

His basket with 4:06 left, made it 69-67.

Up until this point, Bittes had been tormented on both sides of the ball. Though foul shooting was never his strong suit—he was a 49% shooter from the line on the year, and a 54% career shooter—his particular 0-3 line disturbed him. And while he was the defensive catalyst of the team, Woods was en route to an efficient 22-point day.

But, with 3:46 left, he made his first mark. He stole a pass from Freeland intended for Woods; his layup tied the score at 69.

Thirty seconds later, Hildebrand was fouled. For the first time this game, he made a mistake that profoundly hurt his team. He missed the second free throw. West Virginia still had the lead, but they could no longer play with the confidence of a possession lead. It was 70-69. He made up for it a minute later, when, after a Washington miss, he found Woolfolk for the bucket.

Fenton answered right back, though, with the last of his 21. It was 72-71, with 2:11 to go.

With 1:42 left, Calhoun fouled Freeland. He made the first, but missed the second. However, the rebound went long, and ended up back in Freeland’s hands. It got to Hildebrand, who made his second big mistake. He looked for Olsen, but Olsen cut back inside. Hildebrand threw it away.

It appeared that, on Washington’s ensuing possession, Woods would save the day. He got a steal. But Park, another reserve who came up big on this day, tied Woods up. The arrow went back to Washington. This time, Gray found Lingle.

The reserves had pulled the Huskies even, with 1:12 to go.

The roles quickly reversed. WVU worked the ball methodically, and with thirty-seven ticks left, Park fouled Woods. He calmly sank both, giving West Virginia a 75-73 lead.

That set up Bittes and Olsen. Washington caught WVU out of position one last time. Olsen reacted, fouled BIttes late; Gisbert had already tied the game.

Now, the man who was tormented by the line three times tonight, could let everyone, including himself, forget those misses. He had one shot, one chance at making it right, and adding to his own legacy.

He walked to the line, took two dibbles, and let fly.

“It was hope, not confidence,” he confided later.

The ball hit the back of the rim, and went straight up. Its downward flight took its course straight through the net, which did not move.

That small contingent of fans, which grew in number as the night went on, went nuts.

Washington 76, West Virginia 75.

For the first time since early in the game, the Huskies had the lead. But WVU had an answer for every Washington problem. Surely, they had one last response.

On West Virginia’s last possession, the ball found the hands not of leader Hildebrand, nor scoring whiz Woods. Rather, Charles Woolfolk, upon finding a double-team on his drive with four seconds left, played a little fast, and perhaps instead of thinking the situation through, found Michael Morton.

Morton, in for rebounding opportunities on a shot taken earlier than, perhaps, four seconds left, was as surprised as the crowd to have received the ball. The nearly 200-point career scorer—he has 195 in his two-year career—took a shot that had no chance. Senior guard Danny Fenton—more on him in a moment—secured the rebound, and the victory for the Huskies.

“We liked our chances (on the final possession),” said Washington coach Kirk Degrasse. “We have had our trap late play all season, just for this situation. “We used it for the first time here. I think it was worth the wait.”

Malocco, who fouled out, was still second on the team with his 16 points. Bittes and Calhoun equally shared 18 points, and collected 15 rebounds. Lingle, Park, and Toro added nine points in their 20 minutes, on 2-4 shooting. They added defense, keeping WVU in check while the starters got valuable rest.

“I would put our bench with anyone in the nation,” said Degrasse. He may rethink those words on Monday.

Olsen added ten points and seven rebounds to supplement Woods and Hildebrand. Woolfolk and Bazan had eight each, while Gregory had six in his twelve minutes (on 3-7 shooting).

While West Virginia failed to return to the NCAA title game for the second straight year, they would have been the first team to do so since the NCAA regained form. The legacy of the program and its players in this, the Hildebrand and Woods era, is secure. Their future is speculative, but many feel as though this is the high-water mark for Mountaineer basketball, and that there are dark clouds looming. The next recruiting class will go a long way towards that determination.

The one thing a WVU loss does do is deny fans a rematch of last year’s national semifinal, and a chance at vindication for Washington’s opponent Monday night. We are pretty sure, though, that they are okay with that.

For Washington, however, this is an opportunity to wipe away the last three years of emptiness and frustration on the national stage. In 1953, they were a second seed that got upset by Columbia, before we knew who the Lions were. In 1954, they lost to Dayton in the first round. And last year, they were a top seed that fell to Vanderbilt in the second round.

One win in three years makes you the Big Program That Can’t.

Unless, of course, you’re overshadowed in that department, too. Indiana takes the top prize, of course; but Washington’s opponent Monday night, the Kansas State Wildcats, come awfully close.

The Wildcats have been here before…three times. They have moved to the fabled, sought-after Monday night just once, losing to Antonia Dabney and Bradley in 1954, 59-43. Three players—David Gunter, Tommy Fritts, and Erich Walton—were starters on that team. Billy Jacob was injured for the game, while Gregory Cole, this team’s starting center, played just two minutes in that loss. Normand Herbert held the same role he does now, that of sixth man, while Joe Delrio went 0-2 in six minutes of play.

Some things haven’t changed.

The knock on Kansas State is the same knock, to a lesser degree nationally, that stuck Washington: they could not win the big one. At some point, one has to question what qualifies as a “big one”; the Wildcats are 8-2 against Kansas all-time, after all, and 3-1 against West Virginia, including a 78-69 win this year.

The one loss that the Wildcats (32-1) had, a 71-57 loss to Kentucky in the Tournament of Champions, they avenged Saturday night in the first game. In a game many felt had the stature of a national title game, Gunter, now a senior, had his shining moment on a national stage. He netted a game-high 21, on 9-13 shooting, and seven rebounds and two steals. Billy Jacob, now a healthy senior and the 1b to Gunter’s 1a, scored 14 points, grabbed three rebounds and nabbed three steals himself.

Cole, now a redshirt senior and the overlooked member of this famous graduating class, got 13 points, six boards, a pair of assists and a pair of blocks. Fritts, the super senior forward, had 10 points, 9 rebounds, and seven assists, along with three blocks, in a stellar performance. This was done without much of Walton, who had just two points, but four fouls, in eighteen minutes.

This game was nip and tuck, and the tension was high. With 5:50 left, Billy Jacob received a foul, then compounded his issue by arguing to a technical. Lenny Snell hit the two free throws, tying the score. He made up for it by stealing a pass just a bit later. That led to a Cole bucket, giving Kansas State a 56-54 lead. They would increase that to four, but Kentucky, much like Washington later on in the evening, would not go away.

“They are too disciplined to let us run off with the thing,” said Kansas State coach Domingo Jones after the game.

Sure enough, every time the Wildcats would get the tiniest of cushions, Kentucky would answer. Douglas Cobbs scored with 4:35 left, making it 58-56. Jacob scored with 3:22 left, but Carson White hit a shot from the free throw line to cut it to 60-58 with 3:08 left.

Jacob’s response came ten seconds later, but Stephan Williford followed a Curt Davis miss with a major slam dunk from the baseline. 62-60. Herbert scored with 1:55 left; Snell was fouled by Jacob six seconds later. He also got the basket. His three-point play made it 64-63, with 1:49 left.

Kentucky got no closer.

Herbert found Gunter for a basket. On Kentucky’s next possession, White was called for an illegal screen. Kansas State managed to burn thirty seconds off the clock on the ensuing possession, which resulted in Gunter’s bucket off a Jacob assist. It was 68-63, and Kentucky was suddenly rushing to commit fouls.

Erich Walton hit his two free throws, making it 70-63 with :17 left. Williford missed, and Cole got the rebound. He hit a pair of free throws, giving Kansas State permanent breathing room, at 72-63.

Kentucky (30-3) was led by Williford’s 14, and White’s 10. Ten players scored for the Wildcats. Curt Davis, Kentucky’s best all-around player, was limited to 4-11 shooting, and zero free throws. He finished with eight points and six rebounds. Scott Moncada finished with just six points and seven rebounds.

“We knew we had to limit their big men,” said Jones. “If we allowed their big men to do what they wanted, we would have a hard time stopping anything. But shutting down the big men, it shrinks the floor and puts a huge burden on their guards. Williford took 17 shots. Cobbs was 3-7. I think we did our job, defensively.

Sure enough, Kentucky, one of the top offenses in the country, was held to 45% shooting, and had 17 turnovers. Their legacy, the top team of the South, comes with it some caveats. They reached three national semifinals and a fourth regional final. But they, like Kansas State, have not won the last game of the season. Should they be held to the same standard the Wildcats are?

Perhaps. But they also had changing parts throughout. Indiana, realistically, only had two years at their peak. The Big Ten is in transition, and, frankly, was not very good this year. While they have failed to win the final game, they were not expected to this year. Kansas State, we have held that expectation every year. If memory serves, we have selected them three times to be the champion of the country.

It comes back to this complete class, this group of four super players…four of the top five professional prospects in the nation. Gunter is the tops, while Jacob is right behind him. Walton is #4, while Fritts is fifth. To everyone in Manhattan, and realistically, the nation, their story is not complete without this last goal. To leave college without at least one title would feel hollow, especially while their in-state McCoys have cut the nets down twice.

Forgotten in all of this, perhaps because he has been stashed away in Seattle, is Fenton. His legacy could be forever stamped by slaying the giant dragon in front of him. He has laid down one of the top three guards in the nation, in Hildebrand. Gunter is the only one who sits above him on the pecking order. Fenton could be known as the greatest point guard of this era by leading Washington to victory.

This is the Game of Unfulfilled Destinies.

Only one side can write their ending. The other will have it penned for them.

Neither side wants the other to man the pen.

1956-57 National Championship Game: Kansas State (32-1) vs Washington (29-6): We have not strayed from Kansas State this year, despite Washington flipping the script twice on us. First, it was Seattle…then, WVU on Saturday. By all logic, we should jump aboard this Washington group, as they appear to have the hands of fate leading the way. But we are still enchanted by Kansas State, and feel they still have the magic, and the roster, to finally see this to the end.

Expect the lifetime of a game by Jacob. And a lifetime of memories to be had by finally winning the big one.

PICK: Kansas State 71, Washington 68