1946–47 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1946–47 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. N/A
AP	No. N/A
Record	27–3
Head coach	Alvin "Doggie" Julian
Assistant coach	Albert Riopel
Seasons ← 1945–46 1947–48 →

The 1946–47 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team represented the College of the Holy Cross, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, in NCAA competition in the 1946–47 season. The Crusaders, behind coach Alvin "Doggie" Julian, NCAA tournament MVP George Kaftan, star Joe Mullaney and a freshman point guard named Bob Cousy, beat Oklahoma at Madison Square Garden to win the NCAA championship.^[1]

The Crusaders, who played their home games at Boston Garden and the South High Community School in Worcester, Massachusetts, won their first four games of 1946-47, tripped through a three-game losing streak, then finished the year with 23 straight victories.^[2]

The team entered the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as the last seed in the 8-team tournament. In the first match, Holy Cross defeated the United States Naval Academy in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden by a score of 55 to 47. Mullaney led the team in scoring with 18 points, mostly in part to Navy coach Ben Carnevale's decision to have his players back off from Mullaney, who was reputed as being more of a playmaker than a shooter.^[3] In the semi-final match, Holy Cross faced the City College of New York (CCNY), coached by Nat Holman, one of the game's earliest innovators. The Crusaders, led by Kaftan's 30-point game, easily defeated the Beavers 60–45.^[4] In the championship game, Holy Cross faced the University of Oklahoma, behind coach Bruce Drake, in another sold-out game at Madison Square Garden. Kaftan followed up the semi-final match with 18 points in the title game, leading the Crusaders to a 58–47 victory against the Sooners.^[4]

Holy Cross became the first school from the New England area, as well as the state of Massachusetts, to win a national college basketball title. The Crusaders finished the 1947 season with 23 straight wins. Afterward, 35,000 people watched a parade in the team's honor on Holy Cross Day in Worcester. Future NBA legend Cousy was named AP and UP player of the year, and George Kaftan was voted to the all-decade team of the 1940s by the NCAA in 1989.

NCAA tournament results

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

	Holy Cross	55

	Navy	47
				Holy Cross	60

				CCNY	45
	CCNY	70

	Wisconsin	56
							Holy Cross	58

							Oklahoma	47
	Texas	42

	Wyoming	40
				Texas	54	Third place

				Oklahoma	55
	Oklahoma	56				CCNY		50

	Oregon State	54				Texas		54

Source^[5]

Awards and honors

George Kaftan
- NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP)
- Consensus Second Team All-American

References

^ "Holy Cross Was Once King of Hoops". sportslifer.wordpress.com. March 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
^ "70 years ago, 'Cinderella kids' from Holy Cross won NCAA title".
^ Reynolds, p51.
^ ^a ^b Reynolds, p52.
^ "1947 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". All-time NCAA Tournament brackets. databaseSports.com. 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2010.

External links

Holy Cross – 1947 NCAA Champions

Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball

Venues

Hart Center (1975–present)

Rivalries

Boston University

Culture & lore

The Crusader
"Chu! Chu! Rah! Rah!"
Crusader Pep Band

People

Seasons

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NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball 1946–47 NCAA champions
Bob Cousy Robert T. Curran George Kaftan (MOP) Joe Mullaney Dermott O'Connell Frank Oftring Head coach Doggie Julian

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball champions
1939 Oregon 1940 Indiana 1941 Wisconsin 1942 Stanford 1943 Wyoming 1944 Utah 1945 Oklahoma A&M 1946 Oklahoma A&M 1947 Holy Cross 1948 Kentucky 1949 Kentucky 1950 CCNY 1951 Kentucky 1952 Kansas 1953 Indiana 1954 La Salle 1955 San Francisco 1956 San Francisco 1957 North Carolina 1958 Kentucky 1959 California 1960 Ohio State 1961 Cincinnati 1962 Cincinnati 1963 Loyola (IL) 1964 UCLA 1965 UCLA 1966 Texas Western 1967 UCLA 1968 UCLA 1969 UCLA 1970 UCLA 1971 UCLA 1972 UCLA 1973 UCLA 1974 NC State 1975 UCLA 1976 Indiana 1977 Marquette 1978 Kentucky 1979 Michigan State 1980 Louisville 1981 Indiana 1982 North Carolina 1983 NC State 1984 Georgetown 1985 Villanova 1986 Louisville 1987 Indiana 1988 Kansas 1989 Michigan 1990 UNLV 1991 Duke 1992 Duke 1993 North Carolina 1994 Arkansas 1995 UCLA 1996 Kentucky 1997 Arizona 1998 Kentucky 1999 Connecticut 2000 Michigan State 2001 Duke 2002 Maryland 2003 Syracuse 2004 Connecticut 2005 North Carolina 2006 Florida 2007 Florida 2008 Kansas 2009 North Carolina 2010 Duke 2011 Connecticut 2012 Kentucky 2013 Louisville (Vacated) 2014 UConn 2015 Duke 2016 Villanova 2017 North Carolina 2018 Villanova 2019 Virginia 2020 No tournament 2021 Baylor 2022 Kansas 2023 UConn 2024 UConn

NCAA Division I men's basketball champions