1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

American college basketball season

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 →

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 State	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	0	–	12	.000	3	–	23	.115

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

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.

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

Paul Hogue
Tom Thacker
Ron Bonham

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

v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball 1961–62 NCAA champions
20 Tony Yates 21 Ron Bonham 22 Paul Hogue (MOP) 25 Tom Thacker 32 George Wilson Head coach Ed Jucker Assistant coach Tay Baker

v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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