University of San Francisco Athletics

1956 West Coast Athletic Conference Champions

Head Coach: Phil Woolpert
Overall Record: 29-0    WCC Record: 14-0
All-WCC Team: K.C. Jones, Bill Russell (POY)
Top Scorer: Bill Russell (20.5)    Top Rebounder: Bill Russell (21.0)
USF Hall-of-Famers: Carl Boldt, Gene Brown, Mike Farmer, K.C. Jones, Hal Perry, Bill Russell, Phil Woolpert           

Posted a 29-0 record on its way to a second consecutive NCAA Championship…defeated UCLA (72-61), Utah (92-77, SMU (86-68) and Iowa (83-71) to become just the third school to win back-to-back national championships…Bill Russell scored 26 points and grabbed 27 rebounds in the title game against Iowa, while Hal Perry, subbing for K.C. Jones, scored 14 points in the semifinals and championship game…led by the high-scoring Carl “Sugar” Cain, the Big Ten champion Hawkeyes raced to a 15-4 lead…just as he did a year before, head coach Phil Woolpert made a key defensive switch and assigned Gene Brown to guard Cain the rest of the way…Russell then took the game over on both ends of the floor and in one sequence, rejected three straight Hawkeye shots as the Dons carved out a 38-33 lead at halftime…USF extended its lead to 17 points in the second half before eventually winning by the final score of 83-71…Russell and Perry were named to the All-Tournament team.

Balchios is now a retired middle school teacher and coach, San Bruno, CA.