SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – USF's rich and storied basketball tradition will come alive on Tuesday, Dec. 4 as the University pays tribute to the Dons 1949 NIT and 1955-56 NCAA Championship-winning teams prior to the USF-St. John's game in War Memorial Gymnasium.
The public is invited to attend a pre-game reception in honor of all three teams beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the UC Solarium, located across from Memorial Gymnasium. Fans will be able to mingle with former players and enjoy refreshments.
Members of the three championship teams will be introduced at halftime of the USF-St. John's game. A special tribute will be paid to “Cap” Lavin '52, who was a redshirt on the '49 NIT team and is the father of St. John's head coach Steve Lavin.
Fans will also have the opportunity to witness the unveiling of a painting capturing former Dons head coach Phil Woolpert and assistant Ross Giudice, who guided the Dons to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 1955 and '56. The original art piece, designed and painted by world-renowned artist Opie Otterstad, is part of a collection of 75 individual paintings, one for each of the national championships from 1939 through 2013.
The original piece of art will then be auctioned off online starting Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 at
www.NCAA.com/Art. Limited edition reproductions will also be available for purchase via the same website on the same day. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Foundation, which supports TTRR (Ticket to Reading Rewards), the College Basketball Experience (CBE) and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
“Coach Woolpert is one of the greatest coaches and teachers in the history of college basketball,” said Dan Gavitt, NCAA vice president of men's basketball. “The NCAA and the University of San Francisco are eternally grateful for his impact on the lives of student-athletes he coached and are thrilled to honor Coach Woolpert's place in the tradition of March Madness with this painting.”
A second painting which includes the players from the 1955 and '56 teams, along with Woolpert, will also be debuted.
Under the direction of the legendary Pete Newell, USF won the 1949 National Invitation Tournament, posting wins over Manhattan, Utah, Bowling Green and Loyola of Chicago to claim the title. Ross Giudice's free throw with 43 seconds left accounted for the thrilling one-point victory over Loyola in the championship game.
Don Lofgran set a new single-season scoring record with 442 points and guard Rene Herrerias developed into one of the best playmakers in the nation. Three members of the team – Giudice (USF), Herrerias (California) and John Bennington (Michigan State) – went on to become major college coaches.
All-Americans Bill Russell and K.C. Jones led USF to consecutive NCAA Championships in 1955 and '56. Russell broke every scoring record on the Hilltop during his three-year varsity career before embarking on a hall of fame professional career. In addition to Russell and Jones, Woolpert called upon the likes of Jerry Mullen, Stan Buchanan, Bob Wiebusch, Dick Lawless, Jack King and Tom Nelson, along with Hal Perry, Rudy Zannini, Warren Baxter, Bill Bush, Steve Balchios and Gordon Kirby to form one of the most dominant teams in NCAA history.
The following year, the Dons added future All-Americans Mike Farmer and Gene Brown, along with Carl Boldt to the mix of seasoned veterans and successfully defended its national championship, posting a 29-0 record to become just the third team in NCAA history to win back-to-back titles.
USF posted a 29-0 record en route to the title and outscored its opponents by an average of 20 points over the course of the season. The Dons would run their winning streak to 60 consecutive games the following season and make their third straight Final Four appearance.
