Men's Basketball | 12/5/2016 7:12:00 AM

by Jim Young

When USF returns to Kezar Pavilion to play San Francisco State tomorrow, the Dons won't have to stretch their imaginations too far to envision what the venerable facility located in Golden Gate Park looked like back in the day when it served as the primary home court for one of college basketball's greatest dynasties.
 
Built in 1924, Kezar Pavilion has outlasted its neighboring stadium, which served as the original home of the San Francisco 49ers from 1946 to 1970. While the once-cavernous, 60,000-seat stadium is now a shell of its former self, Kezar Pavilion, for better or worse, has stood the test of time.
 
It's still old and dusty, dimly lit, lacks any modern amenities and its antiquated locker rooms have seen better days. The cold, steel girders creak and moan, but what a story they can tell.
 
Kezar's most famous tenant might not have been the USF Dons, but the San Francisco Bay Bombers of the original Roller Derby League. Featuring stars such as Charlie O'Connell and Joan Weston, the Bay Bombers regularly skated in front of sold out crowds and their matches were nationally-syndicated to over 19 million viewers a week, making Kezar Pavilion one of the most widely-viewed arenas in the United States during the sport's heyday during the 1960s.
 
The list of USF players and coaches who walked down the slight ramp from the tiny locker rooms to the springy Kezar Pavilion floor contributed mightily to the Dons' rich and storied basketball history.  Ross Giudice, Jack Hanley and Gene Brown first played at Kezar Pavilion for Washington High School before finding their way to the Hilltop. Rene Herrerias, Joe McNamee, Bill Mallen, Cap Lavin, Fred LaCour, Stan Buchanan, Bill Bush, Bob Weibusch and Rudy Zannini head up St. Ignatius' proud contingent. The paths of USF's first two All-Americans, Rene Bareilles (Poly) and Ray Maloney (St. Ignatius), also went through Kezar Pavilion, as did K.C. Jones, who attended Commerce High School.
 
USF coaching greats Jimmy Needles, Pete Newell and Phil Woolpert all left their indelible marks on the Kezar Pavilion sidelines.
 
Sixteen of the Dons' 60 consecutive victories from 1954-56 came on the Kezar Pavilion hardwood, including win No. 59, a 57-52 triumph over Seattle on Dec. 8, 1956. USF last played a game in Kezar Pavilion on March 4, 1958 when the Dons posted a 69-59 win over Pacific. The next season, the Dons moved into their present on-campus facility located on Golden Gate Avenue.
 
The legendary Bill Russell made his collegiate debut at Kezar Pavilion on Dec. 1, 1953, scoring 23 points and swatting away 13 shots to lead an unranked USF team to a 57-33 upset over 10th-ranked California. A legend was born and a dynasty was in the offing.
 
After his family relocated to the Bay Area from Monroe, La., Russell enrolled at McClymonds High School in Oakland. Largely ignored by college recruiters, USF landed the 6-10 Russell largely due to the keen eye of assistant coach Hal DeJulio, who first described his fundamentals as "atrocious" but sensed his enormous potential.
 
Russell arrived on campus in the fall of 1952 and was groomed by freshmen coach Ross Giudice, whose last second free throws lifted the Dons to the NIT championship three years earlier. While Russell was viewed by many in the Bay Area basketball circles as more of a curiosity than a top-flight collegiate talent, those who watched him practice in the old St. Ignatius gym knew better.
 
"Everyone knew he was the best player on campus even as a freshman," said Bill Bush, who played on both of USF's NCAA Championship teams.
 
USF's freshmen team opened the 1952-53 at Stanford on Dec. 1 and with each passing game against local frosh squads from City College of San Francisco, Cal, San Jose State and Santa Clara, word of Russell's tremendous, raw talents quickly made its way around the Bay Area.
 
The Dons entered the 1953-54 campaign unheralded and without expectations after enduring three straight losing seasons. USF's season opener on Dec. 1 against 10th-ranked California, led by All-American Bob McKeen, was viewed by many as nothing more than a warm-up for the powerful Golden Bears.
 
Little did the overflow crowd that packed Kezar Pavilion on a chilly December night 63 years ago know at the time they were to witness a performance that would change the game of basketball forever.
 
"Every corner was filled," wrote Darrell Wilson of the San Francisco Chronicle. "The doors were closed on more than 1,000 people as they stood in block-long queues outside of the pavilion. Hundreds of others perished on the vine and gave up while even more people simply couldn't find a place to park in order to fight the line. Those lucky enough to find a seat or stand will not forget the night. They may have witnessed the debut of the Bay Area's highest-scoring basketballer of all-time."
 
Playing in his first varsity game, Russell thoroughly outplayed McKeen, rated as one of the best players on the west coast, and led the Dons to a stunning, 51-33 victory over the 10th-ranked Bears. The once awkward, rail-thin Russell who saw limited court time at McClymonds, finished with 23 points and 13 blocked shots, which still stands as a USF school-record.
 
So intimidating was Russell the Bears managed to make just 11 of their 44 shots from inside the paint.
 
"He (McKeen) was obviously bothered by the octopus arms of Russell," wrote Wilson. "At least eight of the Long Boy's (Russell) blocks were on Big Mac and once he simply plucked the shot out of the air and fired it down court on a fast break situation."
 
Cal recovered from the setback to win its next 15 games and climbed to No. 5 in the national polls in January.
 
An eerie foot note to the game, K.C. Jones, who relentlessly blanketed Cal point guard Bob Matheny, unknowingly ruptured his appendix during the game and nearly lost his life. After suffering excruciating stomach pain in the days following the Cal game, Jones was hospitalized just prior to the Dons' second game of the year at Fresno State and would miss the rest of the season.
 
USF finished the 1952-53 season with a 14-7 overall record and was second to powerful Santa Clara in the California Basketball Association standings. With Jones back in the fold the following season, the Dons won their first two games before suffering a 47-40 loss at UCLA, which prompted head coach Phil Woolpert to make one of the most significant lineup changes in the history of college basketball. He inserted junior Hal Perry, a cat-quick guard who was also a deadly outside shooter, into the starting five alongside Russell and Jones. The Dons would go onto win their next 26 games to capture their first of back-to-back NCAA Championships.
 
The lineup switch had historical ramifications that transcended far beyond the basketball court. By adding Perry to the lineup, USF became the first team to win a national championship with three African-Americans in the starting five.
 
As Bernie Schneider writes in his book, "Glory and Heartbreak: The History of Intercollegiate Men's Basketball in the Bay Area, "It could be argued that what Phil Woolpert and his USF team accomplished in 1955 and 1956 as racial pioneers was more significant than what Don Haskins and his Texas Western team did in starting five African-American players a decade later.
 
"These USF teams were the first integrated basketball teams on any four-year collegiate or professional to win a national championship with a majority of black starters."
 
USF ran the table the following season, winning all 29 of its games en route to a second straight national championship to become the first team in history to finish an entire season undefeated. ESPN ranked the 1955-56 Dons as the eighth-greatest college basketball team of all-time. "This is the finest team I've ever seen," said Woolpert. "I can honestly say that now. It has done everything asked of it. The difference – without a doubt – was Russell."
 
Russell, who transformed the center position with his shot-blocking ability and ability to run the floor, would go onto become one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. He was a part of 11 championship teams in his 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics and remains the NBA's second all-time leading rebounder.
 
He was also a passionate spokesman for social and racial injustice throughout his playing career and following his retirement in 1968. Russell was a prominent voice among athletes during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and took part in the March on Washington in 1963. He was also in attendance when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" on the National Mall. In 2011, Russell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barrack Obama.
 
Woolpert, who was born in Danville, Ky. but was raised in an integrated neighborhood in Los Angeles during the Great Depression, left USF following the 1958-59 season. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 1992, as much for becoming one of the first coaches in college basketball history to field a racially integrated squad as his two national championships won at USF.
 
Tomorrow, the Dons will again make the short drive down Stanyan Street to Kezar Pavilion to play a basketball game. Will it have the historical significance of the game played 63 years ago? Probably not. But arrive early, close your eyes and listen as the girders tell a story of a wobbly, almost forgotten facility which proudly housed a dynasty that changed the game of basketball forever.
 
Jim Young is a 1985 graduate of the University of San Francisco. He returned to his alma mater as an associate athletic director in 2012 after previously heading up communication departments at Santa Clara University, the Oakland A's and Stanford.