1952–53 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1952–53 Indiana State Sycamores Basketball Indiana Collegiate Conference ICC 23–8 6–4 John Longfellow Paul Stemm Indiana State Teacher's College Gymnasium NAIA District 21 champions NAIA men's Division I tournament semi-finalist In the 1952–53 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball season, the Sycamores were led by coach John Longfellow, NAIB All-American Dick Atha and All-Indiana Collegiate Conference players Roger Adkins, Cliff Murray and Sam Richardson. They participated in their 8th NAIA Tourney. The Sycamores finished as the National Third Place team, with their victory over East Texas State and finished with a record of 23–8. This season represented Indiana State's 5th NAIA Final Four and its 1st National Third Place finish. Regular season During the 1952–53 season, Indiana State finished the regular season to finish 17–7, 6–4 in the Indiana Collegiate Conference; they won by an average of 14 points per game, and set a new school scoring record, (2,321 points). They broke the 100-point mark twice; scoring 106 points (vs. Kansas Wesleyan in the Midwest Tournament) and 101 vs. Manchester (IN). They finished the season at 23–8, the fourth-highest win total in school history to that point. Coach John Longfellow's fifth team raced out of the gate, opening the season with 8 consecutive wins. They began conference play with a record of 8–1, the sole loss coming in the mid-season Mid-Western Tournament to Indiana Central. They placed 2nd in the Indiana Collegiate Conference title race and won the NAIA District 21 tourney, qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament. Post-season In 1953, Longfellow's fifth basketball team finished second in the Indiana Collegiate Conference title, won the NAIA District 21 title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City; this was Longfellow's fourth trip to the National Tournament and the eighth for Indiana State. In Kansas City, the stormed into the National Quarterfinals winning their first three games by an average 26 points, scoring 100 or more in each game; they dropped the semifinal game to defending champion Southwest Missouri State but rallied for a win over East Texas State to finish 3rd Nationally. Southwest Missouri State would successfully defend their 1952 title; becoming the second time to win consecutive titles. The Sycamores were the top scoring team in the tourney, compiling a total of 458 pts, a 91.6 avg. Dick Atha received several honors at the end of regular season. He was selected to the NAIA All-American team, the Helms Foundation All-American team and was named 1st team All-Indiana Collegiate Conference. Joining him on the all-conference team was Roger Adkins. Roster The Sycamores were led by All-American Atha and Roger Adkins' with 14.9 averages. They were followed by Jim Crockom's 12.7 average. The starting lineup featured two future 1,000 career point scorers; Atha and Richardson. The roster also included a future well-known basketball coach in Indiana high circles, Basil Sfreddo - as the 6th man, Sfreddo would go on to coach the legendary George McGinnis at Indianapolis' George Washington High. Austin "Pete" Pritchett would go on to statewide fame as a girls high school coach, winning 2 IHSAA State Titles and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.http://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/pete-pritchett/?query=name.eq.Pete%20Pritchett&xsearch_id=HallofFame_Last_Name&xsearch[0]=Pete%20Pritchett&back=HallofFame No.NamePositionHt.YearHometown32Sam RichardsonG6–4So.South Bend, Indiana33Cliff MurrayF6–2Sr.Elkhart, Indiana34Russell BlackburnG6–2Fr.Oolitic, Indiana50Dick AthaG6–2Jr.Otterbein, Indiana54Basil SfreddoF6–2Jr.Bruceville, Indiana55Roger AdkinsG6–0Sr.Martinsville, Indiana56Dale SmithG5–11Jr.Flora, Illinois57Jim CoxG5–11So.Winchester, Indiana58Tom SmithC6–4Sr.Huntingburg, Indiana72Jerry FergusonF6–3Sr.Terre Haute, Indiana73Jim CrockumF6–4Jr.Ventura, California74Wayne ParkerG6–3So.Robinson, Illinois75Charles MillerF6–3Sr.Louisville, Kentucky76Pete PritchettF6–3Fr.Oolitic, Indiana77Dick RichmondG6–1Fr.Terre Haute, Indiana81Clarence DisneyF6–2S0.Terre Haute, Indiana82Forrest DunnuckG5–10So.Nappanee, Indiana92Dick SpearC6–8So.Monon, Indiana Coaches Head coach John Longfellow - NAIA Champion and Hall of Fame coach Assistant coach - Paul Stemm Schedule and results no yes no no |- !colspan=8 style=Indiana State Sycamores| Regular Season |- 12/4/1952 yes yes Hanover College Hanover, Indiana 61-53 1-0 12/6/1952 yes yes Concordia-St. Louis Clayton, Missouri 57-51 2-0 12/9/1952 yes yes DePauw Greencastle, Indiana 61-58 3-0 12/11/1952 yes Oakland City College ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 86-59 4-0 12/16/1952 yes Eastern Illinois State ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 77-69 5-0 12/18/1952 yes Valparaiso ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 69-55 6-0 12/27/1952 yes Kansas Weleyan ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana Mid-West Tournament 106-75 7-0 12/29/1978 yes yes Franklin College (IN) ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana Mid-West Tournament 76-61 8-0 12/30/1952 yes Indiana Central College ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana Mid-West Tournament Finals 72-77 8-1 1/8/1953 yes DePauw ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 81-75 9-1 1/10/1953 yes Butler Butler Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana 64-78 9-2 (0-1) 1/15/1953 Indiana State_Muncee ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 63-61 10-2 (2-1) 1/17/1953 Evansville College Evansville Armory Evansville, Indiana 74-79 10-3 (2-2) 1/22/1953 St. Joseph’s (IN) ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 83-69 11-3 (3-2) 1/24/1953 yes Northern Illinois DeKalb, Illinois 64-72 11-4 (3-2) 1/30/1953 yes 5 Indiana State_Muncee Ball Gymnasium Muncee, Indiana 61-80 11-5 (3-3) 1/31/1953 yes Valparaiso Hilltop Gymnasium Valparaiso, Indiana 75-67 12-5 (4-3) 2/5/1953 Evansville College ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 80-65 13-5 (5-3) 2/7/1953 Manchester College ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 101-76 14-5 (5-3) 2/10/1953 yes 2 St. Joseph’s (IN) Scharfman Fieldhouse Rensselaer, Indiana 53-57 14-6 (5-4) 2/12/1953 yes 2 Butler ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 56-51 15-6 (6-4) 2/17/1953 yes Eastern Illinois State Health Education Building Charleston, Illinois 71-67 16-6 (6-4) 2/21/1953 yes yes 2 Washington-St. Louis ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana 63-58 17-6 (6-4) 2/27/1953 yes Southern Illinois Davies Gym Carbondale, Illinois 58-76 17-7 (6-4) 3/3/1953 yes Indiana Central College ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana NAIA District 21 playoffs 87-64 18-7 (6-4) 3/4/1953 Evansville College ISTC Gymnasium Terre Haute, Indiana NAIA District 21 playoffs 62-59 19-7 (6-4) 3/9/1953 yes Midwestern State (TX) Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri NAIA Nationals – first round 100-76 20-7 (6-4) 3/10/1953 yes Arkansas Tech Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri NAIA Nationals – second round 100-82 21-7 (6-4) 3/11/1953 yes yes Findlay College Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri NAIA Nationals – Elite Eight 106-70 22-7 (6-4) 3/13/1953 yes yes Southwest Missouri State Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri NAIA National Semifinals 78-84 21-8 (6-4) 3/14/1953 yes yes Eastern Texas Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri NAIA National Consolation Game 74-71 23-8 (6-4) AP Poll Awards and honors Dick Atha - Consensus NAIA All-American teams Dick Atha – 1953 NAIA All-Tournament Team References Category:Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball seasons Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball Indiana State Sycamores