1953–54 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1953–54 La Salle Explorers Basketball Independent 2 26–4 Ken Loeffler 5th NCAA tournament National champions National Championship Game W Won 92–76 vs. Bradley The 1953–54 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team represented La Salle University in the 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Ken Loeffler. La Salle won the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament. Season summary Some basketball historians have called La Salle star Tom Gola the Magic Johnson of his day because, at 6'7", he could play all five positions. But not even Magic piled up the kind of numbers Gola did in leading the Explorers to the 1954 national championship – 21.7 points and 23 rebounds per game. Guard Frank O’Hara was Gola's capable running mate along with five sophomores who played complementary roles. Sophomore Robert Ames, later a CIA official killed in the 1983 bombing of the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, averaged two points and one rebound in 14 games for the Explorers.http://articles.philly.com/2004-01-23/news/25366581_1_cia-agent-tom-gola-yasir-arafat https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061826/http://articles.philly.com/2004-01-23/news/25366581_1_cia-agent-tom-gola-yasir-arafat dead March 4, 2016 NCAA champ became CIA legend. Historic La Salle team produced unsung hero - Philly.com Articles.philly.com 2004-01-23 2014-05-07 NCAA tournament West La Salle 76, Fordham 74 La Salle 88, NC State 81 La Salle 64, Navy 48 Final Four La Salle 69, Penn State 54 La Salle 92, Bradley 76 http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1954 RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More Rankings 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball rankings Awards and honors Tom Gola, NCAA Men's MOP Awardhttp://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/history/outstandingplayer Final Four Most Outstanding Players cbs.sportsline.com 31 March 2008 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080907123518/http://sportsline.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/history/outstandingplayer 7 September 2008 Team players drafted into the NBA Round Pick Player NBA club 11 93 Frank O'HaraPhiladelphia Warriorshttp://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1954&lg=N 1954 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com 2013-01-18 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20130105193838/http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1954&lg=N 2013-01-05 References Category:La Salle Explorers men's basketball seasons La Salle Explorers Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons La Salle La Salle Explorers men's basketball La Salle Explorers men's basketball