# 1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

The 1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the California Basketball Association during the 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season. The Dons ended the season undefeated, becoming the first NCAA tournament champion to record a perfect season and the first team to go wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the AP and UP polls. San Francisco finished the season with a 29–0 record (14–0 CBA) and had won 55 consecutive games.

## Season summary

San Francisco won two straight NCAA titles behind a punishing defense led by Bill Russell, who turned shot blocking into an art form. He was also better scorer than history gives him credit for, averaging more than 20 points in both championship seasons. In 1956, Russell had support from guard K.C. Jones and a balanced lineup; besides Russell, five other players averaged between 7.1 and 9.8 points per game.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site city, state |
| Regular Season |||||||||
| Dec 2, 1955* | No. 1 | Cal State-Chico | W 70–39 | 1–0 | – | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Dec 3, 1955* | No. 1 | Southern California | W 58–42 | 2–0 | – | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Dec 6, 1955* | No. 1 | San Francisco State | W 72–47 | 3–0 | – | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Dec 16, 1955* | No. 1 | vs. Marquette DePaul Tournament | W 65–58 | 4–0 | – | – | – | University Auditorium Chicago, Illinois |
| Dec 17, 1955* | No. 1 | at DePaul DePaul Tournament | W 82–59 | 5–0 | – | – | – | University Auditorium Chicago, Illinois |
| Dec 20, 1955* | No. 1 | at Wichita State | W 75–65 | 6–0 | – | – | – | University of Wichita Field House Wichita, Kansas |
| Dec 23, 1955* | No. 1 | at Loyola (LA) | W 61–43 | 7–0 | – | – | – | Loyola Field House New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Dec 26, 1955* | No. 1 | vs. La Salle ECAC Holiday Festival | W 79–62 | 8–0 | – | – | – | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Dec 28, 1955* | No. 1 | vs. No. 14 Holy Cross ECAC Holiday Festival | W 67–51 | 9–0 | – | – | – | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Dec 30, 1955* | No. 1 | vs. UCLA ECAC Holiday Festival | W 70–53 | 10–0 | – | – | – | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Jan 6, 1956 | No. 1 | Pepperdine | W 62–51 | 11–0 (1–0) | – | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Jan 10, 1956 | No. 1 | Santa Clara | W 74–56 | 12–0 (2–0) | – | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Jan 13, 1956 | No. 1 | at Fresno State | W 69–50 | 13–0 (3–0) | – | – | – | College Gym Fresno, California |
| Jan 28, 1956* | No. 1 | at California | W 33–24 | 14–0 | – | – | – | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| Jan 31, 1956 | No. 1 | San Jose State | W 67–40 | 15–0 (4–0) | – | – | – | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| Feb 3, 1956 | No. 1 | Loyola (Los Angeles) | W 68–46 | 16–0 (5–0) | – | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Feb 7, 1956 | No. 1 | at Pacific | W 77–60 | 17–0 (6–0) | – | – | – | Pacific Pavilion Stockton, California |
| Feb 10, 1956 | No. 1 | Fresno State | W 79–46 | 18–0 (7–0) | – | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Feb 14, 1956 | No. 1 | at San Jose State | W 76–52 | 19–0 (8–0) | – | – | – | Spartan Gym San Jose, California |
| Feb 17, 1956 | No. 1 | at Saint Mary's | W 74–63 | 20–0 (9–0) | 28 – Russell | – | – | Madigan Gymnasium Moraga, California |
| Feb 24, 1956 | No. 1 | at Santa Clara | W 80–44 | 21–0 (10–0) | 29 – Russell | – | – | San Jose Civic Auditorium San Jose, California |
| Feb 28, 1956 | No. 1 | Pacific | W 87–49 | 22–0 (11–0) | 28 – Russell | – | – | Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, California |
| Mar 2, 1956 | No. 1 | at Pepperdine | W 68–40 | 23–0 (12–0) | – | – | – | LBCC Main Gym Long Beach, California |
| Mar 3, 1956 | No. 1 | at Loyola (Los Angeles) | W 65–48 | 24–0 (13–0) | – | – | – | LBCC Main Gym Long Beach, California |
| Mar 6, 1956 | No. 1 | Saint Mary's | W 82–49 | 25–0 (14–0) | – | – | – | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| NCAA Tournament |||||||||
| Mar 16, 1956* | No. 1 | vs. No. 8 UCLA Far West Regional semifinal | W 72–61 | 26–0 | 23 – Brown | 23 – Russell | – | Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon |
| Mar 17, 1956* | No. 1 | vs. No. 18 Utah Far West Regional Final | W 92–77 | 27–0 | 27 – Russell | 22 – Russell | – | Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon |
| Mar 22, 1956* | No. 1 | vs. No. 7 SMU National semifinal – Final Four | W 86–68 | 28–0 | 26 – Farmer | 23 – Russell | – | McGaw Hall Evanston, Illinois |
| Mar 23, 1956* | No. 1 | vs. No. 4 Iowa National Championship Game | W 83–71 | 29–0 | 26 – Russell | 27 – Russell | – | McGaw Hall Evanston, Illinois |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. FW=Far West. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | Not released | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Coaches | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Not released |

## Awards and honors

* Bill Russell – Consensus First Team All-America selection, Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (2x), UPI College Basketball Player of the Year, California Basketball Association Player of the Year
* K. C. Jones – Consensus Second Team All-America selection
* Phil Woolpert – UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 2 | Bill Russell | Boston Celtics |
| 2 | 1 | KC Jones | Boston Celtics |
| 7 | 50 | Carl Boldt | Detroit Pistons |