1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team
| 1949-50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Independent |
| 1949-50 record | 24-5 |
| Head coach | Nat Holman |
| Assistant coach | Bobby Sand |
The 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team represented the City College of New York. The head coach was Nat Holman, who was one of the game's greatest innovators and playmakers. Unlike today, where colleges recruit players from all over the country, the 1950 CCNY team was composed of "kids from the sidewalks of New York City," who had been recruited from PSAL schools such as Taft, Clinton, Boys, Erasmus, and Franklin by Holman's assistant coach Harold "Bobby" Sand.
The "Starting 5" consisted of two black and three Jewish players. The team is the only team to win both the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in the same year, by defeating Bradley University in the championship game of each tournament. The 1950 City team was also the first NCAA champion to have black players in its starting lineup. The players on the team were Ed Warner, Norm Mager, Irwin Dambrot, Alvin "Fats" Roth, Ed Roman, Floyd Layne, Herb Cohen, Ron Nadell, Leroy Watkins, Joe Galiber, and Arthur Glass. Students at CCNY, dubbed the poor man's Harvard because of its lofty academic standards, lived and died with every game, raising arena roofs with their unique school cheer: Allagaroo garoo gara, Allagaroo garoo gara, Ee-yah ee-yah, Sis boom bah, Team! Team! Team!
CCNY had posted a 17-5 record during the regular season, but had failed to attract any support in the final AP Top 20. The team was made up mostly of sophomores and was the last squad selected to play in Madison Square Garden's famed NIT, which had a 12-team field and was at that time more prestigious than the NCAA tournament. People took notice when the Beavers thrashed defending champion San Francisco 65-46 in the opening round. CCNY then faced 3rd ranked and two-time defending NCAA champion Kentucky and their 7-foot center, Bill Spivey, in the second round. Kentucky was a racially segregated school from the Southeastern Conference, and several Wildcats refused to shake hands with the black and Jewish CCNY players before the game. This incensed the CCNY players, who then proceeded to dismantle the Kentucky team in every aspect of the game. The final score was CCNY 89, Kentucky 50, which was the worst ever defeat for an Adolph Rupp coached team. This win was sweet revenge for the CCNY players, because Rupp was once quoted was as saying that he'd never coach a team with "kikes" and "blacks." After the game, the Kentucky state legislature called for the flag over the capitol to be flown at half-staff. The blowout win over Kentucky was even more impressive due to the fact that Kentucky had won the NCAA tournament in 1948, 1949, and would win the tournament again the following year in 1951. A Cinderella Team had now emerged in the tournament. City College then defeated Duquesne 62-52 in the semi-final round. In the title game, the Beavers squared off against top ranked Bradley, who had All-American Paul Unruh and the 5'8" speedster, Gene "Squeaky" Melchiorre. CCNY came out on top 69-61 to win the tournament. Ed Warner of CCNY was awarded Most Valuable Player honors.
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