1949–50 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team

1949–50 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference champions
NAIA Men's Division I Tournament, Champion
Conference	Indiana Intercollegiate Conference
1949–50 record	27–8 (7–2 IIC)
Head coach	John Longfellow
Home arena	Indiana State Teacher's College Gymnasium

The 1949–50 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball season is considered one of the greatest in the school's history. The Sycamore's led by NAIB All-American Lenny Len Rzeszewski. He led them to the national title game versus an East Central Oklahoma, and ended the season as the National Champion with a record of 27–8. This season represented Indiana State's 4th NAIA Final Four, its 3rd National Title game and its 1st National Championship.

Regular season

During the 1949–50 season, Indiana State finished the regular season to finish 20–8, 7–2 in the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference; they won by an average of over 10 points per game, dropping a hard fought battle to the national ranked (# 2) Duquesne Dukes on the road.

They won 4 of 5 during their Christmas vacation road-trip before kicking off the conference schedule.

They won the NAIA Regional Championship by downing Hanover and Evansville; qualifying for the NAIA Tournament.

Once in Kansas City, they ran the table winning their first NAIA National title (after twice finishing 2nd.) Len Rzeszewski had received several honors at the end of regular season. He won the Chuck Taylor Award as the Most Valuable Player of the Year in the NAIA, he was also selected to the NAIA All-American team.

Roster

The Sycamores were led by Rzeszewski, the NAIA Player of the Year, and his 13.4 average. He was followed by Don McDonald’s 13.2 average. The starting lineup also included Jim Powers, Bob Gilbert and Clarence Walker. The remainder of the roster consisted of Dan Dimich, Bill Jagodzinski, Jim Berger, Jim Hans, and Jerry Kunkel.

SENIORS

#76 Dan Dimich – Forward (South Bend, Indiana)
#55 Bill Jagodzinski (South Bend, Indiana)
#75 Jerry Kunkel – Forward (Jasper, Indiana)
#34 Ed Longfellow – Center (Terre Haute, Indiana)
#50 Len Rzeszewski – Guard (South Bend, Indiana)
#74 Don McDonald – Center (Fontanet, Indiana)
#72 Jim Powers – Forward (South Bend, Indiana)
#32 Clarence Walker – Guard (East Chicago, Indiana)

JUNIORS

#92 Jim Berger – Guard (Jasper, Indiana)
#58 Richard Campbell – Guard
#73 Bob Gilbert – Center
#82 Buren Hooper – Forward
#54 Max Hungerford – Guard
#56 Dick Pattengale – Forward
#57 Jack Reece – Forward
#77 John Scott – Forward

SOPHOMORES

#33 Gene Lambdin – Guard

FRESHMEN

#81 Jim Hans – Guard

NAIA basketball tournament

Terre Haute Regionals
- Indiana State 85, Hanover 66
- Indiana State 73, Evansville 61

Kansas City National Quarter-finals
- Indiana State 65, Delta State (Miss.) 59
- Indiana State 87, Arkansas Tech 79

National Semi-finals
- Indiana State 61, Baldwin-Wallace 39
- Indiana State 73, Tampa 69

*National Championship

Indiana State 61, East Central 57

Awards and honors

Lenny Rzeszewski, Consensus NAIA All-American teams
Lenny Rzeszewski – 1950 Chuck Taylor Award^[1]
Dan Dimich – 1950 NAIA All-Tournament Team
Don McDonald – 1950 NAIA All-Tournament Team
John L. Longfellow, Indiana College Coach of the Year^[2]

References

Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball

Venues	North Hall (1895–1923) William H. Wiley High School Gymnasium (1923–1928) ISU Gymnasium (1928–1962) College Arena (1962–1973) Hulman Center (1973–present)

Culture & lore	"Cheer for the Blue and White" "March On! (You Fighting Sycamores)"

People	Head coaches All-Century Team

Seasons	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NAIA national championship in bold; NCAA Division I Final Four appearance in italics

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