Published in Sports Review Magazine, December Basketball Edition, pp. 20-23

Bedlam breaks out at end of final NCAA tourney game that Kentucky won to take title last year. Here Kentucky's jubilant Coach Adolph Rupp is all smiles as he receives congratulations from players, fans and cheerleaders.

by BILL SURFACE

OF all the "horses" in the thoroughbred-wealthy Blue Grass area of Kentucky, Coach Rupp didn't have a single one.

Yet, the famed University of Kentucky coach, whose name has become virtually synonymous with the game over the past quarter century, saddled a methodical entry of "hackney ponies" to compete against the collegiate horses in the Kentucky Derby of basketball - the 1958 N.C.A.A. Tournament.

A determined Rupp won an unprecedented and not-likely-to-be-matched fourth N.C.A.A. title in undeniable history-making fashion. His team had no individual stars, no All-Americans, no All-Southeastern Conference players. And as "The Baron" once quipped: "I thought for a while none of 'em would make all-county."

So, horse-minded Kentuckians, who were disappointed when fabled Silky Sullivan failed to explode his ballyhooed stretch kick in the Derby received a faster finish from the lion-hearted Kentuckians.

Even dubbed by their own coach as the "ugly ducklings who weren't supposed to swim" and as "fiddlers" - although they eventually turned out to be Carnegie Hall violinists - the Kentuckians were given no more of an N.C.A.A. title chance than a claiming horse might have had against mighty Man o" War.

Kentucky's long odds dwindled very little after the games started, either, considering that in the 80 minutes of the semi-final and final tilts, the Wildcats were behind 49 minutes, 52 seconds. The score was tied 10 minutes, 29 seconds and U.K. was in front 19 minutes, 39 seconds.

Seattle's Don Ogorek (53) fouled Kentucky's Johnny Cox on this play in the final NCAA tilt last year. Elgin Baylor, Seattle, is in the background.

Skeptics left Louisville's Freedom Hall - the N.C.A.A. Tournament site - shaking their heads after the amazing Kentucky endeavor.

"I didn't get a single vote for coach-of-the-year, so I know it wasn't overcoaching," declared Rupp.

"Frankly, I didn't think we'd come close," Rupp added. "In 1948 and '49 I knew we were going to win it. I was pretty sure we'd win, too, in '51. But not this time."

"Kentucky has found the secret of the game of basketball," explained North Carolina Coach Frank McGuire, whose team won the N.C.A.A. the previous year. "That's having five guys playing together and taking advantage of other clubs' mistakes."

"Yes, they've played the best as a unit of any of the championship teams I've coached, each making up for the particular weakness that the others had." Rupp agreed.

What's more remarkable in Kentucky's triumph is the fact the Wildcats came through without a "scoring" center. Regular pivotman Ed Beck - a licensed Methodist minister - averaged a paltry 5.6 points.

What is the secret of Kentucky's masterful play in the N.C.A.A.?

"Well, for one thing, we don't work on a lot of different and trick plays for tournaments," said Rupp. "Kids have a hard enough time remembering in regular-season games, let alone in tournaments when they're tense."

Rupp and his capable assistant Harry Lancaster, spend hours upon hours trying to perfect pet plays and system stuff with options for different defenses.

Moreover, one play in each of the last two N.C.A.A. games against Temple and Seattle paid rich dividends.

For instance, Kentucky has a "desperate play" called the back block, which is used by a lot of teams. It's nothing elaborate or fancy, just well-perfected.

During the hectic semi-final tilt with Temple, the Wildcats trailed 60-59 and had possession of ihe ball with only 20 seconds remaining.

Rupp and Lancaster called the back block, in which either a forward or the center picks for a guard. hoping for a defensive switch and overpowering a man on speed and height.

This time it was the evasive 6-3 Vernon Hatton of Kentucky vs. a slow 6-6 Dan Fleming of Temple. Hatton won!

Only 16 seconds remained when Kentucky center Beck screened Temple guard Bill Kennedy, whereupon center Fleming switched from Beck to Halton.

Here. the imperturbable Hatton drove to his right, cutting, underneath the basket for a twisting, backhand layup that produced a spine-tingling 61-60 'victory over Temple. This put Kentucky into the finals.

Photo made in 1949 shows Coach Rupp addressing alumni group. That year Wildcats won Kentucky's 6th consecutive SEC titel and their second NCAA tourney crown.	In NCAA tourney game Kentucky's John Crigler (L) and Ed Beck (34) get ball away from Temple's Tink Van Patton. Johnny Cox (24) recovered ball and scored for Kentucky.

Now, awaiting Kentucky was mighty Seattle, the outfit that murdered tournament favorite Kansas State in the semis.

Rupp knew that wild-scoring Elgin, Baylor could overpower U.K. - if he stayed in the game. Rupp figured Baylor was the "greatest" offensively, but contended he wasn't strong defensively.

So, he took advantage of Baylor. It worked.

Clutch-producing Johnny Crigler quickly put three personals on the husky, 6-7 Baylor by driving the baseline. Then, when Baylor accumulated foul No. 4 attempting to stop a Don Mills jumper, Seattle Coach John Castellani switched his Chieftains from a tight, man-to-man defense to a collapsing zone.

However. Johnny Cox and Hatton used radar-eyed accuracy on outside shots which quickly destroyed the zone. When Seattle reconverted into a man-to-man defense, Kentucky worked on Baylor with guard-around plays, which usually required the Seattle star to switch onto the driving guard.

Head man on Kentucky's famous "guard around" was Hatton, who repeatedly slashed goalward. In most instances. Baylor made only token defensive efforts and Hatton scored. Hatton was high for the night with 30 points.

Castellani said the turning point was the startegy employed against Baylor. Rupp agreed.

The Wildcats measured Seattle 84-72 - before a record throng of 18,803 - for their fourth N.C.A.A. crown. En route to the finals, Kentucky. ousted Miami of Ohio 94-70. Notre Dame 89-56, and Temple 61-60.

For the first time in years, Kentucky didn't make the Top 10 in the final polls while finishing the regular season with a 19-6 worksheet. The players practically were ignored for individual honors.

However, in the tournament. Kentucky's team balance showed in the voting for most valuable player and ths all-tournament team. Baylor won the M.V.P. award, but three Kentuckians got votes. Cox was second, Hatton third and Crigler fourth.

Former Minneapolis Laker pro great George Mikan voted Crigler most valuable player for getting Baylor into foul trouble. "After all, said Mikan, "that won the game for Kentucky."

Kentucky's comely cheerleaders show their affections for Coach Rupp after the "Baron" led his Wildcats to unexpected victory in NCAA tournament last year at Louisville.	Fast action catches Temple's Bill Kennedy in pursuit of loose ball, as Kentucky's Vernon Hatton also gives chase. Kentucky got by Temple 61-60 in this NCAA tourney game.

The tournament not only was success for the University of Kentucky. but it was an overwhelming financial victory for the N.C.A.A. The two sessions grossed $122,875 and after all expenses were paid the N.C.A.A. banked $96,875. Largest net in any previous tournament was the $56,000 at Kansas City the previous year. The two-night attendance was 27,389, with the 28-game tourney luring 176,878. This exceeded the previous high by more than 44,000.

Officials of the N.C.A.A. were so impressed that they again awarded the tournament to Louisville for 1959. It will be played in the modern Freedom Hall, located on the State Fairgrounds.

Tournament invitations in the pre-Rupp days were almost unheard of at Kentucky. In contrast, the Rupp-led Wildcats have the distinction of not only playing in more major tournaments than any other team, but also hold the record for most appearances (10), most games won (20) and most titles (4) in N.C.A.A. tourneys. He also captured a National Invitation Tournament crown.

All told, Rupp's Kentucky teams have achieved the unequaled feat of 127 victories against 32 defeats covering action in 29 national classics, plus 29 conference tourneys and the '48 Olympics. His overall record is 585 wins out of 687 starts - a winning average of better than 85 percent.

Kentucky will defend its N.C.A.A. championship with a club minus four-fifths of its starting lineup, as Hatton, Crigler, Beck and guard Adrian Smith graduated. The lone returning regular is Cox, a lean and lanky mountaineer who stands out as the South's leading All-American hope.

While there are fewer horses in Rupps' stable than last year, and the outlook is far from glossy, there is a not-so-surprising confidence among followers in Rupp's ability to reconstruct shattered clubs into national contenders.

There is every reason to he pessimistic but almost the opposite is true with hopes rallied around the slogan, "what was done once can be done again." Fervent rooters recalled that Rupp followed up the loss of the "Fabulous Five" Olympic titlists and two-time national champions with a sophomore-studded outfit in 1949-50 that posted a fine 25-5 record.

For unexpected achievement in the face of tremendous odds, The Baron of Basketball was cited as "Coach of The Year."

Most of the new blood comes up from Lancaster's freshman squad that registered a 16-1 record. One of the best bets for starting duty is 6-3 guard Billy Lickert a hometown product who is classed a "natural" for the Kentucky style offense. And there's height, too, in 6-9 Ned Jennings, 6-4 Roger Newman, 6-5 Howard Dardeen and 6-4 Bobby Slusher.

The junior college material imported to plug the holes at guard include 6-1 Sid Cohen from Kilgore's national junior college champions and 6-2 Benny Coffman from Kentucky's Lindsey Wilson. Cohen was the most valuable player in the Junior College Tournament, while Coffman was the nation's ninth best junior college scorer with a healthy 25.6 mean.

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