1949–50 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team

1949–50 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball
1949–50 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference champions
NAIA Men's Division I Tournament, Champion
Conference	Indiana Intercollegiate Conference
Record	27–8 (7–2 IIC)
Head coach	John Longfellow;
Home arena	Indiana State Teacher's College Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1948–49 1950–51 →

The 1949–50 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball season is considered one of the greatest in the school's history. ^{[citation needed]}The Sycamore's were led by NAIB All-American Lenny Len Rzeszewski. He led them to the national title game versus East Central Oklahoma and ended the season as the National Champion with a record of 27–8. This season was 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 20–8, 7–2 in the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference. They won on average by 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 and qualified for the NAIA tournament.

Once in Kansas City they ran the table winning their first NAIA National title (after twice finishing 2nd.) Len Rzeszewski received several honors at the end of regular season including 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 - Guard (South Bend, Indiana)
#75 Jerry Kunkel – Forward (Jasper, Indiana)
#34 Ed Longfellow – Guard (Elkhart, Indiana)
#69 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 "Blondie" Campbell – Guard (Elkhart, Indiana)^[1]
#73 Bob Gilbert – Center
#82 Buren Hooper – Forward (Bruceville, Indiana)
#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 (South Bend, Indiana)

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^[2]
Dan Dimich – 1950 NAIA All-Tournament Team
Don McDonald – 1950 NAIA All-Tournament Team
John L. Longfellow, Indiana College Coach of the Year^[3]

References

^ "Dick "Blondie" Campbell".
^ "Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame » Lenny Rzeszewski". Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
^ "Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame » John L. Longfellow". Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2012.

[1] "Dick "Blondie" Campbell".

[2] "Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame » Lenny Rzeszewski". Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2010.

[3] "Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame » John L. Longfellow". Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 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 NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 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 1999–2000 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 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NAIA national championship in bold; NCAA Division I Final Four appearance in italics