Celebrations planned for wee hours

By Bill Mayer     Mar 15, 2007

This was the souvenir program cover for the 1957 national basketball semifinals in Kansas City, Mo.

It was Game Day for the Kansas basketball team on Friday, March 23, 1957; that night KU would play unbeaten North Carolina for the NCAA championship at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. Optimism prevailed here and in Kansas City, and confident officials here declared that win or lose, there would be a rally at about 1:45 to 2 a.m. Sunday at the Memorial Union.

Things didn’t turn out as hoped for the Jayhawks, but the spirits and the preparation by KU faithful were stratospheric up to late that night.

North Carolina, with its 31-0 record, was to battle Kansas, 24-2, at 9 p.m. Carolina was rated No. 1 in the nation in the press polls, KU No. 2, but the Jayhawks were three-point favorites because of the presence of 7-foot Wilt Chamberlain, the proximity of the game to Lawrence and the fact KU was so familiar with the Municipal Auditorium surroundings. Many considered The Muni a surrogate home court for Kansas.

The Kansas City hall held just over 10,500, and tickets were almost impossible to get. But fans were blessed with what then was a bonanza – live television coverage, primitive as the camera coverage might be, was set for Channels 9 and 13, and radio coverage was extensive. Many had arranged TV parties, particularly at the Kansas Union, and seldom has Lawrence been as “shut down” as it was that night.

North Carolina on Friday night had won the Eastern NCAA title by edging Michigan State, 74-70 in three overtimes. Some called it the most exciting game ever staged at such a high level of college competition. It just set the stage for a better one.

Fast-breaking Kansas had routed defensive-minded San Francisco, 80-56, on Friday and with Chamberlain as the centerpiece seemed primed to break the UNC victory string. Carolina was coached by Frank McGuire, who had been the head coach of St. John’s of New York when KU walloped the Redmen in Seattle for the 1952 NCAA crown. Traditionalists gave KU with Dick Harp in his first season as head coach an edge over McGuire’s forces that featured five starters from the New York area.

All the while, there was emphasis on the fact there would be a KU rally early Sunday despite the outcome.

Planners figured the game would end about 11 p.m. A dinner was planned for players and families about 11:30 in Kansas City. Then there would be the trip home, complete with police and highway patrol escort. Arrival at the Kansas Turnpike east interchange was expected by 1:45, and the team was to go directly to the Union.

Closing hours for female students (they existed in those days) were relaxed to conform with the rally. Leniency was the watchword.

Formal television parties were set from 9 to 11 p.m. Friday at the Union, where some 10 TV sets had been commandeered by enterprising Union director Frank Burge. A celebration dance was to follow, and trumpet-vocal icon Louis Armstrong was due to prolong a concert appearance for help in the festivities.

There had been minor parades through the city and across the campus after the Friday win over San Francisco, and no damage had resulted. Police were not as optimistic about Saturday night if Kansas should beat Carolina, and called for care, courtesy and “sanity” in any outbursts.

Such pleas were unnecessary because KU was edged, 54-53 in triple overtime, by Carolina, which became the first undefeated champion in NCAA history. The 32-0 Tar Heel record was the longest single-season streak in college history. Kansas finished with a 24-3 record.

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