No. 1 Hoosiers win as ‘53 team watches

As the IU men’s basketball team moved one step closer to achieving the sixth banner in Assembly Hall Nov. 15 in a 99-45 win over Sam Houston State, Hoosier fans got a chance to reflect on the second group of Hoosiers who won the NCAA Championship.

In spirit with the Progressive Legends Classic, IU honored its 1953 national championship team on the 60th anniversary of the team’s 69-68 victory over Kansas.

IU Coach Tom Crean said having the 1953 team in the building before, during and after the game was special for both him and his players, and he hopes they can pick up on the tradition that those players developed during their time at IU.

“Our guys are not as familiar with that team, but they’re familiar with the traditions of Indiana, and they walk in everyday and see that banner,” Crean said. “They see it in our locker room and in our arena.

“It was beneficial for everybody because it’s such a tremendous tradition here. Any time you can have your players exposed to it, and they get a chance to rub elbows, there’s no question it could work the right way.”

At halftime, Bobby “Slick” Leonard and the rest of the squad got another chance at a standing ovation from the IU crowd as they hoisted the 1953 trophy once again and reminisced about the night they captured the title.

“I don’t think there were ever any more than three points separating us during that ball game,” Leonard said. “It was a good one, it was a good one.”

Former IU Coach Branch McCracken’s “Hurryin’ Hoosiers,” as they’ve been known, went 23-3 that season, including a 17-1 Big Ten record, the first season the conference decided to play a round-robin style schedule.

But the 1953 Hoosiers started their season far from strong, unlike this season’s squad, losing two of their first three games to Notre Dame and Kansas State by a combined three points. From there, the Hoosiers would lose just one more game, a two-point defeat by Minnesota, while avenging the loss to the Fighting Irish in the NCAA Regional Final before taking down LSU and Kansas.

It was a memorable season, Leonard said, but before he knew it, his time at IU playing under McCracken was over.

“Great times, lots of fun,” he said. “If I could tell these kids today anything, they’ll look back someday and say, ‘boy, that was the greatest four years of my life,’ and really, when you come in and make your grades, have fun and enjoy yourself, ‘cause it’s over in a heartbeat.”

The following season, Leonard and the Hoosiers entered the season ranked No. 1, just as Crean’s squad this year, but for the 1953-54 team, their run at back-to-back championships ended bitterly, Leonard said.

“We were like IU now, rated number one in the country, and we should have won back-to-back championships,” he said. “Notre Dame beat us on a very controversial call.”

The Hoosiers lost that season in the opening round of the tournament to No. 6 Notre Dame, 65-64, on a pair of last-second free throws after Leonard had made what he thought was the game-winning basket.

“It broke everybody’s heart, broke everybody’s heart,” he said. “We should have won back-to-back.”

The former All-American said, though, he thinks Crean has put the Hoosiers back on the map, right where they need to be to make another run at a national championship, either this year or in the future, and become a yearly contender like his teams of Hoosier past.

“Crean does an outstanding job, and it’s going to do nothing but get better,” Leonard said. “He’s got all the things it takes to put together a steady contender for a national championship. Maybe not this year, but it’s coming.

“We’ll know in March, that’s when payoff time comes, in March.”