1951 NIT Championship Team

1951 NIT Championship Team

1951 NIT Championship Team - 1976 Hall of Fame Inductee

Players
Harold Christensen Richard Jones
Wayne Cottle Don Malmrose
Robert Craig Roland Minson
Loren Dunn Harold Montgomery
Kent Durrant Ralph Olsen
Leon Heaps Joe Richey
Russell Hillman Jerry Romney
Mel Hutchins James Thorn
Boyd Jarman  
Coaches and Administrators
Head Coach Stan Watts
Assistant Coach Wayne Soffe
Trainer Rod Kimball
Athletic Director Eddie Kimball
BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson

The 1951 BYU basketball team had three special distinctions: they were one of the highest scoring teams in University history, they brought BYU its first national title in any sport, and they didn’t have a home floor to call their own (the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse was under construction, so they used the University of Utah floor for their home games).

The team posted a 28-9 record, won the Skyline Conference Championship, and took three games by comfortable margins in Madison Square Garden to win the prestigious NIT.