1960-61 1st NCAA team

[WCWIII]

What's the history of Xavier making it's first NCAA appearance in the 1961 NCAAs. For as long as I've been a fan , I've never seen or heard much or anything about that postseason appearance. Some of the names on the squad are recognizable ... Thobe, Kirvin, Enright. Looked in Xavier Tales and various media guides I have - didn't find much. We weren't in a conference, was there a selection?

[xubrew]

What's the history of Xavier making it's first NCAA appearance in the 1961 NCAAs. For as long as I've been a fan , I've never seen or heard much or anything about that postseason appearance. Some of the names on the squad are recognizable ... Thobe, Kirvin, Enright. Looked in Xavier Tales and various media guides I have - didn't find much. We weren't in a conference, was there a selection?

I've been looking for a book and/or documentary on the history of college basketball. There isn't a good one out there that documents the history of it the way the NFL, baseball, and even college football has been documented. I've read "How March Became Madness" and it's good for what it is, but it isn't a chronicled history like I was hoping for. It's actually a collection of interviews and essays.

What was the tournament, or college basketball in general, even like in 1961?? And, what was it like when Xavier got there??

I'm not trying to hijack your thread because I love the question. I'm actually interested in what all of college hoops generally like back then.

[paulxu]

Although the searching is not the easiest thing, Xavier has digitized their yearbooks.
So, you can go back and see how a season was reported.
For the '61 year (first NCAA appearance) there were some interesting challenges. Lost a couple players to academics, another left, but they went to the tournament and lost in the first round to Morehead State.

http://cdm15058.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/Xavier1/id/14599

(basketball starts on page 83)

[WCWIII]

Although the searching is not the easiest thing, Xavier has digitized their yearbooks.
So, you can go back and see how a season was reported.
For the '61 year (first NCAA appearance) there were some interesting challenges. Lost a couple players to academics, another left, but they went to the tournament and lost in the first round to Morehead State.

http://cdm15058.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/Xavier1/id/14599

(basketball starts on page 83)

Great link Paul! Very good coverage of the season in that yearbook.

I agree with XUBrew that it would also be interesting to hear from someone with knowledge to put that season in context of college basketball as a whole at that time.