Basketball's Big Ten

The U.S. basketball fan, who found last year that he was being bilked by gangsters and crooked college boys, is a wide-eyed diehard. The fans may suspect any one of their current heroes of being on a gambler's payroll, but they are pouring back into the big-city arenas and college gyms in unprecedented numbers. Attendance figures, according to a United Press survey, are up by more than 3%.

Last week U.S. basketball players, with an eye on next month's big tournaments, were fighting tooth & nail toward an even bigger goal: the U.S. Olympic final trials, to be held at Manhattan's Madison Square Garden, scene and source of a majority of the scandalous fixes. The top ten teams in the Associated Press poll:

Kentucky, No. 1, which last week crushed Georgia Tech, 93-42, for its 106th consecutive home-court victory. A perennial threat, Kentucky is sparked by the scoring of Pivotman (6 ft. 4 in.) Cliff Hagan (21 points a game), the all-court play of 6 ft. 3 in. Guard Frank Ramsey, and the playmaking of little (5 ft. 10 in.) Captain Bobby Watson. Average home attendance: 10,500.

Kansas State, No. 2, with an unbeaten (6-0) Big Seven Conference record, 14-3 overall. The graduation of four starting regulars put the Kansas State burden on unproven unknowns, currently headed by Center Dick Knotsman, who plays with contact lenses and has averaged 19.8 points a game in conference play. Home attendance: 11,300, up 18%.

Illinois, No. 3, last season's Big Ten champions, currently led by 6 ft. 9 in. Center Johnny Kerr (178 points) and Forward Irv Bemoras (177 points). The team is so well balanced that no Illinois player ranks among the Big Ten's top eight, yet five are in the top 30. Every Illinois home game is a fieldhouse (capacity: 6,500) sellout, and Illinois students are limited to three games a year.

St. Bonaventure./- No. 4, which last week won its 16th straight, beating Cincinnati, 67-55. This week St. Bonaventure met Duquesne, No. 5 (14-0), in a game which involved the only two major unbeaten teams in the nation. The game was played in Pittsburgh's Duquesne Gardens (a privately owned arena not connected with the school) and was a 5,600 sellout. Duquesne had to turn back 25,000 ticket requests; St. Bonaventure claimed it could have sold 5,000 tickets around Olean, N.Y. (pop. 22,842).

Kansas, No. 6, which rides on the hulking shoulders of 6 ft. 9 in. Center Clyde Lovellette, the nation's scoring leader with a 26.2 average for 17 games. Kansas attendance: a standard near-capacity 3,000 for every game.

St. Louis, No. 7, undefeated (6-0) in the Missouri Valley Conference, and owner of a 16-4 record overall. Using its controlled fast break, St. Louis upset Kentucky, the nation's top offensive team, 61-60, in the Sugar Bowl tournament, then beat Oklahoma A. & M., the nation's top defensive team 48-40. Attendance is up 2% over St. Louis' alltime high.

Washington, No. 8, which earlier in the season bowled over three Big Ten teams in a row, currently boasts a 17-3 record. Washington, defending Pacific Coast Conference champion, should win easily again this year behind the hook-shot artistry of Bob Houbregs, 6 ft. 7 in. center who leads the P.C.C. in scoring with 17.3 points a game. Attendance: 10,000, up 33%.

Iowa, No. 9, which last week upset third-ranked Illinois, 73-68, to put both teams in a tie (5-1 apiece) in Big Ten competition. Iowa Center Chuck Darling (6 ft. 8 in.) paced the winners with 26 points. Iowa's fieldhouse (capacity: 15,500) is a sellout for every conference game.

St. John's, No. 10, which a fortnight ago left its Madison Square Garden home court (attendance same as last season: 11,000) for a midwest swing, where it upended Indiana, 65-55, and Purdue, 64-53. Top man for St. John's: Center Bob ("Zeke") Zawoluk, with 25 points a game.

Despite last season's scandals, basketball's future seemed assured. Kansas State Coach Jack Gardner, after a happy look at his team's whopping attendance figures, summed up the general optimism:"There's a lot of air in that ball. It'll bounce back."

/= Last week, finding basketball more lucrative than football, St. Bonaventure became the 36th U.S. college to drop football since the close of the 1950 season.

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