Cyclones' 1944 Final Four Appearance

ISU85

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Jun 3, 2015
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Iowa State made it to the Final Four one time, in 1944, when the tournament was greatly affected by WWII. Each member of that team attended ISU for officer training and was on active duty. The team won the Big 6 with a 9-1 conference record and had a 14-4 overall record.

Eight teams were invited to the tournament that year. ISU went to the West Regional in Kansas City. They beat Pepperdine 44-39 to make it into the Final Four, and then lost to Utah 40-31, also in Kansas City. Utah went on to Madison Square Garden and beat Dartmouth to win the championship.

An article from the Ames Trib a few years ago has more info:

http://amestrib.com/sections/sports...ketball-soldiers-led-isu-final-four-1944.html

Interesting note: the article says ISU would have forfeited the championship game. Since the players were on active duty, the school didn't expect they could get permission to go to New York City to play the championship game.
 

pulse

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Mar 24, 2006
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So we let Utah win, it was the patriotic thing to do.
 

Farnsworth

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Des Moines, IA
“When I got out on the Iowa State court at 85 (in a 2008 alumni game), it was really uplifting,â€￾ said Ray, who scored a basket in the game. “It felt like I was back out there in 1944 again.â€￾

Is there any video from the 2008 alumni game?

Or for that matter video from the 40's.
 

ruxCYtable

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Aug 29, 2007
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The NIT was the biggest tournament back then. The NCAA really wasn't a big deal at all. It was the tourney for also-rans.
 

CYCLNST8

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www.gimikk.com
[video=youtube;Lzsgc4BNZXM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzsgc4BNZXM[/video]

If you squint your eyes just right, it looks like Georges Niang raining hook shots...
 

DiehardClone

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If you squint your eyes just right, it looks like Georges Niang raining hook shots...

After watching that video ... if we had a time machine and could put Georges into those games, he would be immediately worshiped as their Basketball Overlord. They might consider him to be an alien sent here from Planet Baller. Heck, Stu would be a first team All American in that era.
 

bos

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Apr 10, 2006
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[video=youtube;Lzsgc4BNZXM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzsgc4BNZXM[/video]

If you squint your eyes just right, it looks like Georges Niang raining hook shots...


The form on that first shot.....wow.
 

ISU85

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Jun 3, 2015
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[video=youtube;Lzsgc4BNZXM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzsgc4BNZXM[/video]

If you squint your eyes just right, it looks like Georges Niang raining hook shots...

Those are some short shorts ... might want to put a NSFW tag on here ...
 

Farnsworth

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After watching that video ... if we had a time machine and could put Georges into those games, he would be immediately worshiped as their Basketball Overlord. They might consider him to be an alien sent here from Planet Baller. Heck, Stu would be a first team All American in that era.

He's already a first team all american............ in our hearts.
 

DeftOne

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Dec 30, 2014
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It's amazing how basketball has changed over the years. Even something as fundamental as dribbling looks drastically different compared to that footage. If someone from today went back in time and played, they'd no doubt be called for a carry just about every time they touched the ball.
 

JP4CY

Lord, beer me strength.
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Testifying
Pepperdine needed to be destroyed.












And **** Utah
 

amishclone

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Feb 23, 2014
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After watching that video ... if we had a time machine and could put Georges into those games, he would be immediately worshiped as their Basketball Overlord. They might consider him to be an alien sent here from Planet Baller. Heck, Stu would be a first team All American in that era.

Unrelated, but Georges wouldn't be allowed to play because he's not white....
 

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