1947 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1947 National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 10th annual men's basketball tournament of what is now the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] It would be the first time since 1945 the NAIA Semifinalist would feature four new teams. Becoming the 3rd tournament to do so, and a feat that would not be repeated until 1965.

1947 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams	32
Champions	Marshall (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Fab Four)
Runner-Up	Mankato State (1st title game, 1st Fab Four)
Semifinalists	Arizona State-Flagstaff Emporia State
Chuck Taylor MVP	Irvin Leifer (Eastern Washington)

The championship game featured Marshall University (W. Va.) defeating Mankato State (Minn.) by a score of 73 to 59. The third place game featured Arizona State-Flagstaff, now Northern Arizona University, defeating Emporia State University by a score of 47 to 38.

1947 kicks off the "golden age" of NAIA National Tournaments. Harold Haskins became the first of 16 all-time leading scorers. Coach John Wooden withdrew Indiana State from the tournament because the NAIB would not allow black student-athlete Clarence Walker to play.[2] The NAIB changed in time for Walker to play for Indiana in the 1948 tournament.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1947 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

• Leading scorer est. 1963
• Leading rebounder est. 1963
• Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
• Coach of the Year est. 1954
• Player of the Year est. 1994
• Top single-game scoring performances: 2nd by Nate DeLong, Wisconsin-River Falls vs. Marshall (W.Va.). Delong scored 22 field goals had 12 free throws totaling 56 points.
• All-time scoring leader; first appearance: Harold Haskins, 12th, Hamline (Minn.) (1947,48,49,50), 14 games, 104 field goals, 72 free throws, 280 total points, 20.0 average per game.[3]

1947 NAIA bracket

	First Round March 11					Second Round March 12					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	-	Beloit (Wisc.)	75
	-	Arkansas State	60
						-	Beloit	63
						-	Texas Wesleyan	53
	-	Texas Wesleyan	84
	-	Linfield (Ore.)	50
											-	Beloit	52
	TOP TIER
											-	Emporia State	55
	-	Canterbury (Ind.)	68
	-	Western Carolina (N.C.)	55
						-	Canterbury	48
						-	Emporia State	60
	-	Emporia State (Kan.)	78
	-	Lawrence Tech (Mich.)	54
																-	Emporia State	55
																-	Marshall	56*
	-	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	44
	-	Southern Illinois	39
						-	Dakota Wesleyan	48
						-	Eastern Washington State	62
	-	Eastern Washington State	51
	-	Culver–Stockton (Mo.)	48
											-	Eastern Washington State	48
	TOP TIER
											-	Marshall	56
	-	Hamline (Minn.)	71
	-	New Mexico	49
						-	Hamline	54
						-	Marshall	55
	-	Marshall (W.Va.)	113
	-	River Falls State (Wisc.)	80
																					-	Marshall	73
																					-	Mankato State	59
	-	Whittier (Calif.)	70
	-	Northwestern State (La.)	56
						-	Whittier	49
						-	Northeast Missouri State	51
	-	Northeast Missouri State	76
	-	Delta State (Miss.)	58
											-	Arizona State-Flagstaff	59
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Northeast Missouri State	55
	-	Arizona State-Flagstaff	49
	-	Youngstown (Ohio)	45*
						-	Arizona State-Flagstaff	44
						-	Houston	42***
	-	Houston (Tex.)	60
	-	Montana State	58
																-	Arizona State-Flagstaff	46
																-	Mankato State	52
	-	Hastings (Neb.)	53
	-	Loyola (Md.)	44
						-	Hastings	42
						-	Southeastern Oklahoma State	48
	-	Southeastern Oklahoma State	53
	-	Eastern Illinois State	42
											-	Southeastern Oklahoma State	44
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Mankato State	50
	-	Mankato State (Minn.)	71
	-	Loras (Iowa)	63
						-	Mankato State	65
						-	DePauw	54
	-	DePauw (Ind.)	82
	-	Oglethorpe (Ga.)	30

•  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

	NAIA Third Place Game
	-	Arizona State-Flagstaff	47
	-	Emporia State	38

References

1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
2. Keefer, Zak (March 16, 2017). "Indiana basketball player broke racial barrier, changed game forever". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
3. NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine