CSU To Honor 1954 Men's Basketball Championship Team

Colorado State University?s 1954 men?s basketball team ? the first in school history to earn an NCAA Tournament invitation ? will be honored during halftime ceremonies of the Rams? home game Feb. 19 against San Diego State University.

Director of Athletics Mark Driscoll said today that at least 10 of the 11 players on the squad who are still living will attend the ceremonies. One player, Gary Hibbard, and the team?s coach, Bill Strannigan, are deceased.

?It is an honor to have these individuals back on campus to commemorate their accomplishments that took place 50 years ago,? said Driscoll. ?This team set the standard for excellence in Colorado State?s rich basketball history.?

Strannigan coached the team to a 22-7 record in 1954, his fourth season at the helm. The Rams earned the school?s first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament by winning the Skyline Conference with a 12-2 record.

Strannigan?s assistant coaches included Don Scothorn and Mark Duncan, the latter of whom was the school?s head baseball coach at the time and led CSU to the program?s only College World Series appearance and is in the school?s hall of fame.

Colorado State won the team?s first five games that season including a 54-42 win against the University of Colorado in Boulder. Following a loss at Iowa, put together an eight-game win streak. Later in the season, the Rams earned national respect with another eight-game win streak that included the conference title and NCAA invitation.

Colorado State lost to Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Corvallis, Ore., then played Idaho State in a consolation game to finish 22-7.

Dennis Stuehm, who lives in Ault, Colo., led the Rams in scoring, 16.6 points per game, and rebounding, 8.6 per game.

Hal Kinard, another member of the team, was an all-state guard at Denver West before coming to Colorado State. He was inducted into the school?s hall of fame in 1993, and earned national acclaim as a teacher and coach. The city of Fort Collins newest junior high is named in his honor. Like Kinard, Bob Cates entered education and coaching following his CSU career. Cates earned widespread acclaim in the classroom and on the court at Fort Collins High where he became one of the state?s top prep coaches.

Team members will gather in Fort Collins Friday night, then tour the school?s athletic facilities Saturday morning. Following a private pregame reception Saturday, the team will be honored at halftime of the Rams? game with SDSU, which begins at 7 p.m. in Moby Arena Saturday night, Feb. 19.

Team members include: (*Denotes those who have notified CSU officials they plan to attend the ceremonies)

Head Coach Bill Strannigan (deceased), who coached four seasons at Colorado State and won 60 games as well as leading CSU to the school?s first-ever NCAA appearance in 1954;

Bill Bartran*, a forward on the team who grew up in Fort Collins, where he still resides;

Bob Betz, formerly a prep coach in Longmont;

Jack Bryant*, a guard from Cheyenne, Wyo.; Bryant and his wife Bonnie reside in Ballwin, Mo.;

Bob Cates*, a guard from Lusk, Wyo., who later earned statewide recognition as an educator and prep basketball coach at Fort Collins High; Cates and his wife, Linda, reside and Fort Collins. Cates is active as a board member of CSU?s Former Athletes Association;

Ron Caylor*, a forward from Cortez, Colo., who now lives in Daytona Beach, Fla.;

Leonard Gregory*, a forward from Hawk Springs, Wyo., who now lives in Kearney, Neb., with his wife, Lucille;

Gary Hibbard, a forward, who is deceased;

Hal Kinard*, a forward from Denver, Colo., who resides in Fort Collins with his wife, Sandy. Kinard, a junior on the 1954 team, led the Rams in scoring a year later, by averaging 13.3 points per game. Kinard is a nationally-acclaimed educator and coach who had his name affixed to the city?s newest junior high school;

Stan Pivic*, a guard from Rock Springs, Wyo., who now lives in Lafayette, Colo., with his wife, Pat;

Jim Savoini*, a guard from Prescott, Ariz., who lives in his hometown along with his wife, Mel; his son, Clint, followed his father to Colorado State, where he played baseball;

Dennis Stuehm*, the team?s center from Ogallala, Neb., who now lives in Ault, Colo., with his wife, Billie. Stuehm led the Rams in scoring as a junior in 1953, averaging 11.4 points per game and as a senior, when he scored 16.6 points per game;

Clark Vanderhoof*, a guard from Greeley, Colo., who now lives in Holiday, Utah with his wife, Alice.

NOTE: For contact information on the members of the team returning for the reunion weekend, contact Gary Ozzello, Mike Lefler, or John Kietzmann, 970-491-5067.

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