SMU's 55-56 Final Four Team

[HixsontoLeVias]

I have heard a couple of stories about that team....one was, ALL of those St. Louis guys, were from the same high school team which had won a couple of Missouri state titles?? We basically recruited the "starting five" from those great Missouri championship high school teams?? Some of the St. Louis guys list Webster Groves , a couple simply list St. Louis...what is the story? Thanks.

[50's PONY]

Larry Showalter -- Dallas (Adamson)
Joel Krog -- Ashland, KY
Jim Krebs -- Webster Groves, MO
Ronnie Morris -- Shawnee, OK
Bobby Mills -- St. Louis (Cleveland)
First Off The Bench -- Rick Herrscher -- St Louis (Cleveland)

There will be a live interview with Showalter, Mills, and Herrscher beginning, I believe, on Thursday at dallasnews.com. It will run for a few days after that.

[MFFL02]

Ahh so you are saying DMN is covering an era in which SMU had success...hmmm...that makes sense to me and it explains why we don't get good coverage now, because we aren't winning.

[Corso]

So only teams that win are news? I seem to recall plenty of stories in 1989 about the 1-15 Cowboys, and a few years later about the then-terrible Mavericks. You're right, in that winning increases coverage. But to suggest that the paper's driving force behind its college coverage is anything other than the number of local alums (read: newspaper buyers) is naive.

[HixsontoLeVias]

Only on Ponyfans would a question about our ONLY Final Four team dive off into the ditch with a discussion about DMN coverage.....fuuny stuff.

[PK]

For those who don't want to mess with signing up for DMN site:

Once in a lifetime for '56 SMU Final Four team


09:36 PM CST on Sunday, March 26, 2006
By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News


UNIVERSITY PARK – It was 50 years ago when SMU was considered one of the top men's basketball teams in the nation.

The 1956 squad, led by center Jim Krebs, won the Southwest Conference title and reached the school's only Final Four.

A month ago, SMU celebrated the accomplishments of that team by honoring the living teammates and family members at halftime of a game at Moody Coliseum. It wasn't a moment to reflect on what might have been, but rather a friendly get together by some old friends.

"We were like family," said Rick Herrscher, 69, a forward on the Final Four team. "We had so much fun playing together and learning about life and basketball. It was fun times. The highlight might have been the Final Four, but there were so many more memories."

In the 1955-56 season, SMU went 26-4, won the Southwest Conference and rolled into the Final Four with a 20-game winning streak.

But the Mustangs lost to Bill Russell's San Francisco Dons, 86-68, in the semifinals.

"I think when that season began there were a lot of high hopes," said assistant coach Bob Prewitt, who is 81 and retired. "We were fortunate to reach the Final Four because we had a lot of close games that year. But everything clicked for us."

SMU came into the season as defending SWC champs. Seven players returned to that team.

The Mustangs won several close games, including a 66-63 win at Texas. SMU beat Texas Tech, 68-67, in the Mideast Region before victories over Houston and Oklahoma City pushed the Mustangs to the Final Four.

"When we got to the Final Four we knew about Russell and how difficult he was going to be," said guard Bobby Mills, a 70-year-old retiree of the insurance business, who was then considered one of the fastest basketball players in school history. "He was a force that needed to be stopped."

Krebs, who died in 1965, was given the task of guarding Russell. Tom Miller, Krebs' backup, also guarded one of college basketball's great players.

"Krebs held his own against him," Miller, 72, said. "It was a lot of fun playing in a game like that because we felt our guy was just as good."

There is video of that Final Four game, but no audio. Watching the game, it's clear how hard the Mustangs competed against the Dons. Russell scored 17 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in the victory. Krebs had a game-high 24 points.

The Dons beat Iowa, 83-71, for its second consecutive national title and became the third school in NCAA Tournament history, at that time, to win consecutive titles.

"It was a great time for a lot of us," Mills said. "I remember walking in the cafeteria before one of the games and seeing Russell. We all got excited, but we weren't scared one bit. We knew we had a good team."

E-mail cwatkins@dallasnews.com

1955-56 SMU ROSTER

Player Pos. Ht. Cl. High school

Jim Krebs C 6-8 Jr. Webster Groves, Mo.
Joel Krog F 6-3 Sr. Ashland, Ky.
Bobby Mills G 6-0 Jr. St. Louis
Ron Morris G 6-1 Sr. Shawnee, Okla.
Larry Showalter F 6-3 Jr. Adamson
Tom Miller C 6-6 Sr. Sunset
Carl Scharffenberger F 6-4 Sr. St. Louis
Rick Herrscher F 6-3 So. St. Louis
Bob McGregor C 6-5 Jr. Adamson
Herschel O'Kelley F 6-1 So. Webster Groves, Mo.
Oscar Furlong F 6-2 Jr. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Don Carter F 6-4 Jr. Webster Groves, Mo.
Bill Eldridge G 5-10 So. San Antonio
George Lee G 5-11 So Dallas



DARON DEAN / DMN
Former SMU players Ron Morris, Bobby Mills, Larry Showalter and Rick Herrscher chat about their run to the national semifinals at a reunion last month.

[MFFL02]

Every time I am in Moody I see that banner!

[Pony_Fan]

Sounds like a fun time at the Hilltop...beating other SWC mates.

Maybe in the next 5-10 yrs we can possibly win our conference