Saint Michael's College

The 1957-58 men’s basketball team is the most storied in Saint Michael’s Athletics history, becoming the first team at the College to advance to an NCAA Tournament national championship game. En route to qualifying for the Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana, the Purple Knights won NCAA Northeast Tournament and Green Mountain Conference titles. Because of illness and injuries, the Purple Knights played their way to the title game using just five players upon arriving in Evansville. The national media began referring to them as the Iron Knights in their game stories, in reference to their 40-minute, ironman-like efforts. Upon arriving home in Burlington, the Purple Knights’ airplane was met by more than 2,000 cheering fans who braved wet winter weather.
 

John E. Browne	David Mracek	Joseph S. Spychalsky
Theodore A. Burtis Jr.	Anthony J. Nicodemo	Warren L. Tessier
Drew A. Denmead	Thomas J. O’Rourke	Joseph R. Watson
Henry J. Gretkowski	Arthur C. Orlando	Richard H. Zeitler
Francis B. McCaffrey	Ralph O. St. Peter

 
Head Coach: George W. ‘Doc’ Jacobs
Assistant Coach: Edward P. Markey