🏀 1963 Final Four Overview

Location: Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky

Teams: 

• Loyola (Chicago) – Champion

• Cincinnati – Runner-up

• Duke

• Oregon State

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📋 Team Rosters (key players)

🟡 Loyola (Chicago) Ramblers (29–2, Champions)

Starting lineup (famously played entire title game): 

• Jerry Harkness (G/F)

• Vic Rouse (F)

• Les Hunter (C)

• Ron Miller (G)

• Jack Egan (G)

Key bench/rotation:

• Bob Sexton

• Jim Tillman

👉 This team is historically important for breaking racial barriers with multiple Black starters.

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🔴 Cincinnati Bearcats (26–1, Runner-up)

Key players: 

• Ron Bonham

• Tom Thacker

• George Wilson

• Paul Hogue

• Bob Wiesenhahn

• Tony Yates

👉 Defending back-to-back national champions (1961, 1962) entering this game.

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🔵 Duke Blue Devils (Semifinalist)

Key players:

• Art Heyman

• Jeff Mullins

• Jay Buckley

• Stan Crisson

• Clay Johnson

👉 Lost to Loyola in semifinal; Heyman was Final Four MOP. 

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🟠 Oregon State Beavers (Semifinalist)

Key players:

• Mel Counts

• Terry Baker (also a Heisman Trophy winner in football)

• Frank Peters

• Larry Baird

👉 Counts was the tournament’s leading scorer. 

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🏆 Hall of Famers from the 1963 Final Four

⭐ Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (Pro/Contributor level)

✔️ Jerry Harkness (Loyola)

• Inducted (as contributor)

• Key leader of Loyola’s championship team

• Later influential in basketball administration

✔️ Terry Baker (Oregon State)

• Not a basketball HOF inductee

• BUT a College Football Hall of Famer (Heisman winner)

👉 Important: There were no major Naismith Hall of Fame NBA superstar-level inductees as players from this Final Four.

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🏫 College Basketball Hall of Fame

✔️ Jerry Harkness (Loyola)

• College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee

✔️ Art Heyman (Duke)

• College Basketball Hall of Fame

• 2× All-American, major college star

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🏀 Notable NBA Careers (but not Hall of Fame)

• Jeff Mullins (Duke) – Long NBA career, All-Star

• Mel Counts (Oregon State) – NBA champion (Lakers), Olympian

• Tom Thacker (Cincinnati) – NBA champion (Celtics)

👉 Solid pros, but none reached Naismith Hall of Fame as players.

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🧠 Key Takeaways

• The 1963 Final Four was not stacked with future NBA Hall of Famers, unlike later decades.

• Its significance is more historical than star-driven:

• Loyola’s integrated lineup helped change college basketball

• Cincinnati was a mini-dynasty

• The best-known individual star:

• ⭐ Art Heyman (Duke) – dominant college player

• The most historically important figure:

• ⭐ Jerry Harkness (Loyola)