It's been 50 years since Seattle U's improbable run to Final Four

They played five postseason games in 11 nights, beating opponents at the buzzer, in overtime and in shocking fashion before a championship eluded them. Only now, 50 years later, are members of Seattle University's Final Four team able to catch their breath.

They have become old men, scattered around the country, holding onto scrapbooks, souvenir watches, medallions and fading memories.

Only starting center Don Ogorek and assistant coach Vince Cazzetta have died, with Ogorek, known as "The Ox," permanently breaking up this team when he was claimed by cancer just last year.

The others admit to an assortment of physical ailments associated with advancing years, yet two of them, starting guards Jim Harney and "Sweet" Charlie Brown, still play masters basketball, unable to abandon their national championship pursuits.

After sharing in March magic, these former Chieftains (now known as Redhawks), coached by John Castellani, became military officers, coaches, teachers, administrators, counselors and one of the greatest NBA players to grace that game.

They had the best college player in the nation in starting forward Elgin Baylor and to this day believe they had the best college team in 1958.

"We felt we could play with anybody," Harney said. "We didn't get there by accident."

They led Kentucky by 11 in the first half of the NCAA Tournament title game conveniently held in Louisville and were on top all the way to the seven-minute mark of the second half before finally accepting an 84-72 defeat.

A broken rib, foul trouble, zone defense, a racially unfriendly atmosphere and a treasonous act proved too much to overcome.

"I've always said I don't know what else could have happened," said a diplomatic Baylor, who was targeted by all of the above. "They obviously were the best team, or at least they were that night."

Fifty years later, with 1958 Seattle U team reunions held and more planned, some of the disappointment has worn off, though not all, as everyone reconsiders one of this city's more amazing moments of sporting nostalgia.

These Chieftains couldn't beat Kentucky, but they destroyed a better team in Kansas State in the semifinals.

They couldn't overcome a decided Southern home-court advantage, but they eliminated two formidable Bay Area entries in San Francisco.

They took advantage of an NCAA Tournament left up for grabs when Jerry West's No. 1-ranked West Virginia was upset in the first round, Oscar Robertson's second-ranked Cincinnati was eliminated in the second round and Wilt Chamberlain's Kansas team never got in the 24-team field.

"I felt with Elgin I could win it all," said Castellani, who took an 18th-ranked and 19-5 team into the tourney.

Here's how he and his Chieftains nearly did that:

Seattle U 88, Wyoming 51

Playing in Berkeley, Calif., the Chieftains opened the tourney noticeably short-handed, forced to go the entire game without Harney, their captain, only senior and designated floor leader, and nearly all of the second half without Francis Saunders, a starting guard. Harney had a back injury. Saunders got elbowed in the face, suffered a fractured jaw and was briefly hospitalized.

Baylor, fulfilling a dream by playing in his first NCAA Tournament game, took over. Besides scoring 26 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, he put on a sensational passing display in Harney's absence. Assists weren't recorded back then, but the 6-foot-5 player set up at least nine baskets by teammates before leaving the game with eight minutes remaining. He either registered a triple-double or was just shy.

"We missed Jimmy because he was our middle motor, but with Baylor we were just sensational," Castellani recounted. "Our break was run just the way it should have been run."

Much later, the brash young Seattle U coach had some regret over pouring it on Wyoming. His coaching opposite was Ev Shelton, the Cowboys' longtime leader who had guided his team to the 1943 national championship and was one year away from retirement.

"I was so naïve I didn't even know who he was, really," Castellani said. "I didn't even know when we played him that he had won the NCAA Tournament. I showed him no respect."

Seattle U 69, San Fran. 67

In four previous tourney appearances, the Chieftains had never won more than one game. They were paired against fourth-ranked USF, a 25-1 team with a 20-game winning streak, one that included a 60-51 decision over Seattle U in late December at San Francisco's Cow Palace. They weren't expected to win.

Again, Baylor stepped up big. With 16,382 fans hanging on every play of an extremely tight game, the score was tied at 67 when Harney, well enough to return to duty, inbounded the ball from midcourt to Brown with 11 seconds remaining.

Brown dribbled deliberately, seven times with both hands, running down the clock, and then fired the ball to Baylor, who was 30 feet from the basket. Two defenders moved in, anticipating a drive. Baylor dribbled twice with his left hand and went straight up, letting the long-range jumper fly with a strong leg push. The ball went in like a rocket. The final two of his 35 points either had people jumping up and down or in absolute shock.

"My thing was to run the clock down so they couldn't take the last shot," Baylor said. "I go nuts when there's eight or 10 seconds left and a guy takes a shot. I was just watching the clock. I started counting down in my head. They set up not to let me drive.

"In the Cow Palace against USF, I thought, 'If I go to the basket and get fouled, am I going to get the call?' "

Seattle U 66, Cal 62 (OT)

Brown, a transfer from Indiana, shifted the pressure off Baylor against Cal, twice taking matters into his own hands as the Chieftains won their third game in as many nights. Down went a powerful Golden Bears team that would win the national championship the following season and lose the title game two years later.

Trailing 60-58, Brown tied the game in regulation with a short, twisting shot with 10 seconds remaining.

With the scored tied at 62 in overtime, the junior guard stood and dribbled in the same spot where Baylor had hit his game-winner the night before. With one man loosely guarding him, Brown drove left, dribbled the ball between his legs as he veered back right and pulled up for a 25-footer for the game-winner, again with 10 seconds left.

Saunders, wearing a protective mask and playing for the first time since his opening-night injury, added two clinching free throws at the end.

Leading up to the deciding shot, Brown was trapped in the corner by three Cal players but kept his cool. He grabbed an official's pant leg in order to get a timeout. He heard Baylor tabbed in the huddle to end things and then improvised.

"Castellani called his favorite play: Give it to Elgin," said Brown, who finished with 12 points, half of what Baylor had. "Everybody in the Cow Palace, including all of the Cal players, knew the ball was going to Elgin. I faked to Elgin and three players ran to Elgin right away. I said, 'What is this? Chopped liver? Nobody's guarding me.' Elgin had three guys guarding him like flies go to sugar.

"I didn't even think about it. It was instinct. What's the worst thing that could have happened? Another overtime? I shot, we won and I don't know what the hullabaloo was all about."

Seattle U 73, Kansas State 51

With all of the top seeds gone, a huge Kansas State team coached by Tex Winter, later the Washington coach, and led by All-America forward Bob Boozer, later a Sonics player, was the Final Four favorite now in Louisville.

Afraid of getting outrebounded, Seattle U had its guards sag inside and the ploy worked in ways unforeseen. The Chieftains won the board battle 56-18 and subsequently got their break going to blow open a close game in the second half. Baylor led the charge, supplying 23 points and 21 rebounds.

Unfortunately, Baylor also took a blow to the ribs from Boozer that would change everything the following night.

"I went up for a shot, a guy called switch and Boozer turned around and, wham, his elbow hit me right here," he said, pointing to his left side. "It was the worst pain I ever felt. It was really an accident. He even apologized. I knew Boozer. We played together later and became friends. He wasn't a dirty player."

Any animosity expressed came after the game and it was between the coaches.

"Tex never shook my hand," Castellani said. "He was supposed to win it and got trounced before every coach in the country."

Kentucky 84, Seattle U 72

The Chieftains (23-5) had an enormous task in front of them. On a Saturday night, they entered Freedom Hall, the nation's largest basketball arena at the time, and stared up at a crowd of 18,803, the most to witness a college game to that point, and they couldn't have been more out of place, an integrated team in a fiercely segregated state, taking on Kentucky (22-6) just 75 miles from its campus.

As Seattle U players ran onto the floor for warm-ups, the Kentucky band played "Sweet Georgia Brown," offering the Harlem Globetrotters' theme song and a subtle racial slam. The atmosphere was a little unfriendly to the visitors.

"It was a benign kind of thing with the Kentucky fans," said Patrick Gogerty, a former Seattle U student, who drove with a friend to the game. "It was racism. You could hear them talking bad stuff in the stands. They were virulent."

Storied Wildcats coach Adolph Rupp knew nothing about Baylor's rib injury, but he received an unsolicited scouting report on Seattle U from a rival coach earlier in the day. Idaho State's John Grayson, who was hired by Washington two years later, had success in dealing with Baylor and splitting the season series. He gladly offered what he knew.

The only logic to his actions was Grayson was counting on Baylor transferring from College of Idaho to his school, not Seattle U, and held an unknown grudge.

"I asked Elgin, 'Did you ever intend to go to Idaho State?' and he said no, that it never came up,' " Castellani said.

"I was really shocked when I found out it was Grayson because I thought we were close friends."

Running into screens, Baylor picked up three fouls inside the game's first 10 minutes, negating Seattle U's early 27-16 lead, and drew his fourth personal early in the second half.

Castellani put his team in a zone to protect his All-American, which took away the up-tempo style. The Chieftains' last lead was 60-59.

"Maybe we weren't supposed to beat Seattle, yet we did," former Wildcats forward Adrian Smith said.

Baylor, who didn't foul out, had difficulty breathing at times and wasn't the same player that night. He finished with 25 points and 19 rebounds and was named Final Four MVP, but it was little consolation. A much bigger prize got away.

"We had the better team," insisted Chieftains reserve forward Don Piasecki, who took Baylor's starting spot the next season.

People forget a lot of things in 50 years. This wasn't one of them.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Starters

Elgin Baylor
Forward, Jr., 32.5 ppg
Now 73, first-team All-America selection; College of Idaho transfer; now vice president of basketball operations, Los Angeles Clippers; NBA No. 1 overall draft pick in 1958, played for Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, 1959-72; former New Orleans Jazz coach; resides in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Don Ogorek
Center, Soph., 9.0 ppg
Was 68 when he died of cancer in 2007, only team member no longer living; three-year Seattle U starter; fifth-round draft pick of Cincinnati Royals in 1960; was drug and alcohol counselor; resided in Bothell.

Jim Harney
Guard, Sr., 6.8 ppg
Now 73, team captain; retired high school teacher and former Seattle Prep and North Kitsap basketball coach; plays senior league basketball, won national championship in 2005; resides in Poulsbo.

Charlie Brown
Guard, Jr., 10.8 ppg
Now 72, two-year starter; Indiana transfer; founded and operates Windy City Senior Basketball Leagues and still plays; 11th-round draft pick of Cincinnati Royals in 1959; resides in Chicago.

Jerry Frizzell
Forward, Jr., 9.4 ppg
Now 71, starter for last half of season; Grays Harbor College transfer; played minor-league basketball in Philadelphia; retired auditor for J.C. Penney; resides in Mukilteo.

Reserves

Thornton Humphries
Center, Jr., 2.4 ppg
Now 77, part-time starter; tallest Chieftains player at 6-7; retired school superintendent; resides in Apalachicola, Fla.

Jon-Lee Kootnekoff
Guard, Soph., 1.2 ppg
Now 72, two-year reserve; inspirational speaker; Simon Fraser basketball coach, 1965-75; resides in Penticton, B.C.

Jude Petrie
Forward, Soph., 1.3 ppg
Now 72, Notre Dame transfer; undefeated Seattle U singles tennis player; retired school administrator; resides in Edmonds.

Don Piasecki
Guard, Soph., 3.4 ppg
Now 69, later two-year starter; retired Boeing administrator; resides in Mill Creek.

Frank (Francis) Saunders
Guard, Jr., 5.3 ppg
Now 71, part-time starter; retired Army Lt. Col.; operated Saunders Management Group; resides in Mitchellville, Md.

Bob Siewarga
Guard, Soph., 0.0 ppg
Now 70, played in seven games; didn’t accompany team to Final Four; investigator for law firm; resides in Woodbridge, N.J.

John Stepan
Forward, Soph., 1.4 ppg
Now 74, played in 14 games; didn’t accompany team to Final Four; retired from transportation career; resides in Kirkland.

Bill Wall
Forward, Soph., 0.5 ppg
Now 75, played in 15 games; didn’t accompany team to Final Four; retired Army Lt. Col.; operated swimming pool service company; resides in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Coaches

John Castellani
Now 81, attorney; head coach at Seattle U for two seasons, 1957-58, before he was fired for recruiting scandal; Notre Dame assistant coach; Minneapolis Lakers head coach; resides in Milwaukee.

Vince Cazzetta
Was 79 when he died in 2005; Castellani’s assistant and head coach replacement, 1959-63; ABA Pittsburgh Pipers head coach; resided in Hartford, Conn.