Ivy 60 for 60: Rudy LaRusso

Rudy LaRusso was in an episode of Gilligan's Island once.
Rudy LaRusso was in an episode of Gilligan’s Island once.

Following our countdown of the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s men’s basketball history this summer, Ivy Hoops Online is delighted to continue celebrating the 60th anniversary of modern Ivy League basketball by honoring the top 60 players in Ivy hoops history throughout the season (in no particular order):

Between 1960 and 2007, Penn and Princeton dominated Ivy League basketball, winning 43 out of 47 championships. However, the first dominant team in the newly formed Ivy League was Dartmouth, led by All-American power forward Rudy LaRusso. Between 1956 and 1959, Dartmouth and LaRusso rendered the Penn-Princeton rivalry stillborn by winning three consecutive championships.

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Dartmouth all-time moment No. 1: The 1957-58 NCAA Tournament run

We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Of course, Dartmouth’s top 10 countdown ends at this post’s conclusion because nothing gold can stay.

The 1957-58 Dartmouth squad is quite simply one of the best teams in the past 60 years of Ivy hoops.

The team finished 22-5 for an 81.5 winning percentage, eighth-best in the country. Two of those wins were NCAA tourney wins.

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Dartmouth all-time moment No. 2: Securing 1959 NCAA Tournament berth

We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Dartmouth is next because Rudy LaRusso once had a cameo in an episode of Gilligan’s Island. 

A season after winning the Ivy League championship and winning two games in the NCAA Tournament, Dartmouth vied with Princeton for the 1959 Ivy crown. The teams split their meeting that season, the only loss either squad suffered.

So on March 7, 1959, the Indians (before they were the Big Green) and Tigers matched up in a one-game playoff at Yale to determine who would represent the conference in the NCAA tourney.

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