Calvin Remembers 'Storied' Basketball Team

College basketball teams all over the U.S. are currently battling to be National College Athletic Association (NCAA)  champions.

Involving teams in different categories, this is called March Madness.

And as March Madness unfolds, thoughts and conversations often turn at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., to its teams.

The Calvin men’s basketball program has had two national championship teams, four NCAA III Final Four teams and 30 MIAA championship teams. But only one has gone through an entire season undefeated — the college’s 1960-61 men’s basketball team.

This team stands by itself in the long and storied history of men’s basketball at Calvin. It finished 20-0 overall and 12-0 in its league, the MIAA. 

They outscored their opponents by 20 points a game, averaging 86 points on offense and 66 points on defense.

At the same time, memories are a bit bittersweet, since the team was not able because of league rules to play in the postseason.

Those rules changed several years later and Calvin men’s teams have since competed in the postseason.

But, still,  there remains the stand-alone 1960-61 team, whose members were honored last month at an event at the college.

“It was just a really fun team to be on,” said Carl DeKuiper, an All-MIAA point guard on that 1961 Calvin team. “We got along so well, and it was great fun to play for Coach (Barney) Steen. We had great fan support too—particularly from the student body, the faculty and our administration.”

The team “found its groove right from the opening game of the season and never let up on a magical run that still has fans talking about the squad more than 60 years later,” writes Jeff Febus, a Calvin contributing writer, in a profile of the team and its undefeated season on the school’s website.