The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Neal Rozendaal, author of 3 books on the Iowa Hawkeyes, about Carl Cain winning a gold medal in 1956.
As a junior at Freeport High School Carl won an Illinois state basketball title in 1951: what did it mean to him to win a title, and what made him choose Iowa for college? Even though Carl was a part of an Illinois state championship basketball team in 1951 he was relatively lightly-recruited as an African-American coming out of high school. 2 men would persuade him to attend Iowa for college: Deacon Davis and Bucky O’Connor. McKinley “Deacon” Davis was his next-door neighbor and 1 of his closest friends. Davis was one year older than Cain and an outstanding basketball player in his own right. Davis was recruited to Iowa by Coach Bucky O’Connor, and when he went on his recruiting trip to Iowa City Davis asked Cain to come along with him. Coach O’Connor made his recruiting pitch to Davis, and afterwards he turned to Cain and said, “Carl, when you finish up at Freeport next year, I hope you will consider coming up here to the University of Iowa.” Davis eventually signed with the Hawkeyes and Carl joined him 1 year later.
He was part of the “Fabulous Five” who led Iowa to the 1955 Final 4 and the 1956 NCAA title game: where does that group rank among the greatest classes in Hawkeye history? In my opinion the Fabulous Five were the greatest recruiting class in Hawkeye basketball history. 5 players (Carl/Sharm Scheuerman/Bill Logan/Bill Seaberg/Bill Schoof) came in as members of the same recruiting class. As juniors in 1955, 4 of those 5 (all except Schoof) started alongside senior Deacon Davis to lead Iowa to the 1955 Final 4 (the 1st in school history). The following year Davis graduated and Schoof took his place in the starting lineup. The Fabulous Five then made it back to the Final 4 in 1956 and advanced all the way to the championship game (the only title game appearance in school history). The Hawkeyes have made 3 Final 4 appearances in school history (1955/1956/1980) and the Fabulous Five are responsible for 2 of them. Although Michigan’s “Fab Five” earned more publicity using the moniker in later years, Iowa’s Fabulous Five is the most heralded class in Hawkeye hoops history.
In the 1956 NCAA title game he had 17 PTS/12 REB in a loss to San Francisco: how close did he come to beating his future Olympic teammate Bill Russell (who had 26 PTS/27 REB)? The 1956 Hawkeyes were a terrific team that could have won the NCAA championship in some other years. However, the senior seasons of the Fabulous Five happened to coincide with the senior year of the legendary Bill Russell, the greatest winner that the sport of basketball has ever seen. Before he captured 11 championships as an NBA player, Russell led San Francisco to consecutive NCAA titles in 1955/1956. The 1956 NCAA championship game was the last college game of Carl’s career. It was a competitive game, with Iowa actually jumping ahead by 11 PTS early, but San Francisco (which came into the contest riding a 54-game winning streak) took back the lead and kept Iowa at arm’s length for the rest of the game. The Hawks were able to cut the margin to 7 PTS late in the game but would get no closer. Russell had a terrific performance in his final college game. His 27 REB set a record for the most in NCAA championship game history…and it is a record that still stands almost 65 years later!
He averaged 14.2 PPG/9.5 RPG during his college career: how was he able to balance his scoring with his rebounding? The Fabulous Five were a tremendous group that spread the scoring around, depending on who their opponent was and who had the hot shooting hand that day. All 5 were very unselfish with the ball, which probably suppressed Cain’s individual scoring statistics somewhat. He played power forward alongside center Bill Logan. Although the Fabulous Five were a great group collectively, Logan/Cain in the middle were the 2 players who dominated statistically. Logan led the team in rebounding and finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer, while Cain finished as Iowa’s #3 career scorer behind Logan/Charles Darling.
He made the roster for the 1956 US Olympic team but was nearly dropped after rupturing a disc in his back: how bad was the injury, and how was he able to fight through the pain? To be blunt, the injury was a career-ender. Cain had gone through basic training in the Army just before heading to Australia for the Olympics, and it was in the Army where he first sensed pain in his back. He was scheduled to start team USA’s Olympic opener vs. Japan but during pregame warmups he felt his back seize up when he bent over to tie his shoes. He wound up in the hospital for most of the Olympics but got out just before the semifinal game against Uruguay, scoring his only field goal in a 101-38 blowout. He made an appearance in the gold medal game against the Soviet Union, scoring 1 PT on a FT in the USA’s 89-55 victory. After a stellar college career the 1956 Olympics served as his last game as a competitive basketball player. They were unable to treat back injuries in those days with the medical precision that they have now, and due to his injury he had to retire from the sport altogether after the Olympics.
What did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? It was a highlight of his career but a bittersweet 1 considering the injury. He fondly remembered his moment of standing on the podium and accepting the gold medal…but he knew that it also marked the end of his basketball career.
He was drafted by Rochester in the 6th round of the 1956 NBA draft but never played due to his injury: how frustrated was he to miss out on having a pro basketball career? He intended to come back from the Olympics and play in the NBA with the Royals, but after returning to the US he spent a grueling 6 months in the hospital getting treatment for his back. When he was finally released from the hospital he was “damaged goods” as far as the NBA was concerned and his basketball career was over…yet he never personally expressed any real frustration over it. He had a resilient personality and spent more time in his life looking forward than looking back. He was discharged from the Army after his back injury and stepped right into his post-basketball career.
He worked in many different fields including probation/insurance/energy: how did he like all of these different gigs? He moved to California and passed a Civil Service test that allowed him to become a probation officer. After about a decade of doing that he moved to Chicago and got into the insurance business, which transferred him back to Des Moines. Finally, he spent nearly 30 years in Iowa as a district manager for an energy company before retiring to Ohio to be near his family.
His #21 jersey was retired by his alma mater: where does that rank among the highlights of his career? He appreciated having his jersey retired but he was proudest of his team’s success. The Fabulous Five is revered in Hawkeye basketball history, so much so that Iowa took a step which is perhaps unprecedented among major college basketball schools. The university not only retired Cain’s #21, but they retired the jersey numbers of each of the Fabulous Five. The 1956 Hawkeyes might be the only team in major college basketball history to have all 5 starters with their jersey numbers retired by their school, and he was very proud of that.
When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Carl is not a household name today, even among basketball historians, and that is truly unfortunate. If not for his back injury in the 1956 Olympics it is quite possible that he could have had a solid 10-year career in the NBA and been more recognized by basketball fans than he is today. As it stands, because he never played in the NBA, pro basketball fans have no idea who he was and his legacy is largely limited to his college career at Iowa. However, Carl was 1 of the great basketball players of his era, as his stellar college career illustrated. He was a star Black athlete in an era in the mid-1950s when Black basketball players were still fairly uncommon at the major college level. He was a 2-time Final Four participant, had his jersey number retired at his school, and won a gold medal in the Olympics. All in all, that is a pretty incredible career.