ATENEO de Manila University returned to the top of the National College Athletic Association seniors’ basketball competitions in 1957 and 1958 behind sturdy soccer player-turned-cager Edgardo Ocampo, Pocholo Gayoso, Roberto Littaua, lanky Rafael Carvajal and Cristino Arroyo, a recruit from Ateneo de Naga.
The Blue Eagles beat their arch nemesis, the De La Salle Green Archers, for the 1958 NCAA crown. In the finale, Ateneo emerged victorious by just a basket in overtime.
In 1959, San Beda ruled once more behind burly Alberto (Big Boy) Reynoso. The following year, host Colegio de San Juan de Letran grabbed the championship.
The Knights were succeeded by Ateneo, which beat Mapua Tech for the 1961 crown in controversial fashion. A riot erupted during the 1961 championship game when the supporters of Mapua Tech alleged that one referee had favored the Blue Eagles.
Due to hooliganism and proliferation of ineligible players (especially in the juniors division), the NCAA suspended play in 1962 in both the high school and college divisions.
The year before, competitions in the juniors level had already been shelved and they would last for four seasons through 1964. In the seniors division, Jose Rizal College topped the games in 1963 and 1964 but they were later ruled as unofficial by the NCAA.
Mapua Tech grabbed the championships in the juniors and seniors divisions in 1965. The following season, Colegio de San Juan de Letran emerged triumphant in the collegiate level.
Jose Rizal College won two straight titles in 1967 and 1968 behind Heavy Bombers stars Rhoel Deles (1967 league MVP), Carlos Villamayor and Sixto Agbay.
San Sebastian College-Recoletos was admitted into the NCAA in 1969. This marked the first time that the NCAA made a membership change since 1936.
The 1969 tournament was won by Ateneo behind team skipper Luis (Chito) Afable Jr., Ricardo (Joy) Cleofas, Marte Samson, Francis Arnaiz, Richard (Ricky) Palou, Lyle Ross Jr. and Rafael (Baby Boy) Morales.
That year’s Blue Eagles were one of the most dominant championship teams in NCAA annals. However, the Hail Mary quintet’s reign was brief as several veteran stars, such as Cleofas, Arnaiz and Samson, were declared academically ineligible.
De La Salle College romped away with a pair of titles in a four-year stretch during the early seventies behind hotshot Lim Eng Beng and legendary national team coach Valentin (Tito) Eduque.
Lim, a bull-shouldered 5-foot-11 guard, powered the Green Archers to the “NC” crown as a rookie in 1971, leaving Mapua Tech’s Fortunato (Atoy) Co without any ring in his entire collegiate tenure despite two MVP trophies. (Co is the rookie head coach of the Cardinals in the current Season 89.)
Jose Rizal College, behind frontline star Philip Cezar, romped away with the league crown in 1972. All the five starters of the Heavy Bombers were drafted by Philippine Basketball Association ballclubs when the pro league opened shop three years later.
It was the last time that Jose Rizal College (now Jose Rizal University) held the title until now. San Sebastian College-Recoletos, powered by David Supnet, Jimmy Otazu and Benjie Cleofas (younger brother of Ricardo of Ateneo), succeeded the Heavy Bombers in 1973.
For the Golden Stags, it was their first-ever seniors championship. De La Salle would reclaim the throne in 1974 in Lim Eng Beng’s senior season.