ANNVILLE, Pa. - On their 60th anniversary, the legendary 1952-53 Lebanon Valley College men's basketball will return to Annville to be the Team of Honor during Oktoberfest Weekend next Saturday, Oct. 12.

The team will be recognized before the football game against Lycoming, and at the Athletic Hall of Fame banquet that evening along with the five-member Hall of Fame class.

One of the greatest Cinderella stories in college basketball history, the 1952-53 team made a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1953, making Lebanon Valley College the smallest school to ever make it that far in the tournament - with just 450 students at the time, LVC set a mark that likely will never be broken. To reach the Sweet 16, the Flying Dutchmen upset Fordham at The Palestra in Philadelphia, then traveled to North Carolina to face national powerhouse LSU and their future Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Pettit. Their underdog exploits captured the imagination of the region and remain part of LVC lore today.

The team was led to a 20-3 record by coach George "Rinso" Marquette '48, who was in his very first season as head coach in 1952-53; Marquette went on to become LVC's all-time winningest coach and had a distinguished career as an administrator at the College. The 1952-53 team boasts seven LVC Athletic Hall of Fame members: in addition to Marquette, Herb Fields '54, Richie Furda '53, Howie Landa '55, Leon Miller '53, Lou Sorrentino '54, and Bill Vought '53 are inductees.

The team has reunited on campus several times, most recently for the dedication of Landa's retired jersey in the LVC Gymnasium in 2007. That coincided with the release of a book, "Cinderella and the Seven Dwarfs," written by LVC professor of English emeritus Dr. Art Ford '59.