The Buchan Bakers that year were led by 6-foot, 8-inch center Rod Gibbs from College of Puget Sound and 5-foot, 7-inch guard Dar Gilchrist from Long Island University.
In the 1952-1953 next season, the University of Washington basketball team, led by All-American center Bob Houbregs, made it to the NCAA Final Four, and Howard began recruiting all five Husky starters.
In the 1953-54 season, the Buchan Bakers unveiled their new team of former UW players, along with Chet Noe, a 6-foot, 7-inch center from the University of Oregon.
The Bakers won the Northwest League crown, and although once again they traveled to Denver for the National AAU Tournament, once again they were defeated in the first round.
Unfortunately, the two newcomers werent always available to play Kruger had work obligations and Tucker had military obligations—and the team was not able to develop the consistency to win the National AAU Tournament.
For their championship run in 1955-56, the Buchan Bakers brought in several key players, including Phil Jordon, a 6-foot, 10-inch center, who would play in the NBA for several years, and George Swyers, the NAIAs leading scorer from West Virginia Tech.
Dean Parsons, a 6-foot, 8-inch power forward from Washington and Stan Glowaski, a 6-foot, 5-inch guard from Seattle U also joined the Bakers full-time after playing with the team in the AAU tournament the year before But the Bakers season was almost derailed by a new team to the Northwest AAU League which featured Elgin Baylor, a Seattle University recruit sitting out the season to gain eligibility.
The Allen-Bradley team featured 6-foot, 10-inch Terry Rand, an All-American from Marquette, but it was Bruno Boin who was the difference, sinking Milwaukee with deadly long-range hook shots.
With two-and-one-half minutes left, the score was tied 57-57 and Buchan's coach Frank Fidler decided to hold on for the last shot.
Phil Jordon joined the NBA, George Swyers returned home and joined the nearby Akron Goodyear team, Stan Glowaski was called up for military duty, Joe Cipriano started his basketball coaching career, and Bruno Boin returned to the UW.
The veteran Charlie Koon was joined by his championship season teammate Bruno Boin, who took a year off from playing at the University of Washington.
The league featured the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, the Phillips 66ers, the Denver D-C Truckers, the Peoria Caterpillars and the Wichita Vickers teams that the Bakers had played regularly in the past several years.
Coach Frank Fidler and veteran guard Charlie Koon, citing time away from home and work, left the Buchan Bakers after the 1958-59 season.
Howard and Johnson began looking outside the West Coast for talent, and what they gained in player ability they lost in local fan support.
However, the team caught fire in time for the National AAU Tournament, helped by the pick up of Dave Mills, a strong rebounder and scorer from Seattle University.
The Buchan Bakers played their last game March 23, 1961, losing to the Denver D-C Truckers, 107-81, in the quarterfinals of the National AAU Tournament.