The 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Kentucky Wildcats earned their seventh national championship by defeating the Utah Utes 78–69 on March 30, 1998. They were coached by Tubby Smith and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Kentucky's Jeff Shepherd. In the 32-team 1998 National Invitation Tournament, the Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Following the season, the 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First team included Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, and Miles Simon. The consensus second team was composed of Vince Carter, Mateen Cleaves, Pat Garrity, Richard Hamilton, and Ansu Sesay.

Season headlines

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univers ...

led the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

to its seventh National Championship.

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll.

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 1997–98 season.

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

28 conference seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament, with only the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

and the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Conference tournament winners generally received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Statistical leaders

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four –
Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...
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San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

* Third Place - Georgia 95, Fresno State 79

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS
p.6

Major player of the year awards

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

Antawn Jamison Antawn Cortez Jamison (; born June 12, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He serves as director of pro personnel for the Washington Wizards. Jamison playe ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of the ...

: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina *

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

Player of the Year: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina *

NABC Player of the Year The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top player in men's college basketball. The award has been given since the 1974–75 season to National Collegiate Athl ...

: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina *

Oscar Robertson Trophy The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 195 ...

(

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

): Antawn Jamison, North Carolina *

Adolph Rupp Trophy The Adolph F. Rupp Trophy was an award given annually to the top player in men's Division I NCAA basketball until 2015. The recipient of the award was selected by an independent panel consisting of national sportswriters, coaches, and sports admi ...

: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina * ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina

Major freshman of the year awards

Freshman of the Year:

Larry Hughes Larry Darnell Hughes Sr. (born January 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. Hughes played for eight different teams during his 14-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hughes attended Saint Louis U ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

* ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' Freshman of the Year:

Major coach of the year awards

Coach of the Year:

Tom Izzo Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has led the Spart ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Henry Iba Award The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the aw ...

(

): Tom Izzo, Michigan State *

NABC Coach of the Year The NABC Coach of the Year Award has been presented by the National Association of Basketball Coaches since . A longtime sponsor of the award was Kodak; it is currently sponsored by the UPS Store The UPS Store (formerly Mail Boxes Etc.) is a s ...

Bill Guthridge William Wallace Guthridge (July 27, 1937 – May 12, 2015) was an American college basketball coach. Guthridge initially gained recognition after serving for thirty years as Dean Smith's assistant at the University of North Carolina and summing ...

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divis ...

: Bill Guthridge, North Carolina * ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Bill Guthridge, North Carolina

Other major awards

NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize the top defensive player in United States college basketball. The award has been given since 1987 and was previously kn ...

Steve Wojciechowski Steven Michael Wojciechowski (born August 11, 1976), also known as Wojo, is an American basketball coach and former player who was the head coach at Marquette University for seven seasons. He previously played and coached under head coach Mike K ...

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who excelled on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-la ...

(Best player under 6'0):

Earl Boykins Earl Antoine Boykins (born June 2, 1976) is a former American professional basketball player. Standing at in height, he is the second-shortest player in NBA history behind Muggsy Bogues, who is tall. He was the head coach for the Douglas Cou ...

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in

Philadelphia Big 5 The Big 5 is an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’s collegiate championship. The Big 5 c ...

): Rashid Bey, St. Joseph's * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

metro area): Felipe López, St. John's *

Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award The Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award was presented to a men's college basketball player who was a senior and who had demonstrated strong personal character both on and off the court, similar to the fictional Chip Hilton character depicted by Ha ...

(Strong personal character):

Hassan Booker Hassan Mustafa Booker (born September 1, 1975) is an American former college basketball player and coach best known for his playing career at the United States Naval Academy (Navy) from 1994 to 1998. He was a key performer during a four-year stret ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season