The Army Black Knights men's basketball team represents the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I college basketball. Army currently competes as a member of the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

and plays its home games at

Christl Arena Christl Arena is a 5,043-seat, multi-purpose arena in West Point, New York. It was built in 1985 as part of the Major Donald W. Holleder Center, which also houses Tate Rink. It is home to the United States Military Academy's Army Black Knights ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

History

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

, the one-time winningest men's basketball coach in NCAA history, began his head coaching career at

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

from 1965 to 1971 before moving on to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. One of Knight's players at Army was

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five natio ...

, who later was head coach at Army before moving on to

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 ...

and becoming the winningest men's basketball coach in NCAA Division I history. Army has generally not done well on the court since its inception in 1903. The Black Knights are one of only four original Division I teams in history to have never participated in the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

and one of 35 elgibile teams. Army shares this distinction with William & Mary,

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

, and St. Francis Brooklyn. However, the Black Knights have played in the

National Invitational Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

eight times, and were retroactively named national champions by Premo-Porretta for 1923 and by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

for

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, when they went undefeated (15–0), but declined an invitation to the NCAA tournament due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The 1944 squad was captained by Edward C. Christl, who earned a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross during World War II and for whom the Black Knights' home arena is named. The Black Knights played in the 2016 edition of the

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was an American men's college basketball postseason tournament founded by Collegeinsider.com. The tournament was oriented toward schools that did not get selected for the NCAA Division I men's ...

(CIT), their first appearance in a postseason tournament in 38 years, losing to

NJIT {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

in the first round. The Black Knights did receive an NCAA Tournament invite in 1968, but head coach Bob Knight refused the bid, claiming they had a better chance to win the NIT. They would go on to lose their first game of the NIT to Notre Dame.

Seasons

In 119 seasons, the Black Knights have a record of 1262–1276.

Postseason results

National Invitation tournament

The Black Knights have appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

(NIT) eight times. Their combined record is 13–10.

CollegeInsider.com tournament

The Black Knights have appeared in one

(CIT). Their record is 0–1.

CBI results

The Black Knights have appeared in one

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI s ...

(CBI). Their record is 0–1.

Head coaches

All-Americans

The following Army players were named

NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans The NCAA Men's Basketball All-American teams are teams made up of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball players voted the best in the country by a variety of organizations. History All-America teams in college basketball were ...

: *William Copthorne – 1910 (

) *William Roberts –

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

(

) *

Elmer Oliphant Elmer Quillen "Catchy" or "Ollie" Oliphant (July 9, 1892 – July 3, 1975) was an American football, basketball and track player and coach. He is one of the great scorers in college football history, credited with a total of 435 points in his coll ...

–

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

(

) *

Gene Vidal Eugene Luther "Gene" Vidal (; April 13, 1895 – February 20, 1969) was an American commercial aviation pioneer, New Deal official, inventor, and athlete. He was the father of author Gore Vidal. For eight years, from 1929 to 1937, he worked cl ...

–

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

(

) * Harry Wilson – 1927 (

) *

Dale Hall Dale Stanley Hall (June 21, 1924 – August 23, 1996) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He played football and basketball at the United States Military Academy, where he was a two-time All-American in basketball and was n ...

–

(Consensus Second Team),

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

(Consensus Second Team) * Gary Winton –

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

( AP Honorable Mention),

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

(AP Honorable Mention) * Kevin Houston –

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

( NABC Third Team)

Academic All-Americans

The following Army players were named

Academic All-America The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

: * Mike Silliman – 1964 * John Ritch – 1965 * Robert Sherwin – 1972, 1973 *Steve Rothert – 1989

Basketball Hall of Fame

The following Army players and coaches have been inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

: *

Ernest Blood Ernest Artel Blood (October 4, 1872, Manchester, New Hampshire – February 5, 1955) was a high school and college men's basketball coach. He was best known for his "Wonder Teams" at New Jersey's Passaic High School, which lost only one game in the ...

– 1960, former coach *

John Roosma John Sieba Roosma (September 3, 1900 – November 13, 1983) was an amateur basketball player during the 1920s. He played for the United States Military Academy for five years, graduating in 1926. The Passaic, New Jersey native was a prolific score ...

– 1961, former player *

Elmer Ripley Elmer H. Ripley (July 21, 1891 – April 29, 1982) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball at seven different schools and for several professional teams. Early life Ripley was born in Staten Island, New York on July 21, ...

– 1972, former coach, inducted as a contributor * Harry A. Fisher – 1973, former coach, inducted as a contributor *

– 1991, former coach *

– 2001, former coach and player, inducted as a coach

Major awards

Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Award: Outstanding Scholar-Athlete of the Year * John Ritch – 1965

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 ...

* Robert Sherwin – 1973

Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the All-New York Metropolitan NCAA Division I men's college basketball player of the year, presented by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) ...

* Kevin Houston – 1987

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the men's basketball player in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) voted as the most outstanding player. The award was first ...

*Randy Cozzens – 1985 * Kevin Houston – 1987 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year * Les Wothke – 1985 Patriot League Men's Basketball Coach of the Year *Pat Harris – 2001–02 *Zach Spiker – 2012–13 Patriot League Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year *David Ardayfio – 1990–91 *Alex Morris – 1992–93 *Kyle Wilson – 2012–13 Patriot League Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year *Marcus Nelson – 2008–09 *Josh Caldwell - 2020-21 *Josh Caldwell - 2021-22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Army Black Knights Men's Basketball