The Army Black Knights men's basketball team represents the United States Military Academy in National Collegiate Athletic Association (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 in West Point, New York.

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 from 1965 to 1971 before moving on to Indiana. One of Knight's players at Army was Mike Krzyzewski, who later was head coach at Army before moving on to Duke 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, 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. 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 (CIT), their first appearance in a postseason tournament in 38 years, losing to NJIT 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 Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

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 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their record is 0–1.

CBI results

The Black Knights have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (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 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

(

) *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 –

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 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

(

) * Dale Hall –

(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 Gary Joseph Winton (born ) is an American former basketball player best known for his collegiate career at the United States Military Academy ("Army") between 1974 and 1978. A 6'5" forward from Somerville, Alabama, Winton scored a then-school rec ...

–

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 NABC is an initialism that may refer to any of the following: *North American Bridge Championships, North American contract bridge tournaments * National Association of Basketball Coaches, an American trade association of men's college basketball c ...

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 Michael Barnwell Silliman (May 5, 1944 – June 16, 2000) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Silliman was a 6'6" forward from West Point, where he played for coach Bob Knight and took Army to the ...

– 1964 * John Ritch – 1965 *

Robert Sherwin Robert Hoole Sherwin, Jr. (born May 13, 1951) is an American businessman and winner of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, he was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of Zenger Folkman. Early ...

– 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 – 1972, former coach, inducted as a contributor *

Harry A. Fisher Harold A. Fisher (February 6, 1882December 29, 1967) was an American college basketball coach from New York City, New York. In 1905, while a student and player at Columbia University, Fisher began coaching the basketball team of Fordham Universi ...

– 1973, former coach, inducted as a contributor *

– 1991, former coach * Mike Krzyzewski – 2001, former coach and player, inducted as a coach

Major awards

Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fro ...

Award: Outstanding Scholar-Athlete of the Year * John Ritch – 1965 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award *

– 1973 Haggerty Award * 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 Leslie Leonard Wothke (November 30, 1938 – November 16, 2022) was an American college basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach for the Winona State University, Western Michigan University and United States Military Academy (Army) ...

– 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