The Central Connecticut Blue Devils men's basketball team is the men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team that represent

Central Connecticut State University Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut ...

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, United States. The school's team currently competes in the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

and are coached by Patrick Sellers. The team last played 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 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

History

Central's first year of competition was the 1934-35 season under coach Harrison J. Kaiser, after whom the athletic building is named. CCSU joined the NCAA Division I ranks in the 1986-87 season, marking 2020-21 as the 35th season at the Division I level.

Classification

Home court

Conference affiliation

Year by year results

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Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament results

The Blue Devils have appeared in three NCAA Division I Tournaments. Their combined record is 0–3. {, class="wikitable" , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, , (15) , , First Round , , (2)

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

, , L 88–78 , - ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, , (14) , , First Round , , (3)

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, , L 71–54 , - ,

, , (16) , , First Round, , (1)

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, , L 78–57

NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Blue Devils have appeared in six NCAA Division II Tournaments. Their combined record is 6–8. {, class="wikitable" , - ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, , American International , , W 102–90 , , Regional Consolation , - , , , South Dakota State , , L 74–59 , , Regional First Round , - ,

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, , Assumption , , L 99–89^OT , , Regional Consolation , - , , , American International , , L 65–64 , , Regional First Round , - ,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, , Assumption , , L 105–77 , , Regional Finals , - , , , Stonehill , , W 111–99 , , Regional First Round , - ,

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, , Assumption , , L 98–77 , , New England Consolation . , - , , , Springfield , , L 91–80 , , New England First Round , - ,

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, , Long Island – Brooklyn , , L 114–76 , , Regional Finals , - , , , Buffalo State , , W 90–73 , , Regional First Round , - ,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, , Kentucky Wesleyan , , L 84–76 , , National Quarterfinals , - , , , Assumption , , W 96–87 , , Northeast Finals , - , , , Philadelphia Textile , , W 96–75 , , Eastern Second Round , - , , , Potsdam State , , W 94–82 , , Eastern First Round

NAIA National Tournament results

The Blue Devils have appeared in 10 NAIB/NAIA National Tournaments at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Their combined record is 1–10. {, class="wikitable" ,

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, , First Round
Second Round , , Montana
Xavier (Ohio) , , W 63–52
L 39–57 , , – , - ,

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, , First Round , , Indiana Central , , L 59–72, , – , - ,

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

, , First Round , , Westminster (Pa.) , , L 62–70 , , – , - ,

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, , First Round , , #12 Westminster (Pa.) , , L 76–79 , , – , - ,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, , First Round , , #6 Grambling , , L 68–92 , , – , - ,

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, , First Round , , #11 Southwest Texas State , , L 59–70 , , – , - ,

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, , First Round , , #16 William Jewell (Mo.) , , L 52–57 , , – , - ,

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, , First Round , , Athens State (Ala.) , , L 71–72, , #16 , - ,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, , First Round, , Saint Mary’s (Texas) , , L 62–64 , , #14 , - ,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, , First Round , , #9 Augsburg (Minn.) , , L 87–103 , , – , -

NCAA Division I Conference awards

Player of the Year

''Northeast Conference'' * 2011 –

Ken Horton Kenneth Horton is a television producer, and occasional writer and director, having worked on ''Dallas'', ''The X-Files'', ''Millennium'' and ''Smallville''. He was twice nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding drama series for his work on '' ...

* 2007 – Javier Mojica * 2004 – Ron Robinson * 2002 –

Corsley Edwards Corsley Edwards (born March 5, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Central Connecticut. Early life and college Edwards was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from Lake Clifton Hig ...

* 2000 – Rick Mickens

Defensive Player of the Year

''Northeast Conference'' * 2008 – Tristan Blackwood * 2007 – Tristan Blackwood * 2000 – Rick Mickens ''East Coast Conference'' * 1991 – Patrick Sellers

Rookie of the Year

''Northeast Conference'' * 2012 – Kyle Vinales * 2008 – Shemik Thompson ''East Coast Conference'' * 1991 – Bryon Smith

All-Conference First Team

''Northeast Conference'' * 2013 - Kyle Vinales * 2012 –

* 2011 –

* 2008 – Tristan Blackwood * 2007 – Tristan Blackwood, Javier Mojica, Obie Nwadike * 2006 – Justin Chiera * 2004 – Ron Robinson * 2003 – Ron Robinson * 2002 –

* 2001 –

* 2000 – Rick Mickens ''Mid-Continent Conference'' * 1996 –

Keith Closs Keith Mitchell Closs Jr. (born April 3, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the center position. College career At and , Closs played collegiately at Central Connecticut State University, leading the nation ...

All-Conference Second Team

''Northeast Conference'' * 2015 – Matt Mobley * 2009 –

* 2002 – Damian Battles, Ricardo Scott * 2001 – John Tice * 2000 –

, John Tice * 1999 – Rick Mickens, Charron Watson * 1998 – Rick Mickens ''Mid-Continent Conference'' * 1997 – Sean Scott

All-Rookie Team

''Northeast Conference'' * 2020 – Myles Baker * 2019 – Ian Krishnan * 2016 - Austin Nehls * 2014 - Matt Mobley * 2013 - Brandon Peel * 2012 – Kyle Vinales * 2008 –

, Shemik Thompson * 2004 – Obie Nwadike * 2003 – Justin Chiera * 2001 – Ron Robinson * 1999 –

* 1998 – Marijus Kovaliukas ''Mid-Continent Conference'' * 1995 –

, Bill Langheim

Coach of the Year

''Northeast Conference'' *

Howie Dickenman Howard Brandt Dickenman, Jr. (born November 9, 1946) is a retired American college basketball coach and the former men's basketball head coach for the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils. He was the second-longest tenured head coac ...

– 2007, 2006, 2002, 2000

Other awards

All-American Selections

First Team *

– 1969 Second Team * Richard Leonard – 1984 & 1983 * Steve Ayers – 1982 * Bill Reaves – 1971 & 1970 Third Team * Steve Ayers – 1981 Honorable Mention * Ken Horton – 2011 UPI Selection * Eugene Reily – 1966

All-New England selections

First Team * Rich Leonard – 1984 * Steve Ayers – 1982 * Bill Reaves – 1971 *

– 1969 Second Team *

– 2002 * Rick Mickens – 2000 * Byran Heron – 1989 * Ken Hightower – 1984 * Rich Leonard & Steve Ayers – 1983 * Billy Wendt – 1973 *

– 1968 * Paul Zajac – 1967 Third Team * Greg Roberts – 1978 * Jere Quinn & Robert Charbonneau – 1977

Blue Devils in the NBA

– 2002 NBA Draft – Round 2, Pick 29 / Sacramento Kings (10 games played) *

– 1997 Free Agent / Los Angeles Clippers (130 games played) *

– 1969 NBA Draft – Round 17, Pick 210 / Phoenix Suns (did not play)

References

External links

* {{Northeast Conference men's basketball navbox