The North Florida Ospreys represent the

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...

(UNF) in men's

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. The Ospreys compete in the ASUN Conference (A-Sun) in Division I of the

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). They play home games at

UNF Arena UNF Arena is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. It is home to the North Florida Ospreys men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball teams. It is also used for other eve ...

on the school's campus in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. The program was founded in 1992 in the NAIA. They entered

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

the following season. The Ospreys transitioned into

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

from 2005 to 2009. Their current head coach is

Matthew Driscoll Matthew John Driscoll (born February 7, 1958) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation from 2015 until 2017. He served as the 52nd Mayor of Syracuse, New York ...

History

The North Florida Ospreys men's basketball team played its first games in the 1992–93 season, spending their first year as a

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) Independent. UNF initially had no basketball court, so the Ospreys' first three home games were played at

Florida Community College at Jacksonville Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) is a public college in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of several institutions in that system designated a "state college" as it offers a greater number of four- ...

until

was finished in 1993. Their first coach was

Rich Zvosec Rich Zvosec (born March 13, 1961) is a television broadcaster for ESPN and Fox Sports, motivational speaker and a Telly Award-winning actor, a former American college basketball coach and college administrator. After a 25-year coaching career, he c ...

. In the 1993–94 season UNF transitioned into

, joining the Sunshine State Conference. In 1997–98 the Ospreys switched over to the

Peach Belt Conference The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 11 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Carolina ...

, also in Division II. After six seasons, Zvosec was succeeded as head coach by former

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) player Sidney Green. In 1999,

Matt Kilcullen Matt Kilcullen (born October 31, 1954) is an American Director of Athletics at Mercy College, formerly college basketball coach and athletics administrator at the University of North Florida. He served as head coach of men's basketball at four sc ...

became the team's third head coach. In 2005, UNF began its transition into

competition, joining the

Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Div ...

(A-Sun). The four-year transition period, 2005–2009, was difficult for the Ospreys, who compiled a record of 20–96, a substantially worse record than the Ospreys had faced in their previous six seasons under Coach Kilcullen. In 2009, new athletic director, Lee Moon, relieved Kilkullen of his position and replaced him with former

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

assistant coach

for the Ospreys' first year as full Division I members. The Ospreys improved under Driscoll, who led them to their first conference tournament appearance in the 2009–2010 season. In the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

A-Sun tournament the Ospreys upset

and East Tennessee State to advance to the championship game, but were defeated 87–46 by Belmont. The game was UNF's first to be nationally televised. In the 2014–15 season, the Ospreys made their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament by winning the Atlantic Sun tournament for the first time. On December 6, 2014, they defeated the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

on the road, marking their first ever victory over a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

opponent. They also won the Atlantic Sun regular season title for the first time and posted the best record in team history with 23 wins and 11 losses. As a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament, they were defeated by fellow No. 16 seed Robert Morris in the First Four in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

. Nevertheless, the Ospreys drew unprecedented media attention both locally and nationally. Their success continued as the 2015–16 Ospreys began the season with a 93–81 upset at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It was the program's second win over a Big Ten Conference opponent.

Head coaches

Facilities

The Ospreys' home venue is

. Also the home to the UNF women's basketball and volleyball teams, it opened in 1993 and has a capacity of 5,800. The facility is slated to undergo upgrades and additions as part of UNF's Varsity Village program.

Rivalries

North Florida's most notable rivalry is with crosstown opponents the

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College u ...

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

. The two universities contest the "River City Rumble", in which the school with the most wins annually over the other across all sports receives a trophy, the SunTrust Old Wooden Barrel. The first game between North Florida and Jacksonville was played on November 23, 2004 when JU defeated UNF, a Division II program, 78–73. The Ospreys' first win over their crosstown rival came on January 25, 2006 by a score of 90–78. The series record was 8–1 in favor of JU through the 2008–09 season, when UNF completed their transition to Division I. After beginning their Division I era 0–5 against the Dolphins, UNF finally defeated JU in the 2011 A-Sun Tournament quarterfinals in one of the young program's most significant wins. Since then, the Ospreys have held the edge, bringing the all-time series record to 15–10 in favor of JU after the 2015–16 season. However, UNF leads the series 9–7 since UNF became a full Division I member.

Year-by-year results

;Notes:

Postseason

NCAA Division I tournament results

The Ospreys earned their first invitation to 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 ...

in 2015 as a #16 seed in the South Region. They lost to Robert Morris, giving them a tournament record of 0–1.

NIT results

The Ospreys earned their first bid to 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 ...

in 2016. Due to renovations at the

O'Connell Center The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for the sixth president of the university, Stephen C. O' ...

, the Ospreys hosted Florida at the UNF Arena.

Conference tournament results

In seven appearances in the Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament, the Ospreys have an overall record of 9–8. They won their first Atlantic Sun Tournament championship in 2015.

Conference championships

The Ospreys won the Atlantic Sun regular season championship for the first time in the 2014–15 season and won their second in a row the following season.

References

External links

* {{ASUN Conference men's basketball navbox Basketball teams established in 1992 1992 establishments in Florida