The UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team is the

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 represents the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

. The team currently competes in the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

NCAA 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 ...

Division I. UC Irvine basketball is in its ninth year under current head coach

Russell Turner Russell William Turner (born 12 May 1941), an Australian politician, is a councillor of the City of Orange Council, since 2012. Turner was previously a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Orange between 1996 and 20 ...

. Turner was an assistant coach with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, before accepting the head coaching role at UCI in 2010. The Anteaters' main rivals are the

Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

. Program alumni include

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

associate head coach

Scott Brooks Scott William Brooks (born July 31, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the top assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played point guard at San Joaq ...

and professional football tight end

Darren Fells Darren Andre Fells (born April 22, 1986) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He did not play college football, instead playing college basketball at the University of California, Irvine. Prior to his NFL career, he played prof ...

Conference affiliations

* 1965–66 to 1976–77 – NCAA Division II Independent * 1977–78 to present –

Head coach history

Season-by-season records

Postseason results

NCAA Division I tournament results

The Anteaters have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament two times. Their combined record is 1–2.

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Anteaters have appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament four times. Their combined record is 2–6.

NIT results

The Anteaters have appeared in six

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 ...

s (NIT). Their combined record is 2–6.

CIT results

The Anteaters have appeared in two

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 ...

s (CIT). Their combined record is 4–2.

Honors and awards

Retired numbers

The Anteaters retired their first number in program history in 1995, honoring number 44 for All-American Kevin Magee. He was joined by

when his number 12 was retired on November 30, 2019.

Anteaters in the NBA

* Scott Brooks, 1988-1999,

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

* Wayne Engelstad, 1988-1989,

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

Ronnie Grandison Ron Calvin Grandison (born July 6, 1964) is a former basketball player, who attended the University of California, Irvine and the University of New Orleans. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1987 NBA draft, 100th pick overall, by the Den ...

, 1988-1996,

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, New York Knicks *

Ben McDonald Larry Benard McDonald (born November 24, 1967) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. The first overall pick in the 1989 MLB Draft, McDonald played for the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers from 1989 through 1997. Baseball career Col ...

, 1985-1989, Cleveland Cavaliers,

Tod Murphy Tod James Murphy (born December 24, 1963) is an American college basketball coach and retired professional basketball player. Since 2009, Murphy has been the head coach at Gordon College, leading the Fighting Scots to two Commonwealth Coast Confe ...

, 1987-1994,

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves *

Johnny Rogers John Bernard Rogers Bakker (born December 30, 1963) is a Spanish-American former professional basketball player. Rogers played college basketball at Stanford University and at the University of California, Irvine. Listed at a height of 6'10" and ...

, 1986-1988, Cleveland Cavaliers,

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

* Bob Thornton, 1986-1996, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers,

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

Tom Tolbert Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, 1988-1995, Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers,

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Big West Conference men's basketball navbox