The Western Illinois Leathernecks men's basketball team represents

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

Macomb, Illinois Macomb () is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois, about southwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the c ...

, in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I men's

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

competition. As of the 2023–24 NCAA season, the Leathernecks compete in the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

. Western Illinois' first men's basketball team was fielded in 1904. The Leathernecks men's basketball program made the transition from Division II to Division I beginning in the 1981–82 season. They were selected to play in the

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 sel ...

tournament following the 2011–12 regular season, the first Division I postseason appearance in school history. The Leathernecks were selected again to play in the College Basketball Invitational tournament after the 2012–13 season. The Leathernecks have never appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Season results

Western Illinois' records season by season since joining Division I in 1981.

Coaching history

''Stats updated as of the end of the 2022–23 season''

Postseason

CBI results

The Leathernecks have appeared in two

s. Their combined record is 0–2.

The Basketball Classic results

The Leathernecks have appeared in

The Basketball Classic The Basketball Classic presented by Eracism was a Single-elimination tournament, single-elimination, fully-bracketed men's college basketball postseason tournament created in 2022 as a successor to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament af ...

one time. Their record is 0–1.

NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Leathernecks have appeared in three NCAA Division II Tournaments. Their combined record is 2–4.

NAIA tournament results

The Leathernecks have appeared in seven NAIA tournaments. Their combined record is 18–7.

Notable former players

* Eulis Báez, Overseas * Ceola Clark III, Overseas * Joe Dykstra, drafted by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

* Obi Emegano, Overseas * Brandon Gilbeck, Overseas *

Kristjan Makke Kristjan Makke (born March 12, 1981, in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia) is an Estonian professional basketballer. He is currently playing for TTÜ KK at the center/forward position. Makke started his senior club career at the age of fifteen with "BC Ka ...

, Overseas * Mike Miklusak, Overseas * Al Miksis, National Basketball Association * Terell Parks, basketball player in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

References

External links

* 1910 establishments in Illinois Basketball teams established in 1910 Long stubs with short prose {{Illinois-basketball-team-stub