The Denver Pioneers men's basketball team represents the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

and competes in the

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

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 ...

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. They are led by head coach Tim Bergstraser and are members of the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

. Since late in the 2019–20 seasons they have played all their home games at Hamilton Gymnasium having formerly played most of their games at the newer but larger Magness Arena. The Pioneers are one of 35 eligible Division I programs to have never appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

History

Denver began intercollegiate basketball in 1904, playing their first game against the Denver Athletic Club on January 16, who they defeated. They played at the regional level prior to World War II. They played in the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference from 1913 to 1938, when they left to become a founding member of the

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The league was orig ...

. Vince Boryla was named a consensus All-American, the first and so far only selection in Denver history. In 1962, they became an NCAA Division I independent. After the end of the 1978–79 season, the university's declining finances forced the program to drop down to NAIA. They went to the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the 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 environment ...

level in 1990. From 1980 to 1985, Floyd Theard coached the team. He went 107–38 with the Pioneers, which included a home–court winning streak of 79 consecutive games. On April 12, 1985, while serving as the head basketball coach at Denver, Theard suffered a fatal heart attack at age 40. His assistant Dick Peth became the new coach and would coach until 1997, leading them to three NCAA Division II tournament bids. Denver joined Division I for the 1998–99 season for all of its programs, including basketball. They accepted membership for the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

in 1999 as a measure intended to be temporary that lasted for over a decade. The Pioneers won the regular season title with a 12–3 record in 2005. That year, they made it to the Sun Belt tournament final, which they lost 88–69 to Louisiana–Lafayette, who was later forced to vacate the win due to NCAA violations. As of 2023, it is the closest time the Pioneers have been to winning a conference tournament. Attempts to make the men's basketball team better in order to help the university's revenue stream played a part in the annual budget deficit for the university by 2010. In November 2010, it was announced that Denver would move most of its athletic teams (such as the men's basketball team) to the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

for the 2012–13 school year. In November 2012, it was announced that Denver would leave the WAC ( troubled by upheaval in programs leaving) for The Summit League. In their one season in the WAC, they tied with Louisiana Tech at 16–2 for a share of the WAC regular season title. In the 2023–24 season, the Pioneers finished 7th in the Summit League, but managed to upset Kansas City and defeat Omaha to reach the Summit League tournament final, their first tournament final appearance as a program in 19 years.

Alumni

Notable former Denver basketball players include: *David Adkins, played at Denver in the mid-1970s, later became known as comedian/TV actor Sinbad. * Byron Beck, ABA and NBA player, number retired by

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 Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

* Rodney Billups, Euroleague player, former Denver Men's Basketball head coach * Vince Boryla, 1948 all-American, 1948 Gold Medal US Olympian, NBA All-Star player, coach, and executive * Ronnie Harrell (born 1996), 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 ...

* Ade Murkey, former forward

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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

* Phil Heath, current

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest in the open division at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanct ...

bodybuilder * Ken Michelman, played with David Adkins at DU, became a TV actor on '' The White Shadow'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'', and other programs * Royce O'Neale,

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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

, played two years at Denver, all-WAC forward before transferring to Baylor * Jake Pemberton (born 1996), American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli National League

Postseason results

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Pioneers have appeared in three NCAA Division II tournaments. Their combined record is 1–3.

NAIA tournament results

The Pioneers have appeared in two NAIA tournaments. Their combined record is 0–2.

NIT results

The Pioneers have appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) three times. Their combined record is 1–3.

References

External links

* {{Summit League men's basketball navbox