The High Point Panthers men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents High Point University in High Point,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

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Division I competition. The school's team competes in the

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. They made their first ever appearance to the

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History

The team, under the name High Point College, began play in the 1927–28 season with coach J.P. Boylin. The first game was on December 10, 1927, in a 37–35 win over the Carolina Night Hawks. The team went on to a 14–4 record. Boylin served as coach for three seasons and finished with a 39–16 record. He was followed by two seasons of coach Julian Beall who had two consecutive losing seasons and finished with a 16–21 record. The team began playing as part of the North State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSC) in 1930.

First Virgil Yow stint

Virgil Yow, a multisport star at High Point College, was hired as the third coach for the team in 1932. After hovering around the .500 mark, for his first two seasons, the team went 18–4 in his third year and in the following year went 20–4 defeating Wake Forest along the way and winning the 1936 NSC men's basketball tournament 49–39 over Lenoir–Rhyne. The program began playing in the

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

(NAIA) with the founding of the

NAIA men's basketball championship The NAIA men's basketball national championship has been held annually by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics since 1937 NAIA basketball tournament, 1937 to determine the national champion of men's college basketball among its m ...

in 1937. The team first made the NAIA tournament in 1939. In 1944, during the height of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the college was facing a male student shortage and thus had difficulty filling the basketball roster. Yow recruited female student Nancy Isenhour to play on the team and she became the first woman to play on a collegiate men's basketball team. Following the 1944–45 season, Yow left the school after 13 seasons, two conference championships, and two NAIA tournament appearances, to coach the Hanes Hosiery AAU women's team.

Ralph James and Bob Davis eras

Ralph James was hired as the football and basketball coach in 1945. James had previously played for Wake Forrest and served as head coach for Western Carolina in both football and basketball. He finished with a record of 81–45. Bob Davis was hired in 1950. Davis won two conference titles in three years. Davis left High Point after three seasons to coach at Georgetown College and eventually Auburn.

Second Virgil Yow stint

Following eight years coaching women's basketball and three AAU national titles, Yow returned to High Point. He coached nine more seasons before retiring with a record of 342–215.

Tom Quinn

Tom Quinn was announced as the head coach in 1962, coming from

Newberry College Newberry College is a private Lutheran college in Newberry, South Carolina. As of 2023, it had 1,521 students. Academics Newberry College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) ...

and had previously won the

Conference Carolinas Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

title. He served in the capacity for four years compiling a record of 95–22. His teams made the NAIA tournament twice and won the Conference Carolinas tournament twice. He left to be the coach of East Carolina.

Jerry Steele tenure

Jerry Steele was hired in 1972 as the 10th head coach of the team. Steele had previously served as head coach of the professional ABA team the

Carolina Cougars The Carolina Cougars were a basketball franchise in the American Basketball Association that existed from 1969 through 1974. The Cougars were originally a charter member of the ABA as the Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Ca ...

. He coached at High Point for 32 years, from 1972 to 2003. He won eight conference titles, made one appearance in the NAIA tournament. Beginning in the 1993–94 academic year, the school and conference began transitioning to

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 ...

. During his last decade, Steele earned two trips to the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament. The team left Conference Carolinas in 1997 and joined the

in 1999 and transitioned to

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 ...

. His record at High Point was 493–412, making him the winningest coach in program history. Steele retired after the end of the 2002–03 season.

Bart Lundy

Bart Lundy who had taken Queens (NC) to the 2003 NCAA Division II Final Four, was hired to be the head coach. He went on to coach six seasons, compiling a record of 96–87, and leaving in 2009.

Scott Cherry

Scott Cherry was hired as coach on March 26, 2009. In his fourth year, the team won the Big South north division, earning them a spot in the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, this was the school's first postseason appearance since joining NCAA Division I. The following year, he again led the Panthers to a Big South north division championship, and the regular season championship, another program first. The Panthers were invited to the 2014 National Invitation Tournament, losing in the first round to

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. Cherry led High Point to the best start in school history in 2014–15 campaign, starting the season 14–3. They qualified for the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Cherry mutually agreed to part ways with the school in 2018.

Tubby Smith and G. G. Smith

Former High Point player and 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship coach with

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, Tubby Smith, was hired to be the team's head coach after having been fired by Memphis a few weeks prior. Additionally, a new arena was announced for the school. Smith never had a winning record in his five seasons and resigned in favor of his son G. G. Smith. His son was fired the season after.

Alan Huss era

Creighton assistant coach Alan Huss was hired on March 27, 2023. He won the Big South regular season title in his first season. His second season he won the Big South regular season and tournament titles, which earned the team its first berth in the NCAA Division I tournament where they lost to Purdue in the first round. Huss went on to compile a 56–15 record in his two seasons before leaving HPU to return to Creighton as the head-coach-in-waiting for current Blue Jays' coach

Greg McDermott Greg McDermott (born November 25, 1964) is an American basketball coach who has been the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's basketball, Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team since 2010. Previously, McDermott served as the head coach a ...

on April 10, 2025.

Flynn Clayman era

On April 11, 2025, a day after Huss departed HPU, Panthers associate head coach Clayman was promoted to the position.

Coaches

Notable players

* Tubby Smith (born 1951), coached several Division I basketball programs and won the

1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1998, and ended with the champio ...

. * Gene Littles (born 1943), played for High Point College from 1965-1969. Records for points, field goals, and free throws still stand. Drafted by the

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

and by the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas, for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

in the 1969 ABA Draft. Played 5 seasons with the

and 1 season with the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were an American professional basketball team based in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colo ...

. * Arizona Reid (born 1986), Israeli National League basketball player * John Brown III (born 1992), French National League and

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

basketball player

Postseason

NCAA Division I

The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament one time. Their record is 0–1.

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament two times. Their combined record is 2–2.

NIT results

The Panthers 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) two times. Their record is 0–2.

CIT results

The Panthers have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two times. Their record is 1–2.

NAIA tournament results

The Panthers have appeared in the NAIA tournament seven times. Their combined record is 7–7.

References

External links

Website
{{Big South Conference men's basketball navbox