The NYU Violets men's basketball team is the

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 ...

team that represents

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, located in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The team currently competes in

NCAA 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. ...

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

as a member of the

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illino ...

. NYU previously competed as an NCAA Division I program until 1971, when the team was disbanded due to a budget crisis. The team was reinstated in 1983 as a Division III program. NYU played in two NCAA Division I Final Fours, and can lay claim to two national championships predating the creation of the NCAA tournament (1920 and 1935). NYU has also had success in the Division III NCAA tournament, including a runner-up finish at the 1994 and 2024 tournament.

Division I history

While a member of Division I, the Violets' basketball team registered a great deal of success. An early member who starred for the team in 1910 and 1911 was

Lazarus Joseph Lazarus Joseph (January 25, 1891 – May 23, 1966) was an American lawyer and politician from New York City. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a New York State Senator from 1934 to 1945, and was the New York City Comptroller from 1946 to ...

(1891–1966), later a NY State Senator and

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

. The school's best NCAA tournament result was finishing runner-up to Oklahoma State (then Oklahoma A&M), coached by the legendary

Henry Iba Henry Payne “Hank” Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwes ...

. at the 1945 NCAA tournament. NYU returned to the Final Four in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, losing to Ohio State, whose roster featured

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...

and

John Havlicek John Joseph Havlicek (often nicknamed Hondo) ( ; April 8, 1940 – April 25, 2019) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A swingman, Hav ...

. NYU achieved even more success in the years before the advent of the NCAA tournament in 1939. In

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

NYU won the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

national championship tournament, led by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

Howard Cann Howard Goodsell Cann (October 11, 1895 – December 18, 1992) was an American sportsman best known as the long-time men's basketball coach at New York University. He was also an Olympic shot putter and a college basketball and football player. ...

. Cann returned to coach at NYU after graduation, serving as head basketball coach from 1923 to 1958 and leading NYU to notable success. The Violets were undefeated in the 1933–1934 season, posting a 16–0 record. After winning the first ten games to start the following season, the school's winning streak was broken in an overtime loss at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

. The loss to Yale was the only setback during the 1934–1935 season, during which NYU finished 19–1 and was named the best team in the nation (retrospectively) by the

and the

Premo-Porretta Power Poll The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons. The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...

. Finally, the year before the NCAA tournament was created, NYU reached the Final Four at the

1938 National Invitation Tournament The 1938 National Invitation Tournament was the 1938 edition of the annual NCAA basketball competition. It was the inaugural National Invitational Tournament and was won by Temple. Selected teams Below is a list of the six teams selected for ...

. For the seasons before the AP Poll began ranking college basketball teams in 1949, the Premo-Porretta Poll retrospectively ranks NYU among the final top 5 teams nationally for a number of seasons, including #1 in 1935, #2 in 1909 and 1934, #3 in 1920, #4 in 1921, and #5 in 1930. NYU also appeared in the first AP Poll issued, on January 18, 1949. The school made its final appearance in the Division I AP Poll ranked at #10 on December 24, 1964. The Violets' most recent post-season accomplishment as a Division I college was finishing as the runner-up to BYU in the

1966 National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament was originated by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association in 1938. Responsibility for its administration was transferred two years later to local colleges, first known as the Metropolitan Intercollegiate ...

. NYU previously also finished as runner-up in the 1948 National Invitation Tournament, and in third place in the 1959 National Invitation Tournament. NYU was a member of the

Metropolitan New York Conference Membership Regular season champions Men's basketball *1934 *1935 DNP *1936 *1937 *1938 *1939 Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into ...

from 1933 to 1963, and won four conference titles after the conference officially began sponsoring men's basketball in 1946. The program was disbanded following a disastrous 5–20 season in 1970–71. When NYU ended its program, the Violets were still tied for 14th nationally in Final Four appearances (2), and 28th nationally in all-time appearances at the NCAA Division I tournament (6).

Division III history

NYU has once again found success since its reestablishment as a Division III program in 1983. The school appeared in seven consecutive Division III NCAA basketball tournaments from 1992 to 1998. In 1994 NYU advanced to the Final Four and finished as the national runner-up to

Lebanon Valley College Lebanon Valley College (LVC, Lebanon Valley, or The Valley) is a private university in Annville, Pennsylvania. History Lebanon Valley College was founded on February 23, 1866, with classes beginning May 7 of that year and its first class grad ...

. The 1994 team also established a school record by winning 25 games.

Postseason history

Division I NCAA

In their times in Division I, the Violets appeared in the NCAA Tournament six times. Their record was 9–8.

NIT

NYU appeared in 8 NITs and compiled and overall record of 13–11.

Individual accolades

The following NYU players and coaches are in the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

(with induction year): *

Nat Holman Nat Holman (born Nathan Helmanowich; October 19, 1896 – February 12, 1995) was an American professional basketball player and college coach. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is the only coach to lead his team ...

(1964) *

(1968) *

Dolph Schayes Adolph Schayes ( ; May 19, 1928 – December 10, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A top scorer and rebounder, he was a 12-time NBA All-Star and a 12-time All-NBA select ...

(1973) *

Satch Sanders Thomas Ernest "Satch" Sanders (born November 8, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played his entire professional career as a power forward (basketball), power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National B ...

(2011), inducted as a contributor

National and Metro honors

NYU players and coaches have won the following national and regional awards: ''Player honors'' *

Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year The Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual men's college basketball award given to the most outstanding men's player in the United States. It was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation, an organization founded in 19 ...

National player of the year ::

– 1920 * MBWA

Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the top men's college basketball player from an NCAA Division I school in the New York metropolitan area. The Haggerty Award is presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MB ...

NYC Metro college basketball player of the year :: Ben Auerbach – 1940 :: Sid Tanenbaum – 1946, 1947 ::

– 1948 ::

– 1960 :: Barry Kramer – 1963 ''Coaching honors'' *MBWA Division I Coach of the Year ::

– 1948

Conference honors

The

began awarding Conference Player of the Year and Coaching Staff of the Year awards when it was founded in 1987. * Player of the Year ::Adam Crawford – 1994 ::Jesse Determann – 1998 ::

Jason Boone Jason Gregory Boone (born October 8, 1985) is a retired American professional basketball player. Career High School and College Boone attended Warwick Valley High School from 2001 to 2003. He played 45 games, compiling a total of 725 points ...

– 2006 * Coaching Staff of the Year :: Joe Nesci – 1993, 1994, 2012

References

External links

* {{NYU Violets men's basketball navbox