The Navy Midshipmen men's basketball team represents the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

, in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, in

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 ...

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 ...

. The team competes in the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

and plays its home games in Alumni Hall.Navy men's basketball 2006–07 media guide
Accessed April 20, 2008. The U.S. Naval Academy began varsity intercollegiate competition in men's basketball in the 1907–08 season. Navy was retroactively recognized as the pre- NCAA tournament national champion for the 1912–13 and 1918–19 seasons by 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 ...

and for the 1912–13 season 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 ...

. The Midshipmen have appeared 11 times in the NCAA Tournament, most recently in 1998.

Early history

The Navy Midshipmen men's basketball program began play in the early 20th century, quickly establishing itself as one of the nation’s top teams. In the pre-NCAA Tournament era, Navy was retroactively recognized as national champions for the 1912–13 and 1918–19 seasons by the

. The 1913 team finished with a perfect 9–0 record, while the 1919 squad posted a 10–0 mark. These early successes laid the foundation for Navy’s long-standing basketball tradition.

Tournament success (1986-2004)

Pete Herrmann served as head coach of the Navy Midshipmen men's basketball team from 1986 to 1992, succeeding Paul Evans. In his first season, he led the Midshipmen to a 26–6 record, winning both the

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

(CAA) regular season and tournament titles, and earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The season also marked the final collegiate campaign for All-American center David Robinson, who was selected first overall in the 1987 NBA Draft. In 1992, Don DeVoe succeeded than head coach Pete Herrmann and served as Navy's head coach from 1992 to 2004. During his 12 seasons, DeVoe amassed a 184–161 record and led the Midshipmen to five

regular season titles and three Patriot League Tournament championships. Under his leadership, Navy earned NCAA Tournament berths in 1994, 1997, and 1998. DeVoe was named Patriot League Coach of the Year in 1994, 1997, and 2000.

Present-day success (2020-present)

During the 2020–21 season, under head coach Ed DeChellis and assistant coach John Perry, the Navy Midshipmen men's basketball team posted a 15–3 overall record and went 12–1 in Patriot League play, winning the Patriot League South Division title. The Midshipmen secured the No. 1 overall seed in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since the 1996–97 season, but were upset in the quarterfinals by No. 9 seed Loyola (Maryland). In the 2024–25 season, Navy advanced to the Patriot League Tournament championship game as the No. 5 seed after upsetting top-seeded Bucknell in the semifinals, but fell to No. 2 seed

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, 74–52, in the final. Following the season, Ed DeChellis retired after 14 seasons, and Jon Perry was promoted to head coach.

Postseason history

NCAA tournament results

The Midshipmen have appeared in the NCAA tournament 11 times and made regional finals (the "

Elite Eight In the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, NCAA women's Division I basketball championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight t ...

") in 1947, 1954 and 1986. Their overall tournament record is 8–11.

NIT results

The Midshipmen have appeared in one

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 ...

. Their record is 0–1.

Conference tournament championships

Patriot League tournament

:''See: Patriot League men's basketball tournament'' *1994: tournament champion (tournament MVP: T.J. Hall) *1997: tournament champion (tournament MVP: Hassan Booker) *1998: tournament champion (tournament MVP: Skip Victor)

Colonial Athletic Association tournament

:''See: Colonial Athletic Association#History of the Tournament Final'' *1985: tournament champion (tournament MVP: Vernon Butler) *1986: tournament champion (tournament MVP: David Robinson) *1987: tournament champion (tournament MVP: David Robinson)

Awards and honors

Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Year

*1984–85 – David Robinson *1985–86 – David Robinson *1986–87 – David Robinson

Patriot League Men's Basketball Player of the Year

*2007–08 – Greg Sprink

Athletic Hall of Fame

For basketball players in the USNA Athletic Hall of Fame, see footnote The Athletic

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

is housed in Lejeune Hall. Among the exhibits is the Eastman Award won by David Robinson in 1987.

Notable players

* Laurence Wild (1913) – Later head coach of the team, and the 30th

Governor of American Samoa This is a list of Governor (United States), governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) under United States administration since 1900. From 1900 to 1978 governors were appointed by the Federal government o ...

. * Brian Gregory (1985–86) – head men's basketball coach at

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

*Cliff Rees (1984–88) – over 1,100 career points at the Naval Academy and teammate of David Robinson. * David Robinson (1983–87) – two-time

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

champion and a 2009 inductee into the

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 pres ...

; the CAA's all-time points leader (2,669); won college basketball's two most prestigious player awards, the Naismith and Wooden awardsAccording to the following article about the city of Annapolis, Robinson won the "Eastman Award" in 1987 and the award is in Lejeune Hall. See also the footnote at United States Naval Academy#Halls and principal buildings (at "Lejeune Hall"). * Doug Wojcik (1982–86) – a teammate of David Robinson; former head coach at the College of Charleston and Tulsa University.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Navy Midshipmen Men's Basketball