Western_Kentucky_Hilltoppers_basketball

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

Men's basketball team

This article is about men's basketball team. For women's basketball team, see Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers currently compete in Conference USA. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 2024. Hank Plona was announced as the team's current head coach on April 2, 2024.[2]

Quick Facts University, Head coach ...

The men's basketball program has the 16th most victories in the history of the NCAA[3] and has attained the eighth best winning percentage in NCAA history.[3] The school made an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1971, which was later vacated, and has made four NIT Final Four appearances, including three in the early days of the NIT when it was on par with the NCAA tournament. The program has won numerous Ohio Valley Conference championships and was very competitive in its previous conference, the Sun Belt Conference, regularly finishing near the top of the conference and competing for the conference championship. In 2014, the Hilltoppers joined Conference USA following conference realignment.

Street & Smith's publication "100 Greatest Programs", ranked WKU #31. WKU has had 30 All Americans and 56 Hilltoppers have played professionally following their collegiate careers.[4]

Conference affiliation history

Postseason

WKU has appeared in 41 national postseason tournaments and in five national final fours. The school currently has a policy of only accepting invitations to the NCAA or NIT tournaments, which precludes participation in other tournaments such as the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and College Basketball Invitational.[5]

NCAA tournament results

The Hilltoppers have appeared in the NCAA tournament 24 times. Their combined record is 19–25. Their appearance in the 1971 NCAA Tournament and third-place finish were later vacated by the NCAA due to a player, Jim McDaniels, having signed a professional contract and accepted money during the season.[6]

More information Year, Seed ...

* Vacated by the NCAA

NCAA Tournament seeding history

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

More information Years→, '80 ...

NIT results

The Hilltoppers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 15 times. When the NIT started, it was considered the premiere national college basketball tournament and remained on par with the NCAA Tournament through the mid-1950s, until the NCAA began giving automatic bids to conference champions in 1956.[7] Western Kentucky's first eight appearances occurred during this early period, including their 2nd-place finish in 1942, 3rd place in 1948, and 4th place in 1954. WKU also made the NIT Final Four in 2018.[8] Their combined record is 13–16.

More information Year, Round ...

Other tournament results

In 1936 Western Kentucky was invited to the National Olympic Playoffs representing the South. They played two games against the Southwest representative, Arkansas, in Little Rock, AK, losing both games by scores of 36–43 and 30–38.[9]

The Hilltoppers were scheduled to appear in the 1938 National Intercollegiate Basketball tournament;[10] however, the team was unable to make the trip and withdrew from the tournament.[11] The NAIA lists the game as a forfeit, but Western Kentucky does not recognize the contest as part of their official record.[12]

The Hilltoppers appeared in the 1951 National Campus Basketball Tournament where they were defeated by Bradley 71–75 in the first round.[13]

Milestones

More information Date, Milestone ...

E.A. Diddle Arena

E.A. Diddle Arena

The E.A. Diddle Arena is a 7,326-seat multi-purpose arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. The arena, built in 1963 is named after legendary WKU men's coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Edgar "E.A." Diddle.

Current coaching staff

  • Hank Plona - Head Coach
  • Talvis Franklin - Director of Basketball Operations
  • Bob Hubbard - Academic Coordinator
  • Martin Cross - Associate Director of Basketball Operations
  • Erien Watson - Program Manager

Former Head Coaches

All-Americans

More information Year, Name ...

[15]

Retired jerseys

The first jerseys retired in honor of Hilltopper basketball greats were hung in E.A. Diddle Arena during the 1999–2000 season. Also even though the jerseys are retired current and future players can and do use the numbers of the players whose jerseys are retired.

Fltr: Clem Haskins, Courtney Lee, and Jim McDaniels, whose jerseys were retired by Western Kentucky
More information No., Player ...

Season-by-season results

Main article: List of Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball seasons

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "WKU Colors". WKU Communication & Branding Manual (PDF). August 21, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  2. [2]
    "Hank Plona Named Western Kentucky Head Men's Basketball Coach". Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. April 2, 2024.
  3. [3]
    "NCAA All Time Winningest Teams at ncaa.org" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  4. [4]
    100 Greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time. Smith & Street. January 25, 2005.
  5. [5]
    "HILLTOPPER FOCUS: WKU would not accept bid to CBI, CIT". Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  6. [6]
    Pratt, Elliott. "Standing Alone: WKU's 1971 Final Four team remains in a league of its own". College Heights Herald. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  7. [7]
    Miller, Ralph (1990). "Ralph Miller: Spanning the Game." Sagamore Publishing LLC. p. 56. ISBN 0915611384. "Had the Aggies lost one, we would have been forced to have a playoff, and that was the problem. We had already accepted a bid to play in the [1954] National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The tournament picture was much different then. There was no announcement of NIT teams following the selection of the NCAA field as exists today. The reason was that the NIT was still considered a premier tournament."
  8. [8]
    "Bracket, times, scores for 2018 National Invitation Tournament". NCAA.com. 2018-03-31. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
  9. [9]
    "2019-20 Hilltopper Basketball Media Guide" (PDF).
  10. [10]
    NAIA Through the Decades, NAIA.org retrieved May 20, 2020
  11. [11]
    The Historical NAIA Tournament VSN (admin) Published Wednesday, July 04, 2018, retrieved May 20, 2020
  12. [12]
    Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.
  13. [13]
    "National Campus Tournament 1951".
  14. [14]
    Marcus honored by publication, WKU center lands on All-America team, By Justin Willis, Bowling Green Daily News, Aug 3, 2001 retrieved 27 April 2020
  15. [15]
    2011–12 WKU media guide
  16. [16]
    #21 RETIRED UNIFORM
  17. [17]
    Courtney Lee Jersey Retirement, 8 Jun 2017
  18. [18]
    Former Hilltopper sharpshooter Carrier to have jersey number retired at halftime, 22 Feb 2014 at bgdailynews.com
  19. [19]
    Darel Carrier’s No. 35 jersey retired at College Heights Herald by Tyler Lashbrook - February 25, 2014
  20. [20]
    MJ to honor legendary Tom Marshall, 9 Feb 2011 at Wilson Post
  21. [21]
    John Oldham, coach of WKU's 1971 Final Four basketball team, dies at age 97 by Jason Frakes at Louisville Courier Journal, 23 Nov 2020
  22. [22]
    All-American Towery dies at bgdailynews.com, 27 Nov 2012
  23. [23]
    Jim McDaniels, 69, Dies; Led Western Kentucky to Final Four at The New York Times, 8 Sep 2017
  24. [24]
    E. A. Diddle coach's jersey retired at bgdailynews.com
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Western_Kentucky_Hilltoppers_basketball, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.