| Tulane Green Wave men's basketball | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
 | |||||
| University | Tulane University | ||||
| Head coach | Ron Hunter (6th season) | ||||
| Conference | The American | ||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||
| Arena | Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse (capacity: 4,100) | ||||
| Nickname | Green Wave | ||||
| Student section | Wave Riders | ||||
| Colors | Olive green and sky blue[1] | ||||
| Uniforms | |||||
| |||||
| NCAA tournament round of 32 | |||||
| 1992, 1993, 1995 | |||||
| NCAA tournament appearances | |||||
| 1992, 1993, 1995 | |||||
| Conference regular-season champions | |||||
| 1924, 1944, 1976, 1992 | |||||
TheTulane Green Wave men's basketball team representsTulane University inNCAA Division I college basketball. The team competes in theAmerican Athletic Conference. They play home games on campus inDevlin Fieldhouse, the ninth-oldest active basketball venue in the nation.[2] The team's last appearance in theNCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in1995.
Tulane is the only school from the originalMetro Conference that remained in the conference through its 1975 founding, the 1991 breakup that saw several schools form theGreat Midwest Conference, the 1995 reunification that created today'sConference USA, and the 2004 realignment of conferences. It rejoined many of its previous conference mates when it became a member of the American Athletic Conference in 2014.
Tulane's men's basketball team played its first game on December 9, 1905.[3]
In March 1976, the Green Wave enticedSyracuse coachRoy Danforth--one year removed from taking the Orange to theirfirst Final Four--to succeedCharles Moir as Green Wave coach when Moir left for the same position atVirginia Tech.
Danforth's successor at Syracuse,Jim Boeheim, coached the Orange for the next 47 seasons, winning 1,116 games and the2003 national championship. Meanwhile, Danforth was fired by Tulane after the 1980-81 season, which included a 119–81 loss to in-state rivalLSU.
Danforth's successor, Ned Fowler, led the Green Wave to a shocking 83–72 victory vs. LSU at Baton Rouge in the first round of the1982 NIT. Tulane went on the road and defeated another national power,UNLV, in the second round before losing toBradley in the quarterfinals.
The 1982–83 squad lost in theMetro Conference men's basketball tournament final.
The program fell victim to one of the biggest scandals of the 1980s in college sports when four players, including star forward"Hot Rod" Williams, were accused of taking money and cocaine toalter the final point spreads of games they played in. Clyde Eads and Jon Johnson were granted immunity to testify against Williams, the alleged ringleader. Although he was indicted, the judge eventually declared a mistrial, and no sentence was handed down. Williams spent the next nine years with theNBA'sCleveland Cavaliers. Within days of Williams' indictment, Fowler and his assistant coaches, and athletic director Hindman Wall all resigned. Newly-hired football coachMack Brown became interim athletic director.
On April 4, 1985, presidentEamon Kelly disbanded the basketball program. He did not intend ever to allow its return; he relented in 1988 after several students convinced him that they were being punished for something that occurred when they were not at Tulane.[4]
New head coachPerry Clark rebuilt the program to unprecedented success, including a1991–92 season that started 13–0. They made theMetro tournament final in 1992 and lost. However, they made it to the second round of theNCAA Tournament. The1992–93 and1994–95 teams matched that team's success, but Tulane has not approached such heights since. Clark resigned in 2000 to coach theMiami Hurricanes. The Green Wave failed to make any postseason tournament under Clark's successor,Shawn Finney, or under former Maryland assistantDave Dickerson.
Ed Conroy was hired as the new head coach in 2010. His teams have seen initial success against out-of-conference foes in each of its seasons but have done poorly in conference games. The 2010–11 team finished 13–17 after a 12–3 start, while his 2011–12 team finished 15–16 after starting 14–6.[5][6][7]
On March 14, 2016, Tulane fired Conroy after six years as head coach.[8] He was replaced by former longtime NBA player and coachMike Dunleavy Sr.[9] On March 16, 2019, after a 4–27 season, the Tulane athletic department fired Dunleavy. As of 2023, the head coach isRon Hunter.
In the 1992 sports comedy filmWhite Men Can't Jump, character Billy Hoyle mentions he is a former Green Wave player.
The Green Wave have appeared in threeNCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 3–3.
| Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | #10 | First Round Second Round | #7 St. John's #2 Oklahoma State | W 61–57 L 71–87 |
| 1993 | #11 | First Round Second Round | #6 Kansas State #3 Florida State | W 55–53 L 63–94 |
| 1995 | #9 | First Round Second Round | #8 BYU #1 Kentucky | W 76–70 L 60–82 |
The Green Wave have appeared in sixNational Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 7–6.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals | LSU UNLV Bradley | W 83–72 W 56–51 L 61–77 |
| 1983 | First Round | Nebraska | L 65–72 |
| 1994 | First Round Second Round | Evansville Siena | W 76–63 L 79–89 |
| 1996 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game | Auburn Minnesota Illinois State Nebraska Alabama | W 87–73 W 84–65 W 83–72 L 78–90 W 87–76 |
| 1997 | First Round | Oklahoma State | L 72–79 |
| 2000 | First Round | NC State | L 60–64 |
The Green Wave have appeared in oneCollege Basketball Crown (CBC). Their combined record is 0–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | First Round | USC | L 60–89 |
The Green Wave have appeared in oneCollege Basketball Invitational (CBI). Their combined record is 0–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | First Round | Princeton | L 55–56 |
The Green Wave have appeared in oneCollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their combined record is 1–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | First Round Second Round | South Alabama Bradley | W 84–73 L 72–77 |
The following Green Wave players have played in theNBA:
Others:
American Conference men's basketball | ||
|---|---|---|
| Teams |  | |
| Championships & awards | ||
| Seasons | ||
Located in:New Orleans, Louisiana | |||||||||
| Schools |  | ||||||||
| Student life |
| ||||||||
| People | |||||||||
| Athletics |
| ||||||||
| Affiliations | |||||||||
| Related | |||||||||
| |||||||||
