1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season explained

Year:1985
Preseason Ap:Georgia Tech
Tourney Start:March 13, 1986
Nc Date:March 31, 1986
Champ Stad:Reunion Arena
Champ City:Dallas, Texas
Champ:Louisville
Nit Champ:Ohio State
Playeroftheyear:Johnny Dawkins, Duke (Naismith), Walter Berry, St. John's (Wooden)

Season headlines

Major rule changes

Beginning in 1985–86, the following rules changes were implemented:

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[3]

Associated Press
RankingTeam
1Georgia Tech (28)
2North Carolina (13)
3Michigan (13)
4
5Kansas (4)
6Duke (2)
7Illinois
8Georgetown (1)
9Louisville
10Auburn
11Kentucky
12Notre Dame
13Oklahoma
14Louisiana State
15Memphis State
16Alabama-Birmingham
17NC State
18
19Maryland
Navy
UPI Coaches
RankingTeam
1
2
3
4Kansas
5
6Syracuse
7Illinois
8Georgetown
9Louisiana State
10Louisville
11Auburn
12Kentucky
13Notre Dame
14
NC State
16Alabama-Birmingham
17Washington
18UNLV
19DePaul
20UCLA

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

ConferenceRegular
season winner[4]
Conference
player of the year
Conference
Coach of the Year
Conference
tournament
Tournament
venue (City)
Tournament
winner
Kevin Mackey, Cleveland State Hammons Student Center
(Springfield, Missouri)
Cleveland State
Maurice Martin, Saint Joseph's[5] Jim Boyle, Saint Joseph's Brendan Byrne Arena
(East Rutherford, New Jersey)
Saint Joseph's
Len Bias, Maryland[6] Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Greensboro Coliseum
(Greensboro, North Carolina)
Duke
St. John's &<br>SyracuseWalter Berry, St. John's[7] Lou Carnesecca, St. John's Madison Square Garden
(New York City, New York)
St. John's
Danny Manning, Kansas[8] Larry Brown, Kansas Kemper Arena
(Kansas City, Missouri)
(Semifinals and Finals)
Kansas
Larry Krystkowiak, Montana[9] Lawlor Events Center
(Reno, Nevada)
Montana State
Tommy Gaither, Baptist Savannah Civic Center
(Savannah, Georgia)
Baptist
None Selected No Tournament
David Robinson, Navy Patriot Center
(Fairfax, Virginia)
Navy
Michael Anderson, Drexel Edward Burke, Drexel Towson Center
(Towson, Maryland)
Drexel
Tom Green, Fairleigh Dickinson William T. Boylan Gymnasium
(West Long Branch, New Jersey)
Reggie Lewis, Northeastern[10] Jim Calhoun, NortheasternMatthews Arena
(Boston, Massachusetts)
Northeastern
Jim Turner, Brown[11] None selected No Tournament
Tony George, Fairfield[12] Mitch Buonaguro, Fairfield Meadowlands Arena
(East Rutherford, New Jersey)
Fairfield
M. K. Turk, Southern MissFreedom Hall
(Louisville, Kentucky)
Louisville
Ron Harper, Miami (OH)[13] Jerry Peirson, Miami (OH) Rockford MetroCentre
(Rockford, Illinois)
Ball State
Don Corbett, North Carolina A&T Philadelphia Civic Center
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
North Carolina A&T
Byron Larkin, Xavier[14] Market Square Arena
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
Xavier
Jim Les, Bradley[15] Dick Versace, Bradley Tulsa Convention Center
(Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Tulsa
Marcel Boyce, Akron[16] Bob Huggins, Akron James A. Rhodes Arena
(Akron, Ohio)
Akron
Chris Welp, Washington[17] Lute Olson, Arizona No Tournament
Greg Grant, Utah State &<br>Anthony Jones, UNLV[18] The Forum
(Inglewood, California)
UNLV
Kenny Walker, Kentucky[19] Eddie Sutton, Kentucky Rupp Arena
(Lexington, Kentucky)
Kentucky
Gay Elmore, VMI[20] Mack McCarthy, Tennessee–Chattanooga Asheville Civic Center
(Asheville, North Carolina)
Davidson
Bobby Jenkins, Northeast Louisiana[21] Mike Vining, Northeast Louisiana Fant–Ewing Coliseum
(Monroe, Louisiana)
Northeast Louisiana
John Brownlee, Texas Jim Killingsworth, TCU Reunion Arena
(Dallas, Texas)
Texas Tech
Frank Sillmon, Alabama State[22] Davey Whitney, Alcorn State Mississippi Valley State
Kenny Gattison, Old Dominion[23] Clem Haskins, Western Kentucky & Tom Young, Old Dominion Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex
(Birmingham, Alabama)
Jacksonville
Myron Jackson, Arkansas–Little Rock[24] Mike Newell, Arkansas–Little Rock Barton Coliseum
(Little Rock, Arkansas)
Arkansas–Little Rock
Dwayne Polee, Pepperdine[25] Hank Egan, San Diego & Jim Harrick, Pepperdine No Tournament
Utah, UTEP
& Wyoming
Anthony Watson, San Diego State[26] Jim Brandenburg, Wyoming Arena-Auditorium
(Laramie, Wyoming)
UTEP

Statistical leaders

Player School PPG Player School RPG Player School APG Player School SPG
29.4 13.0 9.1 5.0
27.4 12.9 8.5 4.3
27.0 12.6 8.4 3.6
25.9 Ron Harper Miami (OH) 11.7 8.4 Ron Harper Miami (OH) 3.3
24.4 11.4 8.2 3.2
Player School BPG Player School FG% Player School FT%
David Robinson Navy 5.9 64.8 100.0
4.0 64.1 94.2
3.8 63.7 93.1
3.2 63.6 91.8
3.2 63.2 91.7
[27]

Conference standings

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

See main article: 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

National Invitation tournament

See main article: 1986 National Invitation Tournament.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

See main article: 1986 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.

Consensus First Team
PlayerPositionClassTeam
Steve AlfordGJuniorIndiana
Walter BerryFJuniorSt. John's
Len BiasFSeniorMaryland
Johnny DawkinsGSeniorDuke
Kenny WalkerFSeniorKentucky

Consensus Second Team
Player PositionClassTeam
Dell CurryGSeniorVirginia Tech
Brad DaughertyCSeniorNorth Carolina
Ron HarperG/FSeniorMiami (OH)
Danny ManningFSophomoreKansas
David RobinsonCJuniorNavy
Scott SkilesGSeniorMichigan State

Major player of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

TeamFormer
Coach
Interim
Coach
New
Coach
Reason
Boston CollegeGary WilliamsJim O'Brien
ConnecticutDom PernoJim Calhoun
HoustonGuy LewisPat Foster
Kansas StateJack HartmanLon Kruger
LamarPat FosterTom Abatemarco
MarylandLefty DriesellBob Wade
Northern IowaJames BerryEldon Miller
NortheasternJim CalhounKarl Fogel
Ohio StateEldon MillerGary Williams
St. BonaventureJim O'BrienRon DeCarli
Texas–Pan AmericanLon KrugerKevin Wall

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2022-23 Division I Men's Basketball Records . NCAA . March 1, 2023.
  2. Web site: Playing Rules History . . . ncaa.org . NCAA . June 25, 2024 . 12.
    • Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. 978-0-345-51392-2.
  3. News: 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2009. NCAA. 2009-06-27.
  4. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/atl10/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/0809-mg-pt8.pdf 2008–09 A-10 men's basketball media guide – Awards section
  5. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09mbkguide083112.pdf 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section
  6. http://www.bigeast.org/fls/19400/pdfs/mensbball/record-book.pdf?SPSID=92557&SPID=11228&DB_OEM_ID=19400 2008–09 Big East Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section
  7. http://www.big12sports.com//pdf1/147025.pdf 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section
  8. https://archive.today/20120722162522/http://www.bigskyconf.com/Sports/mbball/2008/MBBAwardWinners060508.asp Men's Basketball Award Winners
  9. http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=59734&SPID=6548&DB_OEM_ID=14000&ATCLID=696988 America East Men's Basketball Players of the Year
  10. http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/sports/alltime.asp?intSID=6 Men's Ivy League Outstanding performers
  11. http://www.maacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17400&ATCLID=940275 Men's Basketball All-MAAC Awards
  12. http://mac-sports.com/pdf5/153033.pdf?ATCLID=1620714&SPSID=42971&SPID=3803&DB_OEM_ID=9400 2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section
  13. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/hori/genrel/auto_pdf/Records-MBB.pdf 2008–09 Horizon League Men's Basketball Record Book
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20200828070242/http://mvc-sports.com/pdf1/145747.pdf?ATCLID=1599065&SPID=2901&DB_OEM_ID=7600&SPSID=96987 2008–09 MVC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section
  15. http://www.ovcsports.com//pdf4/143211.pdf?SPSID=31046&SPID=2443&DB_OEM_ID=6200 2008–09 OVC men's basketball media guide
  16. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pac10/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/Honors.pdf 2008–09 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Media Guide- Honors Section
  17. http://www.bigwest.org/sports/mbball/0708_MB_Media_Guide.pdf 2008–09 Big West Men's Basketball Media Guide
  18. http://secsports.com/doc_lib/bkc_record_book.pdf 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book
  19. http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/honorsandawards.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section
  20. http://www.southland.org/pdf7/153625.pdf?ATCLID=1287496&SPSID=97316&SPID=10825&temp_site=NO&DB_OEM_ID=18400 2008–09 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide
  21. 2006–07 SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
  22. http://www.sunbeltsports.org/pdf7/93641.pdf?ATCLID=1293051&SPID=1825&DB_OEM_ID=4100&SPSID=22332 2007–08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide
  23. http://www.atlanticsun.org/media/2008-09/pdf/Records-MBasketball.pdf Atlantic Sun men's basketball record book
  24. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/west/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2008-09mbbrecordbook.pdf 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide
  25. https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf7/154041.pdf?ATCLID=1623469&SPSID=45986&SPID=4126&DB_OEM_ID=10100 2008–09 WAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section
  26. . 1987 NCAA Basketball Record Book, pages 117–121. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Fall 1987 .