| Year: | 1986 |
| Preseason Ap: | North Carolina |
| Tourney Start: | March 12 |
| Nc Date: | 30, 1987 |
| Champ Stad: | Louisiana Superdome |
| Champ City: | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Champ: | Indiana |
| Nit Champ: | Southern Miss |
| Playeroftheyear: | David Robinson, Navy |
The 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1986 and ended with the Final Four in New Orleans on March 30, 1987.
Beginning in 1986–87, the following rules changes were implemented:[2]
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[3]
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A total of 17 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, DePaul (28–3) had both the best winning percentage (.903) and the most wins.[27]
| Player | School | PPG | Player | School | RPG | Player | School | APG | Player | School | SPG | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32.9 | 13.5 | 10.7 | 4.1 | ||||||||||||
| 29.0 | 13.3 | 10.7 | 3.5 | ||||||||||||
| 28.2 | 12.4 | Tony Fairley | Baptist | 9.6 | 3.4 | ||||||||||
| 28.1 | David Robinson | Navy | 11.8 | 9.5 | 3.4 | ||||||||||
| 27.2 | 11.5 | Wagner | 9.3 | 3.2 | |||||||||||
| Player | School | BPG | Player | School | FG% | Player | School | 3FG% | Player | School | FT% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Robinson | Navy | 4.5 | Alan Williams | 70.3 | 57.1 | Kevin Houston | Army | 91.2 | |||||||
| 4.4 | 67.8 | 54.7 | 91.0 | ||||||||||||
| 3.9 | 65.6 | Anthony Davis | 53.6 | 90.9 | |||||||||||
| 3.5 | 64.7 | SF Austin | 53.5 | Temple | 90.4 | ||||||||||
| 3.2 | 63.7 | 53.0 | 90.4 | ||||||||||||
See main article: 1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
See main article: 1987 National Invitation Tournament.
See main article: 1987 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.
| Player | Position | Class | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Alford | G | Senior | Indiana | |
| Danny Manning | F | Junior | Kansas | |
| David Robinson | C | Senior | Navy | |
| Kenny Smith | G | Senior | North Carolina | |
| Reggie Williams | F | Senior | Georgetown |
| Player | Position | Class | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armon Gilliam | F | Senior | UNLV | |
| Horace Grant | F/C | Senior | Clemson | |
| Dennis Hopson | G | Senior | Ohio State | |
| Mark Jackson | G | Senior | St. John's | |
| Ken Norman | F | Senior | Illinois |
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canisius | Nick Macarchuk | Marty Marbach | ||
| George Mason | Joe Harrington | Rick Barnes | ||
| Long Beach State | Ron Palmer | Joe Harrington | ||
| Monmouth | Ron Kornegay | Ron Krayl | Kornegay resigned on December 19, 1986. Krayl served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. | |
| Monmouth | Ron Krayl | Wayne Szoke | Krayl's tenure as interim head coach ended with the end of the season. Szoke took over as permanent head coach for the following season. | |
| Providence | Rick Pitino | Gordon Chiesa | Following a season in which he led Providence to the Final Four, Pitino accepted the head coaching position for the New York Knicks.[29] He was replaced with top assistant Chiesa. | |