1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season explained

Year:	1987
Preseason Ap:	Syracuse
Tourney Start:	March 17, 1988
Nc Date:	April 4, 1988
Champ Stad:	Kemper Arena
Champ City:	Kansas City, Missouri
Champ:	Kansas
Nit Champ:	Connecticut
Playeroftheyear:	Danny Manning, Kansas

The 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1987 and ended with the Final Four in Kansas City, Missouri on April 4, 1988.

Season headlines

• The Oklahoma became the first school to play for the national championship in both college football and college basketball in the same academic year.^[1] The football team lost the Orange Bowl on January 1, 1988, and in the 1988 NCAA tournament the basketball team lost the NCAA championship game on April 4, 1988.

Major rule changes

Beginning in 1987–88, the following rules changes were implemented:

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.^[2]

Associated Press Ranking Team 1 Syracuse 2 Purdue 3 North Carolina 4 Pittsburgh 5 Kentucky 6 Indiana 7 Kansas 8 Missouri 9 Michigan 10 Wyoming 11 Iowa 12 Temple 13 Louisville 14 Florida 15 Duke 16 Georgetown 17 Arizona 18 Georgia Tech 19 Oklahoma 20 DePaul

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 1987–88 season.

School	Former conference	New conference
Arkansas State	Southland Conference	American South Conference
Lamar	Southland Conference	American South Conference
Louisiana Tech	Southland Conference	American South Conference
New Orleans	NCAA Division I Independent	American South Conference
SW Louisiana	NCAA Division I Independent	American South Conference
Texas-Pan American	NCAA Division I Independent	American South Conference
UCF	NCAA Division I Independent	American South Conference
UMKC	None (no team)	NCAA Division I Independent

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner^[3]	Conference player of the year	Conference Coach of the Year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
		Ledell Eackles, New Orleans			Montagne Center (Beaumont, Texas)	Louisiana Tech
			Charlie Spoonhour, Southwest Missouri State	No Tournament
		Tim Perry, Temple^[4]	John Chaney, Temple		WVU Coliseum (Morgantown, West Virginia)	Temple
		Danny Ferry, Duke^[5]			Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	Duke
		Charles Smith, Pittsburgh^[6]			Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)	Syracuse
		Danny Manning, Kansas^[7]	Billy Tubbs, Oklahoma		Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri)	Oklahoma
		Arnell Jones, Boise State^[8]	Bobby Dye, Boise State		Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (Bozeman, Montana)	Boise State
		Derek Wilson, Coastal Carolina			Winthrop Coliseum (Rock Hill, South Carolina)	Winthrop
			Gene Keady, Purdue	No Tournament
			Ed Tapscott, American &<br>Rick Barnes, George Mason		Hampton Coliseum (Hampton, Virginia)	Richmond
			Butch van Breda Kolff, Lafayette		Towson Center (Towson, Maryland)	Lehigh
		Rik Smits, Marist			Rothman Center (Hackensack, New Jersey)	Fairleigh Dickinson
		Larry Jones, Boston University^[9]			Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)	Boston University
		Paul Maley, Yale^[10]	None selected	No Tournament
		Lionel Simmons, La Salle^[11]	Speedy Morris, La Salle		Meadowlands Arena (East Rutherford, New Jersey)	La Salle
		Bimbo Coles, Virginia Tech & Pervis Ellison, Louisville	Frankie Allen, Virginia Tech		Mid-South Coliseum (Memphis, Tennessee)	Louisville
		Grant Long, Eastern Michigan^[12]	Ben Braun, Eastern Michigan		Centennial Hall (Toledo, Ohio)	Eastern Michigan
		Claude Williams, North Carolina A&T	Don Corbett, North Carolina A&T		Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	North Carolina A&T
		Byron Larkin, Xavier^[13]	Pete Gillen, Xavier		Market Square Arena (Indianapolis, Indiana)	Xavier
		Hersey Hawkins, Bradley^[14]	Stan Albeck, Bradley		Carver Arena (Peoria, Illinois)	Bradley
		Jeff Martin, Murray State^[15]	Steve Newton, Murray State		Racer Arena (Murray, Kentucky)	Murray State
		Sean Elliott, Arizona^[16]	Lute Olson, Arizona		McKale Center (Tucson, Arizona)	Arizona
		Brian Shaw, UC Santa Barbara^[17]	Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV		The Forum (Inglewood, California)	UNLV
		Will Perdue, Vanderbilt^[18]			Pete Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)	Kentucky
		Skip Henderson, Marshall^[19]			Asheville Civic Center (Asheville, North Carolina)	Tennessee–Chattanooga
		Deon Hunter, North Texas State^[20]	Jimmy Gales, North Texas State		UNT Coliseum (Denton, Texas)	North Texas State
		Darryl Middleton, Baylor^[21] ^[22]			Reunion Arena (Dallas, Texas)	SMU
		Avery Johnson, Southern^[23]	Ben Jobe, Southern			Southern
		Byron Dinkins, UNC Charlotte^[24]	Jeff Mullins, UNC Charlotte		Richmond Coliseum (Richmond, Virginia)	UNC Charlotte
		Jeff Sanders, Georgia Southern^[25]	Frank Kerns, Georgia Southern		Ocean Center (Daytona Beach, Florida)	Texas–San Antonio
		Levy Middlebrooks, Loyola Marymount^[26]	Paul Westhead, Loyola Marymount		War Memorial Gymnasium (San Francisco, California)	Loyola Marymount
		Michael Smith, BYU^[27]	LaDell Andersen, BYU		Jon M. Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)	Wyoming

Statistical leaders

Player	School	PPG		Player	School	RPG		Player	School	APG		Player	School	SPG
		36.3				13.5				13.3				4.9
		28.5				13.3			Bradley	12.0				4.1
		28.0				12.2				9.5				3.8
		26.1				11.7				8.7				3.6
		26.0				11.6				8.6		Avery Johnson	Southern	3.5

Player	School	BPG		Player	School	FG%		Player	School	3FG%		Player	School	FT%
		4.0				66.1				63.4				92.5
		3.9				65.8				57.3				90.8
Mike Brown		3.7				64.8				56.0				90.8
	Temple	3.6				64.8				54.8				90.6
		3.6				64.4				54.5				90.5

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

See main article: 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

National Invitation tournament

See main article: 1988 National Invitation Tournament.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

See main article: 1988 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Sean Elliott	F	Junior	Arizona
Gary Grant	G	Senior	Michigan
Hersey Hawkins	G	Senior	Bradley
Danny Manning	F	Senior	Kansas
J.R. Reid	F/C	Sophomore	North Carolina

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Danny Ferry	F	Junior	Duke
Jerome Lane	F	Junior	Pittsburgh
Mark Macon	G	Freshman	Temple
Mitch Richmond	G	Senior	Kansas State
Rony Seikaly	C	Senior	Syracuse
Michael Smith	F/C	Junior	Brigham Young

Major player of the year awards

• Wooden Award: Danny Manning, Kansas
• Naismith Award: Danny Manning, Kansas
• Associated Press Player of the Year: Hersey Hawkins, Bradley
• UPI Player of the Year: Hersey Hawkins, Bradley
• NABC Player of the Year: Danny Manning, Kansas
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Hersey Hawkins, Bradley
• Adolph Rupp Trophy: Hersey Hawkins, Bradley
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Hersey Hawkins, Bradley

Major coach of the year awards

• Associated Press Coach of the Year: John Chaney, Temple
• UPI Coach of the Year: John Chaney, Temple
• Henry Iba Award (USBWA): John Chaney, Temple
• NABC Coach of the Year: John Chaney, Temple
• Naismith College Coach of the Year: Larry Brown, Kansas
• CBS/Chevrolet Coach of the Year: John Chaney, Temple
• Sporting News Coach of the Year: John Chaney, Temple

Other major awards

• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Jerry Johnson, Florida Southern
• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Lionel Simmons, La Salle
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Mark Bryant, Seton Hall

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Drake	Gary Garner		Tom Abatemarco
Hardin–Simmons	Dick Danford		Dennis Harp
Kansas	Larry Brown		Roy Williams
Lamar	Tom Abatemarco		Tony Branch
UMass	Ron Gerlufson		John Calipari

Notes and References

1. Web site: Playing Rules History . . . ncaa.org . NCAA . June 25, 2024 . 12.
2. • Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 954. 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
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. News: SWC notes . Fort Worth Star-Telegram . Mike . Towle . March 11, 1988 . December 28, 2022 . 44 . Newspapers.com.
22. News: SMU, Baylor Highlight All-SWC . Tyler Morning Telegraph . March 8, 1988 . December 28, 2022 . 13 . Newspapers.com.
23. 2006–07 SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
24. 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
25. http://www.atlanticsun.org/media/2008-09/pdf/Records-MBasketball.pdf Atlantic Sun men's basketball record book
26. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/west/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2008-09mbbrecordbook.pdf 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide
27. 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