1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season explained
The 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Arizona Wildcats earned their first national championship by defeating the Kentucky Wildcats 84–79 on March 31, 1997. They were coached by Lute Olsen and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Arizona's Miles Simon.
In the 32-team 1997 National Invitation Tournament, the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Florida State Seminoles at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Michigan later vacated the 1997 NIT title after Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock were ruled ineligible.
Following the season, the 1997 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First team included Tim Duncan, Danny Fortson, Raef LaFrentz, Ron Mercer, and Keith Van Horn.
Season headlines
Pre-season polls
The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll.
Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 1996–97 season.
Regular season
Conference winners and tournaments
27 conference seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament, with only the Big Ten Conference, Ivy League and the Pac-10 Conference choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
| Conference | Regular
season winner[1] | Conference
player of the year | Conference
tournament | Tournament
venue (City) | Tournament
winner |
|---|
| | Tunji Awojobi, Boston University[2] | | Case Gym
(Boston, Massachusetts) | Boston University[3] |
| St. Joseph's (East)
Xavier (West) | Marc Jackson, Temple[4] | | The Spectrum
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | St. Joseph's[5] |
| | Tim Duncan, Wake Forest[6] | | Greensboro Coliseum
(Greensboro, North Carolina) | North Carolina[7] |
| | Raef LaFrentz, Kansas[8] | | Kemper Arena
(Kansas City, Missouri) | Kansas[9] |
| Boston College & Villanova (Big East 6)
Georgetown (Big East 7) | Pat Garrity, Notre Dame[10] | | Madison Square Garden
(New York City, New York) | Boston College |
| | Charles Thomas, Northern Arizona[11] | | Walkup Skydome
(Flagstaff, Arizona) | Montana |
| | Josh Pittman, UNC Asheville[12] | | Vines Center
(Lynchburg, Virginia) | Charleston Southern |
| Minnesota (Vacated) | Bobby Jackson, Minnesota (Vacated)[13] | No Tournament |
| Pacific (Western)
Nevada (Eastern) | Faron Hand, Nevada[14] | | Lawlor Events Center
(Reno, Nevada) | Pacific |
| | Odell Hodge, Old Dominion[15] | | Richmond Coliseum
(Richmond, Virginia) | Old Dominion |
| | Danny Fortson, Cincinnati[16] | | Kiel Center
(St. Louis, Missouri) | Marquette |
| | Sydney Johnson, Princeton[17] | No Tournament |
| | Mindaugas Timinskas, Iona[18] | | Marine Midland Arena
(Buffalo, New York) | Fairfield[19] |
| | Antonio Daniels, Bowling Green[20] | | SeaGate Convention Centre
(Toledo, Ohio) | Miami (OH) |
| | Bryce Drew, Valparaiso[21] | | The MARK of the Quad Cities
(Moline, Illinois) | Valparaiso |
| | | | Richmond Coliseum
(Richmond, Virginia) | Coppin State |
| | Jon Neuhouser, Butler[22] | | Nutter Center
(Dayton, Ohio) | Butler |
| | Jason Daisy, Northern Iowa[23] | | Kiel Center
(St. Louis, Missouri) | Illinois State |
| | Charles Jones, Long Island[24] | | Schwartz Athletic Center
(Brooklyn, New York) | Long Island[25] |
| | Bubba Wells, Austin Peay[26] | | Gaylord Entertainment Center
(Nashville, Tennessee)
(Semifinals and Finals) | Murray State |
| | Ed Gray, California[27] | No Tournament |
| | Adonal Foyle, Colgate[28] | | Alumni Hall
(Annapolis, Maryland) | Navy[29] |
| South Carolina (East)
Ole Miss (West) | Ron Mercer, Kentucky[30] | | Pyramid Arena
(Memphis, Tennessee) | Kentucky |
| Marshall (North)
Chattanooga (South) | Johnny Taylor, Chattanooga[31] | | Greensboro Coliseum
(Greensboro, North Carolina) | Chattanooga[32] |
| | Rosell Ellis, McNeese State[33] | | Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
(Shreveport, Louisiana) | Texas State |
| | Randy Bolden, Texas Southern[34] | | — | Jackson State |
| | Muntrelle Dobbins, Little Rock[35] | | Barton Coliseum
(Little Rock, Arkansas) | South Alabama |
| | Anthony Johnson, College of Charleston[36] | | John Kresse Arena
(Charleston, South Carolina) | College of Charleston |
| | Marlon Garnett, Santa Clara[37] | | Gersten Pavilion
(Los Angeles, California) | St. Mary's |
| Fresno State (Pacific)
Utah (Mountain) | Anthony Carter, Hawaii
Keith Van Horn, Utah[38] | | Thomas & Mack Center
(Las Vegas, Nevada) | Utah | |
Statistical leaders
Source for additional stats categories
| | | | | | |
| Player | School | PPG | | Player | School | RPG | | Player | School | APG | | Player | School | SPG |
|---|
| | 30.1 | | | | 14.7 | | | | 7.8 | | | | 3.2 |
| | 24.8 | | | | 13.1 | | | | 7.8 | | Philip Huyler | | 3.2 |
| | 24.4 | | | | 11.9 | | Kareem Gilbert | | 7.6 | | Kellii Taylor | | 3.2 |
| | 24.0 | | | | 11.8 | | Jamar Smiley | | 7.3 | | Moe Segar | | 3.1 |
| | 24.0 | | | | 11.4 | | Chad Peckinpaugh | | 7.3 | | Mustafa Barksdale | | 3.0 | |
| | | | | | |
| Player | School | BPG | | Player | School | FG% | | Player | School | 3FG% | | Player | School | FT% |
|---|
| | 6.4 | | | | .676 | | Corey Reed | | .476 | | Aaron Zobrist | | .906 |
| | 4.8 | | Sean Scott | | .670 | | D. J. Bosse | | .475 | | | | .904 |
| | 4.5 | | | | .668 | | | | .472 | | Jim Williamson | | .902 |
| | 4.4 | | Ed Sears | | .647 | | | | .471 | | | | .901 |
| | 4.2 | | | | .645 | | | | .457 | | | | .897 | |
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
See main article: 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
National Invitation tournament
See main article: 1997 National Invitation Tournament.
Semifinals & finals
- Third Place - Connecticut 74, Arkansas 64
Michigan later forfeited its entire 1996–97 schedule after Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor and Louis Bullock were found to have taken money from a Michigan booster.
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams
See main article: 1997 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans. [39]
Major player of the year awards
Major freshman of the year awards
- USBWA Freshman of the Year: No Award Given
- Sporting News Freshman of the Year: No Award Given
Major coach of the year awards
Other major awards
Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
Notes and References
- News: 2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2001. NCAA. 2009-02-04.
- http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=59734&SPID=6548&DB_OEM_ID=14000&ATCLID=696988 America East Players of the Year
- http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=59734&SPID=6548&DB_OEM_ID=14000&ATCLID=696978 America East Championship results
- 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
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/atl10/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/0809-mg-pt9.pdf 2008–09 A-10 men's basketball media guide – Championship section
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/1011mbbguide.pdf 2010–11 ACC men's basketball media guide
- News: 2010–11 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – History Section . Atlantic Coast Conference . 2010 . 2011-01-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121112155444/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/1011mbbguide.pdf . November 12, 2012 . mdy .
- http://www.big12sports.com//pdf1/147025.pdf 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section
- News: 2007–08 Big 12 Tournament Media Guide. March 2000. Big 12 Conference. 2011-01-27.
- 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 – Records section
- http://www.bigskyconf.com/documents/2010/11/12/10-11SEC3.pdf?id=1363 2010–11 Big Sky men's basketball media guide
- http://www.bigsouthsports.com/pdf8/724786.pdf 2010–11 Big South men's basketball media guide – History section
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/mbb_guide_awards_honors.pdf 2010–11 Big Ten Men's Basketball Media Guide
- http://www.bigwest.org/sports/mbball/mediaguides/2010/1011Honors.pdf 2010–11 Big West Conference men's basketball media guide
- http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/8500/supportfiles/Records/recordbookmbask.pdf CAA men's basketball record book
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/c-usa/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2010-11-color-mbk-mg.pdf 2010–11 Conference USA Men's Basketball Media Guide – History Section
- http://static.psbin.com/7/4/v5o6kh0libt1q9/05_MBkb_Year-by-year_History_10-11.pdf 2010–11 Ivy League men's basketball media guide
- http://www.maacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17400&ATCLID=940275 Men's Basketball All-MAAC Awards
- News: Men's Basketball Championship History. MAAC. June 30, 2007. 2011-01-27.
- http://mac-sports.com/downloads2/392065.pdf?ATCLID=205022348&SPSID=42971&SPID=3803&DB_OEM_ID=9400 2010–11 MAC men's basketball media guide
- http://www.thesummitleague.org/fls/3900/sports/mbball/mediaguides/2010-11/History%20Section_58-89.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=3900 2010–11 Summit League men's basketball media guide
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/hori/genrel/auto_pdf/Records-MBB.pdf 2008–09 Horizon League Men's Basketball Record Book
- http://epublish.multiad.com/MVC_MBB_2010-11/ 2010–11 MVC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section
- http://www.northeastconference.org/sports/1998/3/1/mballconf98.aspx 1998–99 NEC Men's Basketball All-Conference Team
- http://www.northeastconference.org/Sports/mbball/2010-11/guide/guide(68-101).pdf 1998–99 NEC Men's Basketball media guide
- http://www.ovcsports.com//pdf8/719596.pdf?SPSID=31046&SPID=2443&DB_OEM_ID=6200 2010–11 OVC men's basketball media guide
- http://www.pac-10.org/portals/7/images/MBasketball/2010-11media-guide/4-10-11-History.pdf 2010–11 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Media Guide- History Section
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/patr/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/HonorsAwardsRecords.pdf 2010–11 Patriot League Men's Basketball media guide
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/patr/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2010-11YearbyYear.pdf 2010–11 Patriot League Men's Basketball media guide
- http://sec.xosdigitallabs.com/Portals/3/SEC%20Website/menshoops/MenMediaGuide.pdf 2010–11 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book
- http://epublish.multiad.com/SoConBBall/ 2010–11 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section
- http://epublish.multiad.com/SoConBBall/ 2010–11 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section
- http://www.southland.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18400&KEY=&ATCLID=205021137&SPID=10825&SPSID=97316 2010–11 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/swac/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/BasketballMediaGuide.pdf 2010–11 SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
- http://www.sunbeltsports.org//pdf8/718997.pdf 2010–11 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide
- http://www.atlanticsun.org/media/2010-11/pdf/records-mbasketball.pdf Atlantic Sun men's basketball record book
- http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/west/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2010-11MBBGuide.pdf 2010–11 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide
- http://www.wacsports.com//pdf8/723552.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=10100 2010–11 WAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
- http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2012/Awards.pdf NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS
