1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season explained
The 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Kentucky Wildcats earned their seventh national championship by defeating the Utah Utes 78–69 on March 30, 1998. They were coached by Tubby Smith and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Kentucky's Jeff Shepherd.
In the 32-team 1998 National Invitation Tournament, the Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Following the season, the 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First team included Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, and Miles Simon. The consensus second team was composed of Vince Carter, Mateen Cleaves, Pat Garrity, Richard Hamilton, and Ansu Sesay.
Season headlines
Pre-season polls
The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll.
Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 1997–98 season.
Regular season
Conference winners and tournaments
28 conference seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament, with only the Ivy League and the Pac-10 choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Conference tournament winners generally 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 |
|---|
| | Speedy Claxton, Hofstra[2] | | Bob Carpenter Center
(Newark, Delaware) | Delaware[3] |
| Temple (East)
Xavier (West) | Cuttino Mobley, Rhode Island[4] | | The Spectrum
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | Xavier[5] |
| | Antawn Jamison, North Carolina[6] | | Greensboro Coliseum
(Greensboro, North Carolina) | North Carolina[7] |
| | Raef LaFrentz, Kansas[8] | | Kemper Arena
(Kansas City, Missouri) | Kansas[9] |
| Connecticut (Big East 6)
Syracuse (Big East 7) | Richard Hamilton, Connecticut[10] | | Madison Square Garden
(New York City, New York) | Connecticut |
| | Andrew Mavis, Northern Arizona[11] | | Dee Events Center
(Ogden, Utah) | Northern Arizona |
| | Josh Pittman, UNC Asheville[12] | | Vines Center
(Lynchburg, Virginia) | Radford |
| | Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State[13] | | United Center
(Chicago, Illinois) | Michigan |
| Pacific (Eastern)
Utah State (Western) | Michael Olowokandi, Pacific[14] | | Lawlor Events Center
(Reno, Nevada) | Utah State |
| | Jarod Stevenson, Richmond[15] | | Richmond Coliseum
(Richmond, Virginia) | Richmond |
| Cincinnati (American)
Memphis (National) | DeMarco Johnson, Charlotte[16] | | Shoemaker Center
(Cincinnati, Ohio) | Cincinnati |
| | Steve Goodrich, Princeton[17] | No Tournament |
| | Kashif Hameed, Iona[18] | | Pepsi Arena
(Buffalo, New York) | Iona[19] |
| Akron (East)
Ball State (West) | Bonzi Wells, Ball State[20] | | SeaGate Convention Centre
(Toledo, Ohio) | Eastern Michigan |
| | Bryce Drew, Valparaiso[21] | | The MARK of the Quad Cities
(Moline, Illinois) | Valparaiso |
| | | | Richmond Coliseum
(Richmond, Virginia) | South Carolina State |
| | Mark Miller, Illinois-Chicago[22] | | Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena
(Green Bay, Wisconsin) | Butler |
| | Rico Hill, Illinois State[23] | | Savvis Center
(St. Louis, Missouri) | Illinois State |
| | Charles Jones, Long Island[24] | | Spiro Sports Center
(Staten Island, New York) | Fairleigh Dickinson[25] |
| | De'Teri Mayes, Murray State[26] | | Gaylord Entertainment Center
(Nashville, Tennessee)
(Semifinals and Finals) | Murray State |
| | Mike Bibby, Arizona[27] | No Tournament |
| | Stefan Ciosici, Lafayette[28] | | Kirby Sports Center
(Easton, Pennsylvania) | Navy[29] |
| Kentucky (East)
Ole Miss (West) | Ansu Sesay, Ole Miss[30] | | Georgia Dome
(Atlanta, Georgia) | Kentucky |
| Appalachian State (North)
Chattanooga (South) | Bobby Phillips, Western Carolina (Coaches)[31] & Chuck Vincent, Furman (Media) | | Greensboro Coliseum
(Greensboro, North Carolina) | Davidson[32] |
| | Roderic Hall, UTSA[33] | | Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
(Shreveport, Louisiana)
(Semifinals & Finals) | Nicholls State |
| | Randy Bolden, Texas Southern[34] | | F. G. Clark Center
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana) | Prairie View A&M |
| | Chico Fletcher, Arkansas State[35] | | Cajundome
(Lafayette, Louisiana) | South Alabama |
| Charleston (East)
Georgia State
(West) | Mark Jones, UCF[36] | | Memorial Coliseum
(Jacksonville, Florida) | Charleston |
| | Bakari Hendrix, Gonzaga[37] | | Toso Pavilion
(Santa Clara, California) | San Francisco |
| TCU (Mountain)
Utah (Pacific) | Lee Nailon, TCU[38] | | Thomas & Mack Center
(Las Vegas, Nevada) | UNLV | |
Statistical leaders
Source for additional stats categories
| | | | | | |
| Player | School | PPG | | Player | School | RPG | | Player | School | APG | | Player | School | SPG |
|---|
| | 29.0 | | | | 12.5 | | | | 9.2 | | | | 3.6 |
| | 25.7 | | | | 11.9 | | | | 8.3 | | | | 3.4 |
| | 24.9 | | | | 11.4 | | | | 8.0 | | | | 3.3 |
| | 24.7 | | | | 11.2 | | | | 7.4 | | | | 3.1 |
| | 23.3 | | | | 11.2 | | | | 7.4 | | | | 3.1 | |
| | | | | | |
| Player | School | BPG | | Player | School | FG% | | Player | School | 3FG% | | Player | School | FT% |
|---|
| | 4.6 | | | | 65.0 | | | | 56.4 | | | | 92.3 |
| | 4.4 | | | | 65.0 | | | | 51.7 | | | | 91.1 |
| | 4.3 | | | | 64.0 | | | | 51.3 | | | | 91.1 |
| | 3.9 | | | | 63.3 | | | | 51.3 | | | | 90.0 |
| | 3.5 | | | | 63.2 | | | | 50.8 | | | | 90.0 | |
Postseason tournaments
NCAA tournament
See main article: 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
National Invitation tournament
See main article: 1998 National Invitation Tournament.
Semifinals & finals
- Third Place - Georgia 95, Fresno State 79
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams
See main article: 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans. [39]
Major player of the year awards
Major freshman of the year awards
Major coach of the year awards
Other major awards
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
- Web site: 2010–11 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Media Guide – History & Records . . 2010 . 2011-01-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110817084230/http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/MBasketball/2010-11media-guide/4-10-11-History.pdf . 2011-08-17.
- 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
