La Salle Explorers men's basketball explained

La Salle Explorers Basketball
Current:2023–24 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team
University:La Salle University
Conference:Atlantic 10
Location:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coach:Fran Dunphy
Tenure:2nd
Arena:Tom Gola Arena
Capacity:3,400
Nickname:Explorers
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A Body:00386B
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Ncaachampion:1954
Ncaarunnerup:1955
Ncaafinalfour:1954, 1955
Ncaaeliteeight:1954, 1955
Ncaasweetsixteen:1954, 1955, 2013
Ncaaroundof32:1975, 1978, 1983, 1990, 2013
Ncaatourneys:1954, 1955, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2013
Conference Tournament:East Coast

1975, 1978, 1980, 1983
MAAC: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992

Conference Season:1968, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1983 (ECC)
1984, 1988, 1989 (MAAC)

The La Salle Explorers men's basketball program represents La Salle University in college basketball.

Rivalries

The Explorers, a member of the Big 5, have long-standing rivalries with multiple institutions including Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph's University, and Villanova University. La Salle also has a rivalry with Drexel University who were previously a member of the now defunct City 6, and who were added to the Big 5 in 2023.

History

The program has been rated the 53rd "Greatest College Basketball Program of All-Time" by Street & Smith's magazine and 71st by the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia.

La Salle has won one National Championship, one National Invitation Tournament Championship, and advanced to two Final Fours. The Explorers have also made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, won eight Philadelphia Big 5 city championships, and four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships. The program is one of only two schools (with Houston) to have two players in the top 25 in all-time NCAA scoring – Lionel Simmons and Michael Brooks. It's also had three National Players of the Year.[1]

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Explorers have appeared in the NCAA tournament 12 times. Their combined record is 14–11. They were National Champions in 1954 and National Finalists in 1955.

First round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
National Championship 		Fordham
NC State
Navy
Penn State
Bradley 		W 76–74OT
W 88–81
W 64–48
W 69–54
W 92–76
First round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
National Championship 		West Virginia
Princeton
Canisius
Iowa
San Francisco 		W 95–61
W 73–46
W 99–64
W 73–76
L 63–77
First round Columbia L 69–83
First round Syracuse L 83–87OT
First round Villanova L 97–103
No. 11 First round No. 6 Purdue L 82–90
No. 12 Preliminary Round
First Round 		No. 12 Boston University
#5 VCU 		W 70–58
L 67–76
No. 13 First round No. 4 Kansas State L 53–66
No. 9 First round No. 8 Louisiana Tech L 74–83
No. 4 First round
Second Round 		No. 13 Southern Miss
#5 Clemson 		W 79–63
L 75–79
No. 13 First round No. 4 Seton Hall L 76–78
No. 13 First Four
Second Round
Third Round
Sweet Sixteen 		No. 13 Boise State
#4 Kansas State
#12 Ole Miss
#9 Wichita State 		W 80–71
W 63–61
W 76–74
L 58–72

NIT results

The Explorers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 12 times. Their combined record is 9–11. They were NIT champions in 1952, when the tournament was considered an elite event.

Quarter-finals WKU L 61–68
First round
Quarterfinals 		Arizona
Duquesne 		W 72–66
L 47–49
First round Saint Louis L 61–73
First round
Quarterfinals
Semi-finals
Finals 		Seton Hall
St. John's
Duquesne
Dayton 		W 80–76
W 51–45
W 59–46
W 75–64
Quarter-finals St. John's L 74–75
First round Saint Louis L 61–63
First round Detroit L 86–93
First round Georgia Tech L 67–70
First round Pittsburgh L 91–95
First round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Semi-finals
Finals 		Villanova
Niagara
Illinois State
Arkansas–Little Rock
Southern Miss 		W 86–84
W 89–81
W 70–50
W 92–73
L 80–84
First round Massachusetts L 90–93
First round Minnesota L 61–70

Explorers in the NBA

La Salle has an extensive history of players who played professional basketball, including:

Explorers in international leagues

Retired numbers

See main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers. La Salle has retired five jersey numbers:[2]

La Salle Explorers retired numbers
width=40px style="" No.width=150px style="" Playerwidth=70px style="" Pos.width=100px style="" Career
15 1951–1955
22 1986–1990
20 1966–1969
32 1976–1980
33 1968–1971

Coaches

See main article: List of La Salle Explorers men's basketball head coaches. Previous head coach Dr. John Giannini previously coached at Rowan College, where he won the NCAA Division III national championship in 1996, and the University of Maine, where he left with the Black Bears' best winning percentage in school history.

On April 8, 2018, La Salle announced Ashley Howard as the next head coach of the Explorers.[3] Howard previously served as an assistant coach under Jay Wright at Villanova University. As assistant coach, he helped lead the Wildcats to two NCAA Division 1 basketball championships. After four losing seasons at La Salle, Howard was fired.

On April 5, 2022, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the La Salle would hire Fran Dunphy to be the Explorer's next men's basketball coach.[4]

Year-by-Year Records

La Salle has held membership in five conferences throughout its existence. After being an independent for several years they officially joined the Middle Atlantic Conference in 1958, before the larger schools in the conference created the East Coast Conference in 1974. In 1983 the team switched to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), staying until joining the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now known as the Horizon League) in 1992. In 1995 the team joined fellow Philadelphia Big 5 teams Temple and Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

15–8
13–3
14–3
15–6
4–13
12–7
13–6
13–6
12–8
11–8
12–11
13–10
1943–448–8
1944–4511–8
1945–469–14
1946–4720–6
1947–4820–4NIT
1948–4911–8Cincinnati Invitational Tournament
1949–5021–4NIT
1950–5122–7NIT
25–7NIT champion
1952–5325–3NIT
26–4NCAA champion
26–5NCAA finalist
1955–5615–10
1956–5717–9
1957–5816–9
1958–5916–75–2
1959–6016–66–1
1960–6115–77–2
1961–6216–95–3
1962–6316–87–1NIT
1963–6416–95–1
1964–6515–84–1NIT
1965–6610–153–2
1966–6714–122–3
1967–6820–88–0NCAA tournament
1968–6923–17–0
  • Suspended from Postseason
1969–7014–123–2
1970–7120–75–1NIT
1971–726–192–4
1972–7315–103–3
1973–7418–105–1
1974–7522–75–1NCAA tournament
1975–7611–151–4
1976–7717–123–2
1977–7818–125–0NCAA tournament
1978–7915–1310–3
1979–8022–97–4NCAA tournament
1980–8114–138–3
1981–8216–137–4
1982–8318–147–2NCAA tournament
1983–8420–1111–3NIT
1984–8515–138–6
1985–8614–148–6
1986–8720–1310–4NIT Finalist
1987–8824–1014–0NCAA tournament
26–613–1NCAA tournament
30–216–0NCAA tournament
1990–9119–1012–4NIT
1991–9220–1112–4NCAA tournament
1992–9314–139–5
1993–9411–164–6
1994–9513–147–7
1995–966–243–13
1996–9710–175–11
1997–989–185–11
1998–9913–158–8
1999-0011–175–11
2000–0112–175–11
2001–0215–176–10
2002–0313–166–10
2003–0410–205–11
2004–0510–195–11
2005–0618–1010–6
2006–0710–203–13
2007–0815–178–8
2008–0918–139–7
2009–1012–184–12
2010–1114–166–10
21–129–7NIT
23–911–5NCAA round of 16
15–167–9
17–168–10
9–224–14
15–159–9
13–197–11
10–218–10
15–156–12
9–166–11
11–195–13
15–197–11
16–176–12

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Did You Know?! :: A Few Things You Should Know About Explorer Athletics . 2007-03-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070714191224/http://goexplorers.cstv.com/genrel/020907aab.html . 2007-07-14 . dead .
  2. https://www.lasalle.edu/magazine/story/explorers-never-stop/ "Exploreres never stop"
  3. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/la_salle/ashley-howard-will-be-next-la-salle-basketball-coach-20180408
  4. News: Sources: La Salle to hire Fran Dunphy as men's basketball coach . April 5, 2022 . . April 5, 2022.

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