ASUN men's basketball tournament

Last updated
ASUN men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
Sport Basketball
Conference ASUN Conference (2002–present)
Trans America Athletic Conference (1979–2001)
Number of teams10
Format Single-elimination tournament
Current stadiumcampus sites
Current locationcampus sites
Played1979–present
Last contest 2024
Current champion Stetson Hatters (1)
Most championships Belmont Bruins (5)
TV partner(s) ESPN
Official website ASUN men's basketball

The ASUN Conference men's basketball tournament (formerly known as the Trans America Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament between 1979 and 2001) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the ASUN Conference, formerly known as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) and Atlantic Sun Conference. The tournament has been held every year since 1979, except for 1992–93.

Contents

It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, as long as it is eligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play. The eligibility issue applied in both 2021 and 2022, with each final featuring a team representing a transitional member of Division I (North Alabama in 2021 [1] and Bellarmine in 2022 [2] ). Under NCAA rules, a school transitioning from NCAA Division II is not eligible for NCAA-sponsored D-I postseason play (either the NCAA tournament or the NIT) during its four-year transitional period. [3] North Alabama began its transition in July 2018 and was thus ineligible for the NCAA tournament or NIT through the 2021–22 season; Bellarmine began its transition in July 2020 and is thus ineligible for said events through 2023–24. Should a transitional school win the tournament, ASUN rules call for the regular-season champion to receive the automatic bid. North Alabama lost its final, making the issue moot for 2021, but Bellarmine won in 2022, giving Jacksonville State that season's automatic bid.

The Atlantic Sun tournament is the earliest of the NCAA Division I men's tournaments and its champion is the first to lock in an NCAA bid.

History

Trans America Athletic Conference

YearChampionScoreRunner-upMVPLocation
1979 Northeast Louisiana 90–69 Mercer Calvin Natt, Northeast Louisiana [4] Fant–Ewing ColiseumMonroe, Louisiana
1980 Centenary 79–77Northeast Louisiana George Lett, Centenary [4]
1981 Mercer72–67 Houston Baptist Tony Gattis, Mercer [4] Hirsch ColiseumShreveport, Louisiana
1982 Northeast Louisiana98–85CentenaryDonald Wilson, Northeast Louisiana [4] Fant–Ewing Coliseum • Monroe, Louisiana
1983 Georgia Southern 68–67 Arkansas–Little Rock Jim Lampley, UALR [4] Barton ColiseumLittle Rock, Arkansas
1984 Houston Baptist81–76 Samford Craig Beard, Samford [4] Spring Branch ColiseumHouston, Texas
1985 Mercer105–96Arkansas–Little Rock Sam Mitchell, Mercer [4] Hanner FieldhouseStatesboro, Georgia
1986 Arkansas–Little Rock85–63CentenaryMichael Clarke, UALR [4] Barton ColiseumLittle Rock, Arkansas
1987 Georgia Southern49–46 Stetson Jeff Sanders, Georgia Southern [4]
1988 Texas–San Antonio 76–69Georgia SouthernFrank Hampton, UTSA [4] Ocean CenterDaytona Beach, Florida
1989 Arkansas–Little Rock100–72CentenaryJeff Cummings, UALR [4] Barton Coliseum • Little Rock, Arkansas
1990 Arkansas–Little Rock105–95CentenaryDerrick Owens, UALR [4]
1991 Georgia State 80–60Arkansas–Little RockChris Collier, Georgia State [4] Edmunds CenterDeLand, Florida
1992 Georgia Southern95–82Georgia State Charlton Young, Georgia Southern [4] Hanner Fieldhouse • Statesboro, Georgia
1993No tournament
1994 Central Florida 70–67StetsonVictor Saxton, UCF [4] UCF ArenaOrlando, Florida
1995 Florida International 68–57MercerJames Mazyck, FIU [4]
1996 Central Florida86–77MercerHarry Kennedy, UCF [4] Edmunds CenterDeLand, Florida
1997 College of Charleston 83–73Florida International Anthony Johnson, C of C [4] John Kresse ArenaCharleston, South Carolina
1998 College of Charleston72–63Florida International Sedric Webber, C of C [4]
1999 Samford89–61Central Florida Marc Salyers, Samford [4] Jacksonville ColiseumJacksonville, Florida
2000 Samford81–68Central Florida Marc Salyers, Samford [4]
2001 Georgia State79–55 Troy State Thomas Terrell, Georgia State [4] GSU Sports ArenaAtlanta, Georgia

Atlantic Sun/ASUN Conference

YearChampionScoreRunner-upMVPLocation
2002 Florida Atlantic 76–75Georgia State Thomas Terrell, Georgia State [4] UCF ArenaOrlando, Florida
2003 Troy State80–59Central FloridaBen Fletcher, Troy [4] GSU Sports Arena • Atlanta
2004 Central Florida60–55Troy StateDexter Lyons, UCF [4] Curb Event CenterNashville, Tennessee
2005 Central Florida63–54Gardner–WebbGary Johnson, UCF [4]
2006 Belmont74–69OTLipscombJustin Hare, Belmont [4] Memorial CenterJohnson City, Tennessee
2007 Belmont94–67East Tennessee StateJustin Hare, Belmont [4]
2008 Belmont79–61JacksonvilleShane Dansby, Belmont [4] Allen Arena • Nashville, Tennessee
2009 East Tennessee State85–68Jacksonville Kevin Tiggs, ETSU [4]
2010 East Tennessee State72–66MercerMicah Williams, ETSU [4] University CenterMacon, Georgia
2011 Belmont 87–46 North Florida Mick Hedgepeth, Belmont [4]
2012 Belmont 83–69 Florida Gulf Coast Kerron Johnson, Belmont [4]
2013 Florida Gulf Coast 88–75 Mercer Brett Comer, FGCU [4]
2014 Mercer 68–60 Florida Gulf Coast Langston Hall, Mercer Alico ArenaFort Myers, Florida
2015 North Florida 63–57 USC Upstate Demarcus Daniels, North Florida UNF Arena • Jacksonville, Florida
2016 Florida Gulf Coast 80–78OT Stetson Marc-Eddy Norelia, FGCU Alico ArenaFort Myers, Florida
2017 Florida Gulf Coast 77–61 North Florida Brandon Goodwin, FGCU
2018 Lipscomb 108–96 Florida Gulf Coast Garrison Mathews, Lipscomb
2019 Liberty 74–68 Lipscomb Scottie James, Liberty Allen Arena • Nashville, Tennessee
2020 Liberty 73–57 Lipscomb Caleb Homesley, Liberty Vines Center • Lynchburg, Virginia
2021 Liberty 79–75 North Alabama Darius McGhee, Liberty UNF Arena • Jacksonville, Florida
2022 Bellarmine 77–72 Jacksonville Dylan Penn, Bellarmine Freedom HallLouisville, Kentucky
2023 Kennesaw State 67–66 Liberty Terrell Burden, Kennesaw State KSU Convocation CenterKennesaw, Georgia
2024 Stetson 94–91 Austin Peay Jalen Blackmon, Stetson Edmunds CenterDeLand, Florida

Broadcasters

YearNetworkPlay-by-playAnalyst
2024 ESPN2 Mike Corey Richard Hendrix
2023 Tim McCormick
2022 Bob Valvano
2021 ESPN Anish Shroff Jon Sundvold
2020 Mike Corey Jon Crispin
2019 Anish Shroff Cory Alexander
2018
2017 ESPN2 Kevin Brown
2016 Tom Hart
2015
2014 Jason Benetti
2013 [5] Roy Philpott Dereck Whittenburg
2012 [6] Adam Amin Bob Valvano
2011 [7] Mark Jones
2010 [8] Rob Stone Tim McCormick
2009 [9] ESPN Eric Collins Bob Valvano
2008
2007 [10] ESPN2 Jon Sciambi Bucky Waters
2006ESPN Lou Canellis
1998 Dewayne Staats Len Elmore

Performance by school

SchoolChampionshipsYears
Belmont [a]
5
2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012
UCF [a]
4
1994, 1996, 2004, 2005
Arkansas-Little Rock [a] [b]
3
1986, 1989, 1990
Georgia Southern [a]
3
1983, 1987, 1992
Florida Gulf Coast
3
2013, 2016, 2017
Liberty [a]
3
2019, 2020, 2021
Mercer [a]
3
1981, 1985, 2014
College of Charleston [a] [c]
2
1997, 1998
East Tennessee State [a]
2
2009, 2010
Georgia State [a]
2
1991, 2001
Northeast Louisiana [a] [d]
2
1979, 1982
Samford [a]
2
1999, 2000
Bellarmine
1
2022
Centenary [a]
1
1980
Florida Atlantic [a]
1
2002
Florida International [a] [e]
1
1995
Houston Baptist [a] [f]
1
1984
Kennesaw State
1
2023
Lipscomb
1
2018
North Florida
1
2015
Stetson
1
2024
Troy [a]
1
2003
UTSA [a]
1
1988
TOTAL
45

Teams in bold are ASUN members as of the upcoming 2024–25 NCAA basketball season.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 No longer a conference member.
  2. Branded athletically as Little Rock since the 2015–16 school year.
  3. Now athletically branded as Charleston.
  4. Known since 1999 as Louisiana–Monroe (in full, the University of Louisiana at Monroe). For athletic branding purposes, the school typically uses "ULM", but accepts "Louisiana–Monroe".
  5. Now athletically branded as FIU.
  6. Known as Houston Christian since September 21, 2022.

See also

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References

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  3. "Why Merrimack must sit out March Madness in its historic season and is in first place in its conference" CBS Sports. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
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