Weber State Wildcats men's basketball

Last updated
Weber State Wildcats
Basketball current event.svg 2024–25 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team
Weber State Wildcats wordmark.svg
UniversityWeber State University
First season1962
All-time record1,061–613 (.634)
Head coach Eric Duft (3rd season)
Conference Big Sky
Location Ogden, Utah
Arena Dee Events Center
(capacity: 11,592)
Nickname Wildcats
ColorsPurple and white [1]
   
Uniforms
Kit body thinsidesonwhite.png
Kit body basketball.svg
Kit shorts blanksides2.png
Kit shorts.svg
Home
Kit body thinwhitesides.png
Kit body basketball.svg
Kit shorts whitesides.png
Kit shorts.svg
Away
Kit body.png
Kit body basketball.svg
Kit shorts whitesides.png
Kit shorts.svg
Alternate
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1969, 1972
NCAA tournament round of 32
1979, 1995, 1999
NCAA tournament appearances
1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2014, 2016
Conference tournament champions
1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2014, 2016
Conference regular season champions
1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2016

The Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team is the basketball team representing Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I, and is a member of the Big Sky Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2016. The Wildcats are currently coached by Eric Duft.

Contents

Street & Smith ranked Weber State 51st in its 2005 list of the 100 greatest college basketball programs of all time, [2] [3] while Jeff Sagarin placed the program 116th in his 2009 all-time rankings in the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. [4]

With a winning percentage of .630, the Wildcats have the 27th highest winning percentage in Division I college basketball through the end of the 2018–19 season.

Season by season records

Statistics overview
SeasonCoachOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Dick Motta (Big Sky)(1962–1968)
1962–63Dick Motta 22–4
1963–64Dick Motta 17–87–32nd
1964–65Dick Motta 22–38–21st
1965–66Dick Motta 20–58–2T–1st
1966–67Dick Motta 18–75–5T–3rd
1967–68Dick Motta 21–612–31stNCAA First Round
Dick Motta:120–33 (.784)40–15 (.727)
Phil Johnson (Big Sky)(1968–1971)
1968–69Phil Johnson 27–315–01stNCAA West Regionals
1969–70Phil Johnson 20–712–31stNCAA First Round
1970–71Phil Johnson 21–612–21stNCAA First Round
Phil Johnson:68–16 (.810)39–5 (.886)
Gene Visscher (Big Sky)(1971–1975)
1971–72Gene Visscher 18–1110–41stNCAA West Regionals
1972–73Gene Visscher 20–713–11stNCAA First Round
1973–74Gene Visscher 14–128–63rd
1974–75Gene Visscher 5–81–2
Gene Visscher:57–38 (.600)32–12 (.727)
Neil McCarthy (Big Sky)(1975–1985)
1974–75Neil McCarthy 6–7 (11–15)5–6 (6–8)5th
1975–76Neil McCarthy 21–119–5T–1st
1976–77Neil McCarthy 20–811–32nd
1977–78Neil McCarthy 19–109–53rdNCAA 1st Round
1978–79Neil McCarthy 25–910–41stNCAA 2nd Round
1979–80Neil McCarthy 26–313–11stNCAA 1st Round
1980–81Neil McCarthy 8–195–9T–5th
1981–82Neil McCarthy 15–136–8T–4th
1982–83Neil McCarthy 23–810–4T–1stNCAA 1st Round
1983–84Neil McCarthy 23–812–21stNIT 2nd Round
1984–85Neil McCarthy 20–99–53rd
Neil McCarthy:206–105 (.662)99–52 (.656)
Larry Farmer (Big Sky)(1985–1988)
1985–86Larry Farmer 18–117–7T–4th
1986–87Larry Farmer 7–224–108th
1987–88Larry Farmer 9–216–108th
Larry Farmer:34–54 (.386)17–27 (.386)
Denny Huston (Big Sky)(1988–1991)
1988–89Denny Huston 17–119–75th
1989–90Denny Huston 14–158–8T–5th
1990–91Denny Huston 12–167–9T–5th
Denny Huston:43–42 (.506)25–24 (.510)
Ron Abegglen (Big Sky)(1991–1999)
1991–92Ron Abegglen 16–1310–6T–3rd
1992–93Ron Abegglen 20–810–42nd
1993–94Ron Abegglen 21–911–3T–1st
1994–95Ron Abegglen 21–911–3T–1stNCAA Round of 32
1995–96Ron Abegglen 20–1010–4T–2nd
1996–97Ron Abegglen 15–139–7T–4th
1997–98Ron Abegglen 14–1312–42nd
1998–99Ron Abegglen 25–813–31stNCAA Round of 32
Ron Abegglen:152–83 (.647)86–34 (.717)
Joe Cravens (Big Sky)(1999–2006)
1999-00Joe Cravens 18–1010–6T–4th
2000–01Joe Cravens 15–148–8T–4th
2001–02Joe Cravens 18–118–63rd
2002–03Joe Cravens 26–614–01stNCAA First Round
2003–04Joe Cravens 15–147–72nd
2004–05Joe Cravens 14–167–75th
2005–06Joe Cravens 10–174–10T–7th
Joe Cravens:116–88 (.569)58–44 (.569)
Randy Rahe (Big Sky)(2006–2022)
2006–07Randy Rahe 20–1211–51st NCAA first round
2007–08Randy Rahe 16–1410–63rd
2008–09Randy Rahe 21–1015–11st NIT first round
2009–10Randy Rahe 20–1113–31st NIT first round
2010–11Randy Rahe 18–1411–53rd CBI first round
2011–12 Randy Rahe 25–714–22nd CIT second round
2012–13 Randy Rahe 30–718–22nd CIT Finals
2013–14 Randy Rahe 19–1214–61st NCAA second round
2014–15 Randy Rahe 13–178–10T–7th
2015–16 Randy Rahe 26–915–31st NCAA first round
2016–17 Randy Rahe 20–1412–6T–3rd CIT second round
2017–18 Randy Rahe 20–1113–5T–3rd
2018–19 Randy Rahe 18–1511–9T–4th
2019–20 Randy Rahe 12–208–12T–8th
2020–21 Randy Rahe 17–612–3T–2nd
2021–22 Randy Rahe 21-1213-7
Randy Rahe:312–184 (.629)195–82 (.704)
Eric Duft (Big Sky)(2022–Present)
2022–23 Eric Duft 18-1512-63rd
Eric Duft:7–9 (.438)2–1 (.667)
Total:1,092-649 (.627)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Updated through January 31, 2022 [5]

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Wildcats have appeared in 16 NCAA Tournaments, with a combined record of 6–17. Two of those wins are among the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history. In 1995, No. 14-seeded Weber State upset third-seeded Michigan State.

In 1999, led by Harold Arceneaux, the Wildcats, again a No. 14 seed, faced perennial powerhouse North Carolina in the first round in Seattle. North Carolina was making its 25th consecutive NCAA appearance and had been to the Final Four two years in a row. The Wildcats were heavy underdogs against the Tar Heels, but controlled the game, leading for most of the second half. North Carolina had no answer for Arceneaux, who scored from everywhere on the floor and finished with 36 points (20 in the second half). Weber State led by 10 points with 3:59 left in the game, and went on to win 76–74. They were the first team to defeat the Tar Heels in the first round since first-round byes were eliminated in 1985. The Wildcats pushed Florida to overtime in the second round before losing 82–74. These were the deepest tournament runs by a Big Sky team since Idaho advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1982.

YearSeedRoundOpponentResult
1968 Round of 23 New Mexico State L 57–68
1969 Round of 25
Sweet Sixteen
Regional third place
Seattle
Santa Clara
New Mexico State
W 75–73
L 59–63OT
W 58–56
1970 Round of 25 Long Beach State L 73–92
1971 Round of 25Long Beach StateL 66–77
1972 Round of 25
Sweet Sixteen
Regional third place
Hawaiʻi
No. 1 UCLA
San Francisco
W 91–64
L 58–90
L 64–74
1973 Round of 25Long Beach StateL 75–88
1978 Round of 32 Arkansas L 52–73
1979 No. 7 MWRound of 40
Round of 32
No. 10 New Mexico State
No. 2 Arkansas
W 81–78OT
L 63–74
1980 No. 7 WRound of 48No. 10 Lamar L 86–87
1983 No. 9 WRound of 48No. 8 Washington State L 52–62
1995 No. 14 SRound of 64
Round of 32
No. 3 Michigan State
No. 6 Georgetown
W 79–72
L 51–53
1999 No. 14 WRound of 64
Round of 32
No. 3 North Carolina
No. 6 Florida
W 76–74
L 74–82OT
2003 No. 12 MRound of 64No. 5 Wisconsin L 74–81
2007 No. 15 WRound of 64No. 2 UCLA L 42–70
2014 No. 16 WRound of 64No. 1 Arizona L 59–68
2016 No. 15 ERound of 64No. 2 Xavier L 53–71

NIT results

The Wildcats have appeared in three National Invitation Tournaments (NIT), with a combined record of 1–3.

YearRoundOpponentResult
1984 First Round
Second Round
Fordham
Southwestern Louisiana
W 75–63
L 72–74
2009 First Round San Diego State L 49–65
2010 First Round Cincinnati L 62–76

CBI results

The Wildcats have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and lost their opening game.

YearRoundOpponentResult
2011 First Round Oregon L 59–68

CIT results

The Wildcats have appeared in three CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournaments (CIT), with a combined record of 6–3. They advanced to the championship game in 2013.

YearRoundOpponentResult
2012 First Round
Second Round
Utah Valley
Loyola Marymount
W 72–69
L 78–84 OT
2013 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Championship Game
Cal Poly
Air Force
Oral Roberts
Northern Iowa
East Carolina
W 85–43
W 78–57
W 83–74
W 59–56
L 74–77
2017 First Round
Second Round
Cal State Fullerton
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
W 80–76
L 73–82

Honors and accolades

Retired numbers

NumberPlayerYearsYear retired
1 Damian Lillard 2008–20122017
22 Bruce Collins 1976–19802016
35 Willie Sojourner 1968–19712015

Weber State players in the NBA/ABA

The following former Wildcats have appeared in at least one NBA or ABA game:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Williams (basketball coach)</span> American basketball player and coach (born 1950)

Roy Allen Williams is an American retired college basketball coach who served as the men's head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels for 18 seasons and the Kansas Jayhawks for 15 seasons. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Guthridge</span> American basketball coach (1937–2015)

William Wallace Guthridge was an American college basketball coach. Guthridge initially gained recognition after serving for thirty years as Dean Smith's assistant at the University of North Carolina and summing many wins as a result. Following Smith's retirement in 1997, Guthridge was head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons. He took the team to the NCAA Final Four twice and was named national coach of the year in 1998, before retiring in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubert Davis</span> American basketball player and coach (born 1970)

Hubert Ira Davis Jr. is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 1988–1992 and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and New Jersey Nets from 1992 to 2004. He holds the franchise single-season and career three-point field goal shooting percentage records for both the Knicks and the Mavericks. He is the nephew of Walter Davis, another former Tar Heel and NBA player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament</span> Edition of USA college basketball tournament

The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2008–09 season. The 71st annual edition of the tournament began on March 17, 2009, and concluded with the championship game on April 6 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

Harold Arcenaux is an American former basketball player. He played college basketball at Weber State, and is best known for leading the Wildcats to an upset victory over North Carolina in the 1999 NCAA tournament.

The Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Virginia. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Virginia has won the NCAA Championship, two National Invitation Tournaments, and three ACC tournament titles. The team is coached by Tony Bennett and plays home games at the on-campus John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) which opened in 2006. They have been called the Cavaliers since 1923, predating the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA by half a century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball</span> Intercollegiate basketball team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The North Carolina Tar Heels Men's basketball program is a college basketball team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have won six NCAA championships in addition to a 1924 Helms Athletic Foundation title (retroactive). North Carolina has won a record 133 NCAA tournament matchups while advancing to 31 Sweet Sixteen berths, a record 21 Final Fours, and 12 title games. It is the only school to have an active streak of reaching the National Championship game for nine straight decades and at least two Final Fours for six straight decades, all while averaging more wins per season played (20.7) than any other program in college basketball. In 2012, ESPN ranked North Carolina No. 1 on its list of the 50 most successful programs of the past fifty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villanova Wildcats men's basketball</span> Basketball team for Villanova University, Pennsylvania, US

The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball program represent Villanova University in men's college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. Their first season was the 1920–21 season. Named the Wildcats, Villanova is a member of the Philadelphia Big Five, five Philadelphia college basketball teams who share a passionate rivalry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wofford Terriers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Wofford College

The Wofford Terriers are the athletic teams that represent the Wofford College, located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in intercollegiate sports at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Southern Conference since the 1997–98 academic year. Wofford and the other SoCon members play football in the Football Championship Subdivision. Prior to the 1995–96 year, the Terriers played in Division II in all sports, and until the 1988–89 period, Wofford's athletic teams were members of the NAIA. The football team plays in Gibbs Stadium. The basketball teams moved to the new Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium for the 2017–18 season.

The Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represents Kansas State University in college basketball competition. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I, and is a member of the Big 12 Conference. The head coach is Jerome Tang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008–09 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2008–09 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The head coach was Roy Williams. The team played its home games in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team won the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the fifth NCAA national title in school history. Considered one of the greatest teams in college basketball history, the Tar Heels won their six NCAA tournament games by double digits, and by an average of 19.8 points per game. They were ranked as the 30th best team in college basketball history by Bleacher Report in 2012.

Ron Abegglen was a college basketball coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010–11 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2010–11 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Roy Williams. The team played its home games in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 29–8, 14–2 in ACC play to win the conference regular-season championship. They advanced to the championship game of the 2011 ACC men's basketball tournament before falling to Duke. They received an at-large bid in the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethune–Cookman Wildcats men's basketball</span> College basketball team

The Bethune–Cookman Wildcats men's basketball team represents Bethune–Cookman University in the sport of basketball. The Wildcats compete in the NCAA Division I and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). They play their home games in Moore Gymnasium on campus in Daytona Beach, Florida. They are coached by former NBA player and Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus. The team has been playing since 1930, having joined Division I along with the rest of the conference in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky–North Carolina basketball rivalry</span> American college basketball rivalry

The series between two of the most victorious college basketball programs of all time, Kentucky (1st) and North Carolina (3rd), has been a long and eventful one, although only in the mid-1960s was there a sustained series between the two which lasted through the early 1970s. That series was ended and another which began in the late 1980s was aborted early, before the current series started.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament</span> College soccer tournament

The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game</span> American college basketball final

The 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final game of the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and determined the national champion for the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on Monday, April 4, 2016, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, between the Villanova Wildcats and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The 1998–99 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Bill Guthridge, who was in his second season as UNC's head men's basketball coach. The Tar Heels played their home games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The 1998–99 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State College during the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Wildcats were led by eighth-year head coach Ron Abegglen and played their home games on campus at Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.

References

  1. "Weber Color Palette" . Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  2. Weber State Named in Street & Smith's Top-100 Greatest College Basketball Programs of All-Time
  3. 100 Greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time
  4. The ESPN/Sagarin All-Time Rankings
  5. "Weber State Wildcats Index". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2022-02-01.