| 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Preseason AP No. 1 | Kentucky |
| Regular season | November 1995 – April 1996 |
| NCAA Tournament | 1996 |
| Tournament dates | March 14 – April 1, 1996 |
| National Championship | Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| NCAA Champions | Kentucky Wildcats |
| Other champions | Nebraska Cornhuskers (NIT) |
| Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden) | Marcus Camby, Massachusetts |
The 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Kentucky Wildcats earned their sixth national championship by defeating the Syracuse Orangemen 76–67 on April 1, 1996. They were coached by Rick Pitino and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Kentucky's Tony Delk.
In the 32-team 1997 National Invitation Tournament, the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the St. Joseph's Hawks at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Following the season, the 1996 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First team included Ray Allen, Marcus Camby, Tony Delk, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, and Kerry Kittles.
Season headlines
- Rick Pitino led the Kentucky Wildcats to its sixth National championship, his first.
Pre-season polls
The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll.
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Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 1995–96 season.
| School | Former conference | New conference |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | Metro Conference | Conference USA |
| Cincinnati | Great Midwest Conference | Conference USA |
| Dayton | Great Midwest Conference | Atlantic 10 Conference |
| DePaul | Great Midwest Conference | Conference USA |
| Fordham | Patriot League | Atlantic 10 Conference |
| Hampton | NCAA Division II | Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference |
| Jacksonville State | NCAA Division II | Trans America Athletic Conference |
| La Salle | Midwestern Collegiate Conference | Atlantic 10 Conference |
| Louisville | Metro Conference | Conference USA |
| Marquette | Great Midwest Conference | Conference USA |
| Memphis | Great Midwest Conference | Conference USA |
| Notre Dame | NCAA Division I Independent | Big East Conference |
| Rutgers | Atlantic 10 Conference | Big East Conference |
| Saint Louis | Great Midwest Conference | Conference USA |
| South Florida | Metro Conference | Conference USA |
| Southern Miss | Metro Conference | Conference USA |
| Towson | Big South Conference | North Atlantic Conference |
| Tulane | Metro Conference | Conference USA |
| UAB | Great Midwest Conference | Conference USA |
| VCU | Metro Conference | Colonial Athletic Association |
| Virginia Tech | Metro Conference | Atlantic 10 Conference |
| West Virginia | Atlantic 10 Conference | Big East Conference |
| Wofford | NCAA Division II | NCAA Division I Independent |
| Xavier | Midwestern Collegiate Conference | Atlantic 10 Conference |
Regular season
Conference winners and tournaments
29 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, with the exception of the American West Conference and Conference USA, received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Statistical leaders
Source for additional stats categories
| Player | School | PPG | Player | School | RPG | Player | School | APG | Player | School | SPG | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Granger | TX Southern | 27.0 | Marcus Mann | Miss. Valley St. | 13.6 | Raimonds Miglinieks | UC Irvine | 8.5 | Pointer Williams | McNeese St. | 4.4 | |||
| Marcus Brown | Murray St. | 26.4 | Malik Rose | Drexel | 13.2 | Curtis McCants | George Mason | 8.3 | Johnny Rhodes | Maryland | 3.7 | |||
| Bubba Wells | Austin Peay | 24.4 | Adonal Foyle | Colgate | 12.6 | Dan Pogue | Campbell | 8.0 | Roderick Taylor | Jackson St. | 3.7 | |||
| Jafonde Williams | Hampton | 25.7 | Tim Duncan | Wake Forest | 12.3 | Pointer Williams | McNeese St. | 7.4 | Rasul Salahuddin | Long Beach St. | 3.6 | |||
| Bonzi Wells | Ball St. | 25.4 | Scott Farley | Mercer | 12.0 | Lazarus Sims | Syracuse | 7.4 | Andrell Hoard | Northeastern Illinois | 3.6 | |||
Field goal percentage |
Three-point FG percentage |
Free throw percentage
| ||||||||||||
| Player | School | BPG | Player | School | FG% | Player | School | 3FG% | Player | School | FT% | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Closs | C. Connecticut St. | 6.4 | Quadre Lollis | Montana State | .675 | Mike Derockkis | Drexel | .477 | Mike Dillard | Sam Houston St. | .926 | |||
| Adonal Foyle | Colgate | 5.7 | Daniel Watts | Nevada | .656 | Peter Lisicky | Penn State | .471 | Dion Cross | Stanford | .920 | |||
| Roy Rogers | Alabama | 4.9 | Link Abrams | Centenary | .654 | Ray Allen | Connecticut | .466 | Roderick Howard | Charlotte | .903 | |||
| Jerome James | Florida A&M | 4.4 | Alexander Koul | George Washington | .642 | Keith Veney | Marshall | .455 | Geoff Billet | Rutgers | .900 | |||
| Peter Aluma | Liberty | 3.9 | Terquin Mott | Coppin St. | .638 | Tim Gill | Oral Roberts | .451 | Steve Nash | Santa Clara | .894 | |||
| Alan Tomidy | Marist | |||||||||||||
Postseason tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four – Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey
| National semifinals | National championship game | ||||||||
| E1 | Massachusetts | 74 | |||||||
| M1 | Kentucky | 81 | |||||||
| M1 | Kentucky | 76 | |||||||
| W4 | Syracuse | 67 | |||||||
| SE5 | Mississippi State | 69 | |||||||
| W4 | Syracuse | 77 | |||||||
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| Tulane | 78 | ||||||||
| Nebraska | 90 | ||||||||
| Nebraska | 60 | ||||||||
| St. Joseph's | 56 | ||||||||
| Alabama | 69 | ||||||||
| St. Joseph's | 74 | ||||||||
- Third Place – Tulane 87, Alabama 76
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Allen | G | Junior | Connecticut |
| Marcus Camby | C | Junior | Massachusetts |
| Tony Delk | G | Senior | Kentucky |
| Tim Duncan | C | Junior | Wake Forest |
| Allen Iverson | G | Sophomore | Georgetown |
| Kerry Kittles | G | Senior | Villanova |
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danny Fortson | F | Sophomore | Cincinnati |
| Keith Van Horn | F | Junior | Utah |
| Jacque Vaughn | G | Junior | Kansas |
| John Wallace | F | Senior | Syracuse |
| Lorenzen Wright | F/C | Sophomore | Memphis |
Major player of the year awards
- Wooden Award: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
- Naismith Award: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
- Associated Press Player of the Year: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
- NABC Player of the Year: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
- Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
- Adolph Rupp Trophy: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
- Sporting News Player of the Year: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
- UPI College Basketball Player of the Year: Ray Allen, Connecticut
Major freshman of the year awards
- USBWA Freshman of the Year: No Award Given
Major coach of the year awards
- Associated Press Coach of the Year: Gene Keady, Purdue
- Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Gene Keady, Purdue
- NABC Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Massachusetts
- Naismith College Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Massachusetts
- Sporting News Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Massachusetts
Other major awards
- NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
- Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Eddie Benton, Vermont
- Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Kerry Kittles, Villanova
- NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Adrian Griffin, Seton Hall
Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach |
Interim Coach |
New Coach |
Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Todd Bozeman | Ben Braun | ||
| Cleveland State | Mike Boyd | Rollie Massimino | ||
| Colorado | Joe Harrington | Ricardo Patton | ||
| Cornell | Al Walker | Scott Thompson | ||
| Drake | Rudy Washington | Kurt Kanaskie | ||
| Eastern Michigan | Ben Braun | Milton Barnes | ||
| Florida | Lon Kruger | Billy Donovan | ||
| Florida A&M | Ron Brown | Mickey Clayton | ||
| Idaho | Joe Cravens | Kermit Davis | ||
| Illinois | Lou Henson | Lon Kruger | ||
| Marshall | Billy Donovan | Greg White | ||
| UNC Charlotte | Jeff Mullins | Melvin Watkins | ||
| Wichita State | Scott Thompson | Randy Smithson |
References
- ^ "2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2001. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
- ^ Leef, Ralph (April 3, 1996). "Cal Poly team really turned things around". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, California. p. 22. Retrieved October 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS p.6
This page was last edited on 20 February 2024, at 03:23