# Army Black Knights men's basketball

The Army Black Knights men's basketball team represents the United States Military Academy in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball. Army currently competes as a member of the Patriot League and plays its home games at Christl Arena in West Point, New York. The Black Knights have never appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

## History

Bob Knight, the coach with the most wins in NCAA men's basketball history, began his head coaching career at Army from 1965 to 1971 before moving on to Indiana. One of Knight's players at Army was Mike Krzyzewski, who later was head coach at Army before moving on to Duke and becoming the winningest men's basketball coach in NCAA Division I history.
Since its inception in 1903, Army retrospectively has been awarded two national championships, has made eight NIT appearances, has refused two NCAA tournament invitations, in 1944 and 1968, and has an overall 49.7% winning percentage.
The Black Knights were retroactively named national champions by Premo-Porretta for 1923 and by the Helms Athletic Foundation for 1944, when they went undefeated (15–0), but declined an invitation to the NCAA tournament due to World War II. The 1944 squad was captained by Edward C. Christl, who earned a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross during World War II and for whom the Black Knights' home arena is named.
Head coach Bob Knight turned down the 1968 NCAA tournament invitation in favor of the NIT, because he believed the Black Knights had a better chance of winning the NIT with Lew Alcindor and UCLA playing in the NCAA tournament. Further, Madison Square Garden was close enough to West Point to allow the Corps of Cadets to be attend the games, and Army had participated in the NIT seven times in 10 years, including four of Knight's five seasons as head coach. They would go on to lose their first game of the 1968 NIT to Notre Dame.
As of 2025, the Black Knights are one of only three original major programs that were playing college basketball in 1939, when the inaugural NCAA tournament was held, that are still active Division I programs and one of 38 eligible teams overall to have never participated in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Army shares this distinction with William & Mary and The Citadel (St. Francis Brooklyn was also part of this group before it discontinued athletics in 2023.)
The Black Knights have played in the National Invitational Tournament eight times and also played in the 2016 edition of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), their first appearance in a postseason tournament in 38 years, losing to NJIT in the first round.

## Seasons

In 119 seasons, the Black Knights have a record of 1262–1276.

## Postseason results
### National Invitation tournament

The Black Knights have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) eight times. Their combined record is 13–10.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 1961 | First Round | Temple | L 66–79 |
| 1964 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game | St. Bonaventure Duquesne Bradley NYU | W 64–62 W 67–65 L 52–67 W 60–59 |
| 1965 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game | St. Louis Western Kentucky St. John's NYU | W 70–66 W 58–54 L 60–67 W 75–74 |
| 1966 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game | Manhattan San Francisco BYU Villanova | W 71–66 W 80–63 L 60–66 L 65–76 |
| 1968 | First Round | Notre Dame | L 58–62 |
| 1969 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game | Wyoming South Carolina Boston College Tennessee | W 51–49 W 59–45 L 61–73 L 52–64 |
| 1970 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game | Cincinnati Manhattan St. John's LSU | W 72–67 W 77–72 L 59–60 W 75–68 |
| 1978 | First Round | Rutgers | L 70–72 |

### CollegeInsider.com tournament

The Black Knights have appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their record is 0–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 2016 | First Round | NJIT | L 65–79 |

### CBI results

The Black Knights have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Their record is 0–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 2021 | First Round | Bellarmine | L 67–77 |

## Head coaches

| Coach | Years | Record |
| Joseph Stilwell | 1902–04 1908–11 1913–14 | 41–14 |
| No coach | 1904–06 | 10–8 |
| Harry Fisher | 1906–07 | 9–5 |
| B.H. Koehler | 1907–08 | 9–3 |
| Harvey Higley | 1911–13 | 19–6 |
| Jacob Devers | 1914–16 | 16–9 |
| Arthur Conrad | 1916–17 | 3–8 |
| Ivens Jones | 1917–19 | 11–9 |
| Joseph O'Shea | 1919–21 | 30–7 |
| Harry Fisher | 1921–23 1924–25 | 46–5 |
| Van Vleit | 1923–24 | 16–2 |
| Ernest Blood | 1925–26 | 11–6 |
| Leo Novak | 1926–39 | 126–56 |
| Valentine Lentz | 1939–43 | 31–31 |
| Edward Kelleher | 1943–45 | 29–1 |
| Stewart Holcomb | 1945–47 | 18–13 |
| John Mauer | 1947–51 | 33–35 |
| Elmer Ripley | 1951–53 | 19–17 |
| Bob Vanatta | 1953–54 | 15–7 |
| Orvis Sigler | 1954–58 | 39–47 |
| George Hunter | 1958–63 | 63–48 |
| Tates Locke | 1963–65 | 40–15 |
| Bob Knight | 1965–71 | 102–50 |
| Dan Dougherty | 1971–75 | 31–66 |
| Mike Krzyzewski | 1975–80 | 73–59 |
| Pete Gaudet | 1980–82 | 12–41 |
| Les Wothke | 1982–90 | 92–135 |
| Tom Miller | 1990–92 | 10–46 |
| Mike Conners | 1992–93 | 4–22 |
| Dino Gaudio | 1993–97 | 36–72 |
| Pat Harris | 1997–2002 | 42–96 |
| Jim Crews | 2002–09 | 59–140 |
| Zach Spiker | 2009–16 | 102–112 |
| Jimmy Allen | 2016–2023 | 98–112 |
| Kevin Kuwik | 2023– | 0–0 |

## All-Americans

The following Army players were named NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans:
* William Copthorne – 1910 (Helms Athletic Foundation)
* William Roberts – 1913 (Helms Athletic Foundation)
* Elmer Oliphant – 1915 (Helms Athletic Foundation)
* Gene Vidal – 1918 (Helms Athletic Foundation)
* Harry Wilson – 1927 (Helms Athletic Foundation)
* Dale Hall – 1944 (Consensus Second Team), 1945 (Consensus Second Team)
* Gary Winton – 1977 (AP Honorable Mention), 1978 (AP Honorable Mention)
* Kevin Houston – 1987 (NABC Third Team)

## Academic All-Americans

The following Army players were named Academic All-America:
* Mike Silliman – 1964
* John Ritch – 1965
* Robert Sherwin – 1972, 1973
* Steve Rothert – 1989

## Basketball Hall of Fame

The following Army players and coaches have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
* Ernest Blood – 1960, former coach
* John Roosma – 1961, former player
* Elmer Ripley – 1972, former coach, inducted as a contributor
* Harry A. Fisher – 1973, former coach, inducted as a contributor
* Bob Knight – 1991, former coach
* Mike Krzyzewski – 2001, former coach and player, inducted as a coach

## Major awards

Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Award: Outstanding Scholar-Athlete of the Year
* John Ritch – 1965
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
* Robert Sherwin – 1973
Haggerty Award
* Kevin Houston – 1987
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
* Randy Cozzens – 1985
* Kevin Houston – 1987
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
* Les Wothke – 1985
Patriot League Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
* Pat Harris – 2001–02
* Zach Spiker – 2012–13
Patriot League Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year
* David Ardayfio – 1990–91
* Alex Morris – 1992–93
* Kyle Wilson – 2012–13
Patriot League Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year
* Marcus Nelson – 2008–09
* Josh Caldwell - 2020-21
* Josh Caldwell - 2021-22