# SWAC men's basketball tournament

The SWAC men's basketball tournament (popularly known as the SWAC tournament) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The tournament has been held every year since 1978. 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 Division I men's basketball tournament. On seven occasions, the SWAC champion has won an NCAA Division I tournament game (two being in the first round and five in preliminary rounds).
The 1977–78 season was the SWAC's first as an NCAA Division I basketball conference, but it was not until 1980 that the champion went to the Division I tournament; most notably, the 1979 champion was Alcorn State, who went 27–0 but only received an NIT bid (where they lost in the second round) as they had "not yet completed the three years of adherence to a 2.00 average entrance requirement."
The semifinal and championship SWAC basketball tournament games are held at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. As of the 2017 tournaments, they feature an eight-team, three-day layout with the quarterfinal rounds hosted on campus sites. This changes the previous 10-team, five-day tournament format. The higher seeded teams will host a combined eight games leaving two days for travel and practice rounds. The tournament concludes with the semifinals and championship rounds inside Birmingham's Bill Harris Arena. Winners of the tournaments earn automatic bids to their respective NCAA Division I tournaments. The championship games are nationally televised live annually on an ESPN network. In 2017, the trophy was named to honor Davey Whitney, the legendary coach that had won twelve regular season SWAC championships and seven SWAC tournaments, both of which being the most in conference history.

## List of champions (pre-tournament)

| Season | School | Coach |
| 1956–57 | Texas Southern | Edward H. Adams |
| 1957–58 | Texas Southern | Edward H. Adams |
| 1958–59 | Grambling State | Fred Hobdy |
| 1959–60 | Grambling State | Fred Hobdy |
| 1960–61 | Prairie View A&M | Leroy Moore Jr |
| 1961–62 | Prairie View A&M | Leroy Moore Jr |
| 1962–63 | Grambling State | Fred Hobdy |
| 1963–64 | Grambling State Jackson State | Fred Hobdy Harrison Wilson |
| 1964–65 | Southern | Richard Mack |
| 1965–66 | Alcorn State Grambling State | E.E. Simmons Fred Hobdy |
| 1966–67 | Alcorn State Arkansas–Pine Bluff Grambling State | Bob Hopkins Hubert O. Clemmons Fred Hobdy |
| 1967–68 | Alcorn State Jackson State | Bob Hopkins Paul Covington |
| 1968–69 | Alcorn State | Bob Hopkins |
| 1969–70 | Jackson State | Paul Covington |
| 1970–71 | Grambling State | Fred Hobdy |
| 1971–72 | Grambling State | Fred Hobdy |
| 1972–73 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney |
| 1973–74 | Jackson State | Paul Covington |
| 1974–75 | Jackson State | Paul Covington |
| 1975–76 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney |
| 1976–77 | Texas Southern | Robert Moreland |

## List of champions (tournament era)

| Year | Regular Season Champion | Coach | Tournament Champion | Score | Tournament Runner-up | Tournament Winning Coach |
| 1978 | Southern | Carl Stewart | Southern | 86-74 | Alcorn State | Paul Covington |
| 1979 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney | Alcorn State | 108–89 | Southern | Davey Whitney |
| 1980 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney | Alcorn State | 83–61 | Grambling State | Davey Whitney |
| 1981 | Alcorn State Southern | Davey Whitney Carl Stewart | Southern | 69–63 | Jackson State | Carl Stewart |
| 1982 | Alcorn State Jackson State | Davey Whitney Paul Covington | Alcorn State | 87–77 | Jackson State | Davey Whitney |
| 1983 | Texas Southern | Robert Moreland | Alcorn State | 81–69 | Texas Southern | Davey Whitney |
| 1984 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney | Alcorn State | 78–69 | Texas Southern | Davey Whitney |
| 1985 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney | Southern | 85–70 | Alcorn State | Bob Hopkins |
| 1986 | Alcorn State Southern | Davey Whitney Bob Hopkins | Mississippi Valley State | 75–58 | Prairie View A&M | Lafayette Stribling |
| 1987 | Grambling State | Bob Hopkins | Southern | 105–55 | Grambling State | Ben Jobe |
| 1988 | Southern | Ben Jobe | Southern | 78–62 | Grambling State | Ben Jobe |
| 1989 | Grambling State Southern Texas Southern | Bob Hopkins Ben Jobe Robert Moreland | Southern | 86–81 | Texas Southern | Ben Jobe |
| 1990 | Southern | Ben Jobe | Texas Southern | 94–89 | Southern | Robert Moreland |
| 1991 | Jackson State | Andy Stoglin | Jackson State | 70–66 | Texas Southern | Andy Stoglin |
| 1992 | Texas Southern Mississippi Valley State | Robert Moreland Lafayette Stribling | Mississippi Valley State | 85–77 | Southern | Lafayette Stribling |
| 1993 | Jackson State | Andy Stoglin | Southern | 101–80 | Jackson State | Ben Jobe |
| 1994 | Texas Southern | Robert Moreland | Texas Southern | 70–67 | Jackson State | Robert Moreland |
| 1995 | Texas Southern | Robert Moreland | Texas Southern | 75–62 | Mississippi Valley State | Robert Moreland |
| 1996 | Jackson State Mississippi Valley State | Andy Stoglin Lafayette Stribling | Mississippi Valley State | 111–94 | Jackson State | Lafayette Stribling |
| 1997 | Mississippi Valley State | Lafayette Stribling | Jackson State | 81–74 | Mississippi Valley State | Andy Stoglin |
| 1998 | Texas Southern | Robert Moreland | Prairie View A&M | 59–57 | Texas Southern | Elwood Plummer |
| 1999 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney | Alcorn State | 89–83 | Southern | Davey Whitney |
| 2000 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney | Jackson State | 76–61 | Southern | Andy Stoglin |
| 2001 | Alabama State | Rob Spivery | Alabama State | 64–52 | Alcorn State | Rob Spivery |
| 2002 | Alcorn State | Davey Whitney | Alcorn State | 70–67 | Alabama State | Davey Whitney |
| 2003 | Prairie View A&M | Jerome Francis | Texas Southern | 77–68 | Alcorn State | Ronnie Courtney |
| 2004 | Mississippi Valley State | Lafayette Stribling | Alabama State | 63–58 | Alabama A&M | Rob Spivery |
| 2005 | Alabama A&M | L. Vann Pettaway | Alabama A&M | 72–53 | Alabama State | L. Vann Pettaway |
| 2006 | Southern | Rob Spivery | Southern | 57–44 | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | Rob Spivery |
| 2007 | Mississippi Valley State | James Green | Jackson State | 81–71 | Mississippi Valley State | Tevester Anderson |
| 2008 | Alabama State | Lewis Jackson | Mississippi Valley State | 59–58 | Jackson State | James Green |
| 2009 | Alabama State | Lewis Jackson | Alabama State | 65–58 | Jackson State | Lewis Jackson |
| 2010 | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | George Ivory | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | 50–38 | Texas Southern | George Ivory |
| 2011 | Texas Southern | Tony Harvey | Alabama State | 65–48 | Grambling State | Lewis Jackson |
| 2012 | Mississippi Valley State | Sean Woods | Mississippi Valley State | 71–69 | Texas Southern | Sean Woods |
| 2013 | Texas Southern | Mike Davis | Southern | 45–44 | Prairie View A&M | Roman Banks |
| 2014 | Southern | Roman Banks | Texas Southern | 78–73 | Prairie View A&M | Mike Davis |
| 2015 | Texas Southern | Mike Davis | Texas Southern | 62–58 | Southern | Mike Davis |
| 2016 | Texas Southern | Mike Davis | Southern | 54–53 | Jackson State | Roman Banks |
| 2017 | Texas Southern | Mike Davis | Texas Southern | 53–50 | Alcorn State | Mike Davis |
| 2018 | Grambling State | Donte Jackson | Texas Southern | 84–69 | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | Mike Davis |
| 2019 | Prairie View A&M | Byron Smith | Prairie View A&M | 92–86 | Texas Southern | Byron Smith |
| 2020 | Prairie View A&M | Byron Smith | Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic |
| 2021 | Prairie View A&M | Byron Smith | Texas Southern | 80–61 | Prairie View A&M | Johnny Jones |
| 2022 | Alcorn State | Landon Bussie | Texas Southern | 87–62 | Alcorn State | Johnny Jones |
| 2023 | Alcorn State | Landon Bussie | Texas Southern | 61–58 | Grambling State | Johnny Jones |
| 2024 | Grambling State | Donte Jackson | Grambling State | 75–66 | Texas Southern | Donte Jackson |
| 2025 | Southern | Kevin Johnson | Alabama State | 60–56 | Jackson State | Tony Madlock |

## Men's basketball tournament performance by school

| School | Championships | Championship Years |
| Texas Southern | 11 | 1990, 1994, 1995, 2003, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 |
| Southern | 10 | 1978, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2006, 2013, 2016 |
| Alcorn State | 7 | 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1999, 2002 |
| Alabama State | 5 | 2001, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2025 |
| Jackson State | 5 | 1978, 1991, 1997, 2000, 2007 |
| Mississippi Valley State | 5 | 1986, 1992, 1996, 2008, 2012 |
| Prairie View A&M | 2 | 1998, 2019 |
| Alabama A&M | 1 | 2005 |
| Arkansas–Pine Bluff | 1 | 2010 |
| Grambling State | 1 | 2024 |
| Bethune–Cookman | 0 | |
| Florida A&M | 0 | |

## Coaches with multiple championships
### Regular season

| Coach | Championships | Championship Years |
| Davey Whitney | 12 | 1973, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1999, 2000, 2002 |
| Fred Hobdy | 8 | 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972 |
| Robert Moreland | 7 | 1977, 1983, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998 |
| Bob Hopkins | 6 | 1967, 1968, 1969, 1986, 1987, 1989 |
| Paul Covington | 5 | 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1982 |
| Lafayette Stribling | 4 | 1992, 1996, 1997, 2004 |
| Mike Davis | 4 | 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
| Ben Jobe | 3 | 1988–1990 |
| Andy Stoglin | 3 | 1991, 1993, 1996 |
| Byron Smith | 3 | 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| Edward H. Adams | 2 | 1957, 1958 |
| Leroy Moore Jr | 2 | 1961, 1962 |
| Rob Spivery | 2 | 2001, 2006 |
| Carl Stewart | 2 | 1978, 1981 |
| Lewis Jackson | 2 | 2008, 2009 |
| Landon Bussie | 2 | 2022, 2023 |
| Donte Jackson | 2 | 2023, 2024 |

### SWAC tournament

| Coach | Championships | Championship Years |
| Davey Whitney | 7 | 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1999, 2002 |
| Ben Jobe | 4 | 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993 |
| Mike Davis | 4 | 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 |
| Johnny Jones | 3 | 2021, 2022, 2023 |
| Lafayette Stribling | 3 | 1986, 1992, 1996 |
| Robert Moreland | 3 | 1990, 1994, 1995 |
| Andy Stoglin | 3 | 1991, 1997, 2000 |
| Rob Spivery | 3 | 2001, 2004, 2006 |
| Roman Banks | 2 | 2013, 2016 |
| Lewis Jackson | 2 | 2009, 2011 |

## See Also

* SWAC women's basketball tournament