1994–95 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

1994–95 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1994–95 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	Arkansas Razorbacks
Regular season	November 1994 –; April 1995
NCAA Tournament	1995
Tournament dates	March 16 – April 3, 1995
National Championship	Kingdome; Seattle, Washington
NCAA Champions	UCLA Bruins
Other champions	Virginia Tech Hokies (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Naismith, Wooden)	Joe Smith, Maryland
NCAA Division I basketball seasons
«1993–94	1995–96»

The 1994–95 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament whose finals were held at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. The UCLA Bruins earned their eleventh national championship by defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks 89–78 on April 3, 1995. They were coached by Jim Harrick and the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player was UCLA's Ed O'Bannon.

In the 32-team 1995 National Invitation Tournament, the Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Marquette Warriors at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Following the season, the 1995 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First team included Ed O'Bannon, Shawn Respert, Joe Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, and Damon Stoudamire.

Season headlines[]

Jim Harrick led the UCLA Bruins to its eleventh National Championship, his first.

Pre-season polls[]

The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll.

Associated Press
Ranking	Team
1	Arkansas
2	North Carolina
3	Massachusetts
4	Kentucky
5	Arizona
6	UCLA
7	Maryland
8	Duke
9	Indiana
10	Florida
11	Kansas
12	Syracuse
13	Cincinnati
14	Virginia
15	Georgetown
16	Michigan
17	Wisconsin
18	Alabama
19	Connecticut
20	Michigan State
21	Oklahoma State
22	Villanova
23	Georgia Tech
24	Wake Forest
25	Illinois

Conference membership changes[]

These schools joined new conferences for the 1994–95 season.

School	Former conference	New conference
Buffalo	East Coast Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
Cal Poly	NCAA Division II	American West Conference
Cal State Northridge	NCAA Division I Independent	American West Conference
Campbell	Big South Conference	Trans America Athletic Conference
Central Connecticut State	East Coast Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
Chicago State	East Coast Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
Cleveland State	Mid-Continent Conference	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
Evansville	Midwestern Collegiate Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Green Bay	Mid-Continent Conference	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
Hofstra	East Coast Conference	North Atlantic Conference
Milwaukee	Mid-Continent Conference	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
Northeastern Illinois	East Coast Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
Northern Illinois	Mid-Continent Conference	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
Sacramento State	NCAA Division I Independent	American West Conference
Southern Utah	NCAA Division I Independent	American West Conference
Troy State	East Coast Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
UIC	Mid-Continent Conference	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
UMKC	NCAA Division I Independent	Mid-Continent Conference
Wright State	Mid-Continent Conference	Midwestern Collegiate Conference

Regular season[]

Conference winners and tournaments[]

30 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 received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[1]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
American West Conference	Southern Utah	Sean Allen, Southern Utah	1995 American West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Centrum Centre (St. George, Utah)	Southern Utah
Atlantic 10 Conference	UMass	Lou Roe, UMass	1995 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament	Mullins Center (Amherst, Massachusetts)	UMass
Atlantic Coast Conference	Maryland North Carolina Virginia Wake Forest	Joe Smith, Maryland	1995 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament	Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	Wake Forest
Big East Conference	Connecticut	Kerry Kittles, Villanova	1995 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament	Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)	Villanova
Big Eight Conference	Kansas	Ryan Minor, Oklahoma Bryant Reeves, Oklahoma State		Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri)	Oklahoma State
Big Sky Conference	Montana Weber State	Ruben Nembhard, Weber State	1995 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)	Weber State
Big South Conference	UNC Greensboro	Eric Burks, Charleston Southern	1995 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Vines Center (Lynchburg, Virginia)	Charleston Southern
Big Ten Conference	Purdue	Shawn Respert, Michigan State	No Tournament
Big West Conference	Utah State	, Utah State	1995 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada)	Long Beach State
Colonial Athletic Association	Old Dominion	Petey Sessoms, Old Dominion	1995 CAA Men's Basketball Tournament	Richmond Coliseum (Richmond, Virginia)	Old Dominion
Great Midwest Conference	Memphis	Tom Kleinschmidt, DePaul		Bradley Center (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)	Cincinnati
Ivy League	Penn	Matt Maloney, Penn	No Tournament
Metro Conference	Charlotte	Jarvis Lang, Charlotte		Freedom Hall (Louisville, Kentucky)	Louisville
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	Manhattan	, Canisius		Knickerbocker Arena (Albany, New York)	Saint Peter's
Mid-American Conference	Miami (OH)	Gary Trent, Ohio	1995 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament	Savage Hall (Toledo, Ohio)	Ball State
Mid-Continent Conference	Valparaiso	, Little Rock	1995 Mid-Continent Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Athletics–Recreation Center (Valparaiso, Indiana)	Valparaiso
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	Coppin State	Stephen Stewart, Coppin State		Talmadge L. Hill Field House (Baltimore, Maryland)	North Carolina A&T
Midwestern Collegiate Conference	Xavier	Sherell Ford, UIC		Nutter Center (Dayton, Ohio)	Green Bay
Missouri Valley Conference	Tulsa	Chris Carr, Southern Illinois	1995 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Kiel Center (St. Louis, Missouri)	Southern Illinois
North Atlantic Conference	Drexel	Malik Rose, Drexel	1995 North Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Daskalakis Athletic Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)	Drexel
Northeast Conference	Rider	Joe Griffin, Long Island	1995 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Alumni Gymnasium (Lawrenceville, New Jersey)	Mount St. Mary's
Ohio Valley Conference	Murray State Tennessee State	Marcus Brown, Murray State		Nashville Municipal Auditorium (Nashville, Tennessee)	Murray State
Pacific-10 Conference	UCLA	Ed O'Bannon, UCLA Damon Stoudamire, Arizona	No Tournament
Patriot League	Bucknell Colgate	Rob Feaster, Holy Cross	1995 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament	Cotterell Court (Hamilton, New York)	Colgate
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky (East) Arkansas (West) Mississippi State (West)	Corliss Williamson, Arkansas	1995 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament	Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Georgia)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	Marshall (North) Chattanooga (South)	Frankie King, Western Carolina	1995 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Asheville Civic Center (Asheville, North Carolina)	Chattanooga
Southland Conference	Nicholls State	Reggie Jackson, Nicholls State	1995 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum (Shreveport, Louisiana)	Nicholls State
Southwest Conference	Texas Texas Tech	Kurt Thomas, TCU	1995 Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Reunion Arena (Dallas, Texas)	Texas
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Texas Southern	Kenny Sykes, Grambling State		—	Texas Southern
Sun Belt Conference	Western Kentucky	Chris Robinson, Western Kentucky		Barton Coliseum (Little Rock, Arkansas)	Western Kentucky
Trans America Athletic Conference	College of Charleston	Kerry Blackshear, Stetson	1995 TAAC Men's Basketball Tournament	UCF Arena (Orlando, Florida)	FIU
West Coast Conference	Santa Clara	Steve Nash, Santa Clara		Toso Pavilion (Santa Clara, California)	Gonzaga
Western Athletic Conference	Utah	Keith Van Horn, Utah	1995 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament	The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)	Utah

Statistical leaders[]

Player	School	PPG	Player	School	RPG	Player	School	APG	Player	School	SPG
Points Per Game			Rebounds Per Game			Assists Per Game			Steals Per Game
Kurt Thomas	TCU	28.9	Kurt Thomas	TCU	14.6	Nelson Haggerty	Baylor	10.1	Roderick Anderson	Texas	3.4
Frankie King	W. Carolina	26.5	Malik Rose	Drexel	13.5	Curtis McCants	George Mason	9.3		TX-Pan American	3.4
Kenny Sykes	Grambling St.	26.3	Gary Trent	Ohio	12.8	Raimonds Miglinieks	UC Irvine	8.4		George Mason	3.3
Sherell Ford	UIC	26.2		Northeastern	12.6	Eric Snow	Michigan St.	7.8		Nicholls St.	3.0
	Southern	26.2	Tim Duncan	Wake Forest	12.5	Jacque Vaughn	Kansas	7.7		LSU	3.0

Player	School	BPG	Player	School	FG%	Player	School	3FG%	Player	School	FT%
Blocked Shots Per Game			Field Goal Percentage			Three-Point FG Percentage			Free Throw Percentage
Keith Closs	C. Connecticut St.	5.3		Bowling Green	.683		Wisc–Green Bay	.500		Tennessee Tech	.906
Theo Ratliff	Wyoming	5.1		Davidson	.671		Montana	.484		UNC Greensboro	.898
Adonal Foyle	Colgate	4.9	Rasheed Wallace	N. Carolina	.654		Stanford	.479	Marcus Brown	Murray St.	.896
	UMBC	4.6	Erick Dampier	Mississippi St.	.640	Shawn Respert	Michigan St.	.474		Texas-Arlington	.886
Lorenzo Coleman	Tennessee Tech	4.5		George Washington	.632		St. Francis (PA)	.471		E. Kentucky	.885

Post-Season Tournaments[]

NCAA Tournament[]

Final Four – Kingdome, Seattle, Washington[]

National Semifinals			National Championship Game

E4	Oklahoma State	61

W1	UCLA	74
			W1	UCLA	89

			M2	Arkansas	78
SE2	North Carolina	68

M2	Arkansas	75

National Invitation Tournament[]

Semifinals & Finals[]

Semifinals			Finals

	Virginia Tech	71

	Canisius	59
				Virginia Tech	65

				Marquette	64
	Marquette	81

	Penn State	79

Third Place - Penn State 66, Canisius 62

Award winners[]

Consensus All-American teams[]

^[2]

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Ed O'Bannon	F	Senior	UCLA
Shawn Respert	G	Senior	Michigan State
Joe Smith	F/C	Sophomore	Maryland
Jerry Stackhouse	F/G	Sophomore	North Carolina
Damon Stoudamire	G	Senior	Arizona

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Randolph Childress	G	Senior	Wake Forest
Kerry Kittles	G	Junior	Villanova
Lou Roe	F	Senior	Massachusetts
Rasheed Wallace	C	Sophomore	North Carolina
Corliss Williamson	F	Junior	Arkansas

Major player of the year awards[]

Wooden Award: Joe Smith, Maryland
Naismith Award: Joe Smith, Maryland
Associated Press Player of the Year: Joe Smith, Maryland
NABC Player of the Year: Shawn Respert, Michigan State
Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Ed O'Bannon, UCLA
Adolph Rupp Trophy: Joe Smith, Maryland
Sporting News Player of the Year: Shawn Respert, Michigan State
UPI College Basketball Player of the Year: Joe Smith, Maryland

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: Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma
Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma
NABC Coach of the Year: Jim Harrick, UCLA
Naismith College Coach of the Year: Jim Harrick, UCLA
Sporting News Coach of the Year: Jud Heathcote, Michigan State

Other major awards[]

NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Tyus Edney, UCLA
Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Kerry Kittles, Villanova
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Joe Griffin, Long Island

Coaching changes[]

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	New Coach	Reason
Auburn	Tommy Joe Eagles	Cliff Ellis
Clemson	Cliff Ellis	Rick Barnes
Iowa State	Johnny Orr	Tim Floyd
Loyola (MD)	Skip Prosser	Brian Ellerbe
Michigan State	Jud Heathcote	Tom Izzo
New Orleans	Tim Floyd	Tic Price	New Orleans hired Auburn coach Tommy Joe Eagles, but Eagles died before the season started. Assistant Price was then hired. ^[3]
Providence	Rick Barnes	Pete Gillen
Xavier	Pete Gillen	Skip Prosser

References[]

^ "2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2001. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
^ NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS p.6
^ Iles, Trey (January 6, 2015). "Former UNO men's basketball coach Tic Price finds love of coaching again at Lamar". The Times-Picayune.

[1] "2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2001. Retrieved February 4, 2009.

[2] NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS p.6

[3] Iles, Trey (January 6, 2015). "Former UNO men's basketball coach Tic Price finds love of coaching again at Lamar". The Times-Picayune.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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