La Salle Explorers men's basketball

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La Salle Explorers Basketball
2021–22 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team
La Salle Explorers wordmark.png
UniversityLa Salle University
Head coachAshley Howard (2nd season)
ConferenceAtlantic 10
LocationPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
ArenaTom Gola Arena
(Capacity: 3,200)
NicknameExplorers
ColorsBlue and gold[1]
   
Uniforms
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Home jersey
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Team colours
Home
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Away jersey
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Team colours
Away
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Alternate jersey
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Team colours
Alternate
NCAA Tournament Champions
1954
NCAA Tournament Runner-up
1955
NCAA Tournament Final Four
1954, 1955
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1954, 1955
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1954, 1955, 2013
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
1983, 1990, 2013
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1954, 1955, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2013
Conference tournament champions
East Coast: 1975, 1978 1980, 1983
MAAC: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992
Conference regular season champions
1968, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1983 (ECC)
1984, 1988, 1989 (MAAC)

The La Salle Explorers men's basketball program represents La Salle University in college basketball.

Rivalries[]

The Explorers, a member of the Big 5, have long-standing rivalries with multiple institutions including Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph's University, and Villanova University. Another major rival is Drexel University who is a member of the City 6.

History[]

The program has been rated the 53rd "Greatest College Basketball Program of All-Time" by Street & Smith's magazine and 71st by the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia.

La Salle has won one National Championship, one National Invitation Tournament Championship, and advanced to two Final Fours. The Explorers have also made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, won eight Philadelphia Big 5 city championships, and four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships. The program is one of only two schools (with Houston) to have two players in the top 25 in all-time NCAA scoring – Lionel Simmons and Michael Brooks. It's also had three National Players of the Year.[2]

Postseason[]

NCAA tournament results[]

The Explorers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 12 times. Their combined record is 14–11. They were National Champions in 1954 and National Finalists in 1955.

Year Seed Round Opponent Result
1954 First round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
National Championship		 Fordham
NC State
Navy
Penn State
Bradley		 W 76–74OT
W 88–81
W 64–48
W 69–54
W 92–76
1955 First round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
National Championship		 West Virginia
Princeton
Canisius
Iowa
San Francisco		 W 95–61
W 73–46
W 99–64
W 73–76
L 63–77
1968 First round Columbia L 69–83
1975 First round Syracuse L 83–87OT
1978 First round Villanova L 97–103
1980 No. 11 First round No. 6 Purdue L 82–90
1983 No. 12 Preliminary Round
First Round		 No. 12 Boston University
#5 VCU		 W 70–58
L 67–76
1988 No. 13 First round No. 4 Kansas State L 53–66
1989 No. 9 First round No. 8 Louisiana Tech L 74–83
1990 No. 4 First round
Second Round		 No. 13 Southern Miss
#5 Clemson		 W 79–63
L 75–79
1992 No. 13 First round No. 4 Seton Hall L 76–78
2013 No. 13 First Four
Second Round
Third Round
Sweet Sixteen		 No. 13 Boise State
#4 Kansas State
#12 Ole Miss
#9 Wichita State		 W 80–71
W 63–61
W 76–74
L 58–72

NIT results[]

The Explorers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 12 times. Their combined record is 9–11. They were NIT champions in 1952, when the tournament was considered an elite event.

Year Round Opponent Result
1948 Quarter-finals WKU L 61–68
1950 First round
Quarterfinals		 Arizona
Duquesne		 W 72–66
L 47–49
1951 First round Saint Louis L 61–73
1952 First round
Quarterfinals
Semi-finals
Finals		 Seton Hall
St. John's
Duquesne
Dayton		 W 80–76
W 51–45
W 59–46
W 75–64
1953 Quarter-finals St. John's L 74–75
1963 First round Saint Louis L 61–63
1965 First round Detroit L 86–93
1971 First round Georgia Tech L 67–70
1984 First round Pittsburgh L 91–95
1987 First round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Semi-finals
Finals		 Villanova
Niagara
Illinois State
Arkansas–Little Rock
Southern Miss		 W 86–84
W 89–81
W 70–50
W 92–73
L 80–84
1991 First round Massachusetts L 90–93
2012 First round Minnesota L 61–70

Explorers in the NBA[]

La Salle has an extensive history of players who played professional basketball, including:

Explorers in international leagues[]

Retired numbers[]

La Salle has retired four jersey numbers.

La Salle Explorers retired numbers
No. Player Position Career
15 Tom Gola SF/G 1951–1955
22 Lionel Simmons SF 1986–1990
32 Michael Brooks PF 1976–1980
33 Ken Durrett PF 1968–1971

Coaches[]

Previous head coach Dr. John Giannini previously coached at Rowan College, where he won the NCAA Division III national championship in 1996, and the University of Maine, where he left with the Black Bears' best winning percentage in school history.

On April 8, 2018, La Salle announced Ashley Howard as the next head coach of the Explorers.[3] Howard previously served as an assistant coach under Jay Wright at Villanova University. As assistant coach, he helped lead the Wildcats to two NCAA Division 1 basketball championships.

Ashley Howard with the 2016 NCAA men's basketball trophy
La Salle Explorers vs. Penn Quakers at Tom Gola Arena.

Past head coaches[]

Name Career Record Pct.
Joseph McNichol 1914-15
James J. Henry 1931 15–4 .789
Tom Conley 1932–33 28–11 .718
Leonard Tanseer 1934–41 90–59 .604
Obie O'Brien 1942–43 25–21 .543
Joe Meehan 1944–46 28–30 .483
Charles McGlone 1947–49 61–17 .782
Ken Loeffler 1950–55 145–30 .829
Jim Pollard 1956–58 48–28 .632
Dudey Moore 1959–63 79–37 .681
Bob Walters 1964–65 31–17 .646
Joe Heyer 1966–67 24–27 .471
Jim Harding 1968 20–8 .714
Tom Gola 1969–70 37–13 .740
Paul Westhead 1971–79 142–105 .575
Lefty Ervin 1980–86 119–87 .578
Speedy Morris 1987-01 238–203 .540
Billy Hahn 2002–04 38–53 .418
John Giannini 2005–18 212–226 .484
Ashley Howard 2018– 34-53 .391

Year-by-Year Records[]

Season Record Conference Record Postseason
1931–32 15–8
1932–33 13–3
1933–34 14–3
1934–35 15–6
1935–36 4–13
1936–37 12–7
1937–38 13–6
1938–39 13–6
1939–40 12–8
1940–41 11–8
1941–42 12–11
1942–43 13–10
1943–44 8–8
1944–45 11–8
1945–46 9–14
1946–47 20–6
1947–48 20–4 NIT
1948–49 11–8 Cincinnati Invitational Tournament
1949–50 21–4 NIT
1950–51 22–7 NIT
1951–52 25–7 NIT Champion
1952–53 25–3 NIT
1953–54 26–4 NCAA Champion
1954–55 26–5 NCAA Finalist
1955–56 15–10
1956–57 17–9
1957–58 16–9
1958–59 16–7 5–2
1959–60 16–6 6–1
1960–61 15–7 7–2
1961–62 16–9 5–3
1962–63 16–8 7–1 NIT
1963–64 16–9 5–1
1964–65 15–8 4–1 NIT
1965–66 10–15 3–2
1966–67 14–12 2–3
1967–68 20–8 8–0 NCAA Tournament
1968–69 23–1 7–0 *Suspended from Postseason
1969–70 14–12 3–2
1970–71 20–7 5–1 NIT
1971–72 6–19 2–4
1972–73 15–10 3–3
1973–74 18–10 5–1
1974–75 22–7 5–1 NCAA Tournament
1975–76 11–15 1–4
1976–77 17–12 3–2
1977–78 18–12 5–0 NCAA Tournament
1978–79 15–13 10–3
1979–80 22–9 7–4 NCAA Tournament
1980–81 14–13 8–3
1981–82 16–13 7–4
1982–83 18–14 7–2 NCAA Tournament
1983–84 20–11 11–3 NIT
1984–85 15–13 8–6
1985–86 14–14 8–6
1986–87 20–13 10–4 NIT Finalist
1987–88 24–10 14–0 NCAA Tournament
1988–89 26–6 13–1 NCAA Tournament
1989–90 30–2 16–0 NCAA Tournament
1990–91 19–10 12–4 NIT
1991–92 20–11 12–4 NCAA Tournament
1992–93 14–13 9–5
1993–94 11–16 4–6
1994–95 13–14 7–7
1995–96 6–24 3–13
1996–97 10–17 5–11
1997–98 9–18 5–11
1998–99 13–15 8–8
1999-00 11–17 5–11
2000–01 12–17 5–11
2001–02 15–17 6–10
2002–03 13–16 6–10
2003–04 10–20 5–11
2004–05 10–19 5–11
2005–06 18–10 10–6
2006–07 10–20 3–13
2007–08 15–17 8–8
2008–09 18–13 9–7
2009–10 12–18 4–12
2010–11 14–16 6–10
2011–12 21–12 9–7 NIT
2012–13 23–9 11–5 NCAA Round of 16
2013–14 15–16 7–9
2014–15 17–16 8–10
2015–16 9–22 4–14
2016–17 15–15 9–9
2017–18 13–19 7–11
2018–19 10–21 8–10
2019–20 15–15 6–12
2020–21 9-16 6–11

References[]

  1. ^ La Salle Logo Acceptable Color Breaks and Basic Guidelines (PDF). Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  2. ^ "Did You Know?! :: A Few Things You Should Know About Explorer Athletics". Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  3. ^ vhttp://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/la_salle/ashley-howard-will-be-next-la-salle-basketball-coach-20180408

External links[]

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