Brown Bears

General Team Information:

NCAA Division: Division I

Conference: Ivy League

Past Conferences: Ivy and Ind

City: Providence, Rhode Island

Stadium: Pizzitola Sports Center

NCAA Tournaments:1939, 1986

Championships:

National Championships: 0

Conference Titles: 0

Team History

Brown University was founded in 1764 and was the third college established in New England. On top of that the university is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the nation.

The Brown Bears men’s basketball team was founded at a later date than the university. It was led by head coach Edward Benjamin in the 1900-01 season.

The program would record its first winning season in 1905 with a record of 13-5. Despite this, it took several decades for the team to be established, as the school underwent numerous coaching changes in search of consistency.

Upon reviewing the school’s records, it appears that Brown have not had a particularly successful performance as member of the Ivy League or the post-season in the grand scheme, all things considered.

This college basketball team would punch its first ticket to the NCAA Tournament in the 1939 season with Eck Allen in charge of calling the shots. The structure of the tournament has changed over the years due to the evolution of college athletics. In the past, fewer teams were put together, as some institutions didn’t even have athletic departments.

Regardless of the original structure, the men’s basketball team compiled an NCAAB regular season record of 16-4. The odds of achieving something were decent, but it didn’t come to fruition, since the team endured a devastating blow against the Villanova Wildcats.

50 Years Without the NCAA Tournament

It would take almost 50 years for the team to be able to participate in the NCAA Tournament again after suffering a major defeat. The 1986 team, led by head coach Mike Cingiser, had a regular season record of 16-11.

However, their strong conference record of 10-4 propelled them to the top; punching their last ticket to the dance in the program’s history.

The Bears never made it to the NCAA Tournament, since the teams for the next few decades faced average highs and unfathomable lows leading up to the present, as Brown team stats show.

Despite struggling, for the majority of its history, there are some positive outcomes in terms of making getting invitations to other tournaments for the school. They would get invited to participate in the NIT, CBI, and CIT. On record, their only post-season victory came in the 2019 CBI against the UAB Blazers in the opening round of the tournament.

Mike Martin will lead the program for the 12th season. In the preseason, the Brown Bears were in the bottom half regarding NCAAB odds to win the Ivy League Conference.

All-Time Records

Points Scored

• • Earl Hunt 2,041
  • Arnie Berman 1,668
  • Sean McGonagill 1,618

Rebounds

• • Phil Brown 931
  • Cedric Kuakumensah 907
  • Arnie Berman 878

Assists

• • Mike Waitkus 577
  • Sean McGonagill 522
  • Jason Forte 514

Steals

• • Jason Forte 192
  • Mike Waitkus 187
  • Alex Bynum 175

FAQs